Funding Secured
Youth Jobs Corps
Mayor Patricia Lock Dawson secured $4.4 million in state funds for the California Youth Jobs Corp program in Riverside. Through the initiative, the City of Riverside and non-profit partners employ approximately 100 CaliforniansForAll Fellows, paying at least $15/hour, and provide job training and wrap-around services to develop future careers in the public and private sectors.
Civil Rights Walk
A concept introduced by Mayor Lock Dawson at her 2021 State of the City Address, Riverside’s Civil Rights Walk will link the culturally significant locations in Downtown Riverside with consistent signage, wayfinding, and ADA accessibility. These improvements connect 17 historical points over 3.4 miles. The Mayor’s Office was instrumental in securing approval by the California Transportation Commission for the $3,216,000 cost of the entire project.
Third Street Grade Separation Project
The Mayor’s Office was instrumental in advocating to federal representatives this year, resulting in $15 million of federal funding for the Third Street Grade Separation Project. The project involves building a four-lane underpass, realigning three mainline BNSF railroad tracks to improve train speeds, and realigning Commerce Street to support traffic circulation. Find out more at www.RiversideCA.gov/ThirdStreetGS.
View Project
The River District & Armory Project
The Mayor’s Office sought funding for the environmental cleanup, building stabilization, and renovations required to convert a former National Guard Armory into a multiuse recreation building located in Fairmount Park.
It is currently estimated that Riverside will receive $2.5 million in federal funding for this project. In conjunction with efforts to utilize consultants from Harvard-Bloomberg, the Armory Project is a key activation space for the future of the River District in Fairmount Park.
Total Infrastructure Funding: $53 Million
Legislative Wins
SB – 1338
Community Assistance, Recovery and Empowerment (CARE) Act creates a new pathway to deliver mental health and substance use disorder services to the most severely impaired Californians who too often, suffer in homelessness or incarceration without treatment. The CARE Act moves care and support upstream, providing the most vulnerable Californians with access to critical behavioral health services, housing and support.
SB – 929
This bill addresses a data shortfall that exists on what services are provided to those under various Lanterman-Petris-Short (LPS) Act hold and their outcomes. Due to a fragmented mental health system, many different entities are involved in the identification, investigation, treatment, follow-up, and more when it comes to those experiencing serious mental illness, grave disability, or danger to self or others, and current data requirements are inadequate.
SB – 1035
Current law allows court ordered treatment plans to include coordination and access to medication as part of a treatment plan. This discrepancy was highlighted in the State Auditors report on the LPS Act. Medication adherence is an essential tool that allows an individual to stay safely in their community. SB 1035 would make explicit that medications can be included in an order for Assisted Outpatient Treatment when they are included in the treatment plan.