Gov. Gavin Newsom is launching a statewide initiative to support the well-being of young men in partnership with California Volunteers, officials said. The initiative, announced in the meeting transcript, aims to establish pathways to work and education, strengthen mental-health support and fund job-training programs.

The initiative was framed as a response to what one speaker described as a national crisis affecting men and boys. "We have a crisis in this country of men and boys. And for decades, candidly, we've neglected it because some of us have been scared to enter into the fray," said Speaker 2, Staff member. The transcript added that, in California, men ages 15 to 44 die by suicide at three to four times the rate of women and that men’s unemployment in the state is higher than women’s.

The transcript records that the state is awarding $20,000,000 to support apprenticeship training and that the effort aims to serve 500,000 apprentices by 2029. The announcement described the funding and the apprenticeship goal but did not specify program implementation details, the agencies that will administer the funds, or an exact disbursement schedule.

Speaker 1, Staff member, summarized program elements in the announcement as including "pathways to work and education, strengthens mental health support, and funds job training programs." The record does not show a formal vote or additional approvals in the transcript; the $20 million award was presented as a state allocation rather than the result of a recorded motion in this meeting.

Why it matters: the transcript links the initiative to suicide and unemployment disparities for California men ages 15 to 44, statistics presented as the rationale for the new effort. The apprenticeship funding and the 2029 target are concrete commitments contained in the remarks, though operational details (which departments will run the programs, eligibility criteria, exact funding breakdown) were not specified in the transcript.

Further questions noted in the record include how the apprenticeship goal will be measured and which state offices will manage the funds; those items were not answered in the portion of the transcript provided.

The announcement identified California Volunteers as a partner; no additional nonprofit or federal funding partners were specified in the transcript.