Long Beach Bar Foundation

We've been helping our youth stop short of crime since 1994. Our team of community volunteers and instructors from across the legal community offer the SHORTSTOP Juvenile Crime Diversion Program, Individual and Family Counseling Sessions, the Juvenile Emotional Management Program and Respectfully ME soft skills training to students in Long Beach, the South Bay, Catalina Island and the Greater Los Angeles area. 

Our aim is to enrich the lives of our young people by empowering them to become contributing members of an evolving society.

The Long Beach Bar Foundation has proven, time and time again, that it is more than just the SHORTSTOP Youth Projects. We are in constant search of newer and more creative ways to better service our young people and inspire new generations of citizens that they may do our community proud. Recently we have collaborated with the State of California Office of Community Partnerships and Strategic Communications (CA OCPSC) and the City of Long Beach Youth Climate Action Fund for a number of local, state and federal initiatives, among our esteemed partners.

This year, our target is $10,000 to Help Youth Stop Short of Crime. The focus of our support is our Counseling Program, and this is because we are looking to recruit more mentors hailing from our area colleges to steer the most vulnerable of our young people into the right direction. Just reaching our target is going to ensure that we can not only recruit, but retain counselors that are motivated to inspire our youth to be the best they can be, but we won't stop there.

In Spain, there is a national motto. Plus Ultra. Further Beyond. The Long Beach Bar Foundation and SHORTSTOP plan to move further beyond with your support. On our donation page, aside from a custom amount of your choice, we have a list of levels you can choose, from Pinch Hitter to Owner, allowing you to amplify the power to keep Counseling, JEM, Respectfully ME, and of course, SHORTSTOP going.

Through your support of Long Beach Gives, which we have been a very proud part of since its inception in 2019, we can continue providing our Youth Projects to families across Long Beach who depend on SHORTSTOP to give their young people a second chance at being successful, in the classroom, beyond the classroom and at home, while staying on the right side of the law.

For more information on the SHORTSTOP Youth Projects, visit our main site, Facebook, Instagram and X profiles.

Testimonials

WHAT ARE KIDS SAYING ABOUT SHORTSTOP?

"I think it is a great place to show us what we would get into if we did do something bad, showing me how it looks like, telling us what goes on (in jail). People that went through (the process) were telling us how (life in jail) is and they said it's not good at all. Do good in life, don't make the wrong decisions. Do good at school, because if I don't, there we're gonna end up homeless, in jail for bad things we do. They explained to us what would happen if I keep making the wrong decisions, I'm going to end up in the wrong place. It was good because they try to help us out, give us advice and what would happen if we ended up there. It's making me think in my head that I don't want to end up in (jail) because it's a bad place." -A Student

"The volunteers are amazing. They help you and they tell stories about their past and they're very supporting and they listen. Also, I liked how they give us more time to do (our homework) when we can't finish (on time) so I really like SHORTSTOP; it's cool." -A Student

"I learned that I would like to be free and outside the cell because I don't want to be trapped in one place or be a prisoner. I also learned that this program will help me clear my record as a juvenile. I thank everyone in the SHORTSTOP Program for taking time from their lives to try and change ours and make us better people." -A Student