Bench to School Initiative

Bench to School Initiative

The California Bench to School Initiative (B2S) was established by the California Legislature in June of 2021 as a collaboration between UC Law SF, UCSF, and the UCLA School of Education. This initiative aims to disrupt the school to prison pipeline in California by addressing literacy outcomes in school settings through a collaborative multistakeholder and multidisciplinary approach.

Since its official launch, Bench to School has brought together an interdisciplinary team of researchers, practitioners, and policy experts across the three campuses to design collaborative projects for collective impact. The initiative’s long-term goal is to decrease the population of youth who become justice-involved by reforming the legal, health, and educational systems to be more responsive to their needs.

The B2S team at UC Law includes Liz Steyer, Emily Murphy, Sarah Hooper, David Faigman, Elizabeth Pendo, Lois Weithorn, Thalia González, Andrea Lollini, and Maryna Tsapok.