A $500,000 lifeline for second chances

Aug

2026

August 26, 2026

Professor Elizabeth Cauffman, standing, applauds the proceedings during a recent Young Adult Court graduation ceremony. Inset photo: Judge Maria Hernandez and Cauffman, co-founders of the program.

Samueli Foundation invests in innovative program

By Mimi Ko Cruz

A program that has transformed 76 lives, wiping felony records clean for young men who earned it, has received a major financial lifeline.

The Samueli Foundation has awarded $500,000 to Orange County’s Young Adult Court as part of its inaugural OC+ Fund, a new $5 million initiative designed to help nonprofit organizations deepen their collaborative work across the region.

Hernandez and Cauffman Of the total grant, $325,000 will support UC Irvine’s role as the program’s lead research partner, while the remaining $175,000 will go to the Orangewood Foundation, which provides wraparound services to participants and manages the program’s Recovery-Focused House in Fullerton.

The funding comes at a pivotal moment for a court that has quietly become one of Orange County’s most compelling experiments in justice reform.

“This grant ensures that Young Adult Court has the support and resources it needs to keep changing lives,” said Elizabeth Cauffman, UC Irvine professor of psychology and co-creator of the court. “Every dollar goes directly toward giving young men the kind of second chance that most of them have never had before.”

Launched eight years ago, Young Adult Court takes a fundamentally different approach to criminal justice for first-time felony offenders between the ages of 18 and 25 — an age group that reoffends at higher rates than any other, yet is also, research shows, uniquely responsive to intervention.

Participants must maintain employment, pursue education, find stable housing and appear before Orange County Superior Court Judge Maria Hernandez every two weeks. Those who complete the 18-month to two-year program can have their felony reduced to a misdemeanor or dismissed entirely, clearing their record for life.

The results have been striking. Seventy-six men have graduated since the program launched. Dozens more are currently enrolled.

“This brings science to the streets,” Cauffman has said of the program, which she built alongside Judge Hernandez and partners including the Orange County Probation Department, the Public Defender and District Attorney’s offices and the Orangewood Foundation.

Central to the program’s recent expansion is the Young Adult Court Recovery-Focused House, a first-of-its-kind residential facility that opened in Fullerton last year. Operated by UC Irvine and Orangewood Foundation, the house provides stable housing and comprehensive recovery services for up to six participants at a time, addressing what organizers identified as one of the biggest barriers to success.

Research shows 66% of California’s justice-involved youth struggle with substance use and without stable housing, even the most motivated participants can struggle to complete the program.

The OC+ Fund grant will help sustain the court and the house going forward.

“Orange County nonprofits do not need convincing to collaborate; they need resources to take that work further,” said Lindsey Spindle, president of Samueli Family Philanthropies, in announcing the broader OC+ Fund.

The Young Adult Court was one of 10 collaborative projects selected from 265 applications representing 758 organizations and $94 million in total funding requests.

The program’s impact extends well beyond the courtroom.

Abraham, the court’s very first graduate, is now attending UCLA on a full scholarship, majoring in psychology. He was in the room last September when the Recovery-Focused House cut its ribbon — a symbol, organizers said, of everything the program is capable of.

“Sometimes all we really need is a little hope, some support and an opportunity for a second chance,” one recent graduate told the court at his graduation ceremony in July.

With this grant, more young men will get exactly that, Cauffman said.

‘Congratulations, you are now felony free’