The ABC Recovery Center in Indio is being awarded 27 million dollars

California announced $518.5 million in grants to help provide services and housing options to those with severe mental illness or substance abuse problems, which includes the homeless population.

AWARDEES:

Grants were awarded in the following counties:

• Alameda County – $18,405,122
• El Dorado County – $2,852,182
• Humboldt County – $4,170,560
• Kern County – $3,138,065
• Los Angeles County – $155,172,811
• Madera County – $2,035,512
• Mendocino County – $7,711,800
• Monterey County – $3,558,670
• Nevada County – $4,458,799
• Orange County – $10,000,000
• Placer County – $6,519,015
• Riverside County – $103,181,728
• Sacramento County – $30,553,889
• San Diego County – $30,874,411
• San Francisco County – $6,750,000
• Santa Barbara County – $2,914,224
• Santa Clara County – $54,074,660
• Solano County – $14,332,411
• Sonoma County – $9,751,915
• Stanislaus County – $33,369,900
• Yolo County – $12,500,000

Out of 300 plus applicants, the ABC recovery proposal stood out. Christopher Yingling  CEO of ABC Recovery Center, Indio shared with us that the center was awarded a little over $27 million for the entire plan; the upgrades will include women's housing, men's housing operations, a kitchen, and a dining room to accommodate an increased amount of people, as well as an indoor gymnasium.

Christopher Yingling was once a client of the ABC recovery center and now is the CEO leading the charge for the center’s new development Chris said "we have a six-acre lot on our existing property. And we've been open since 1963. So just a lot of wear and tear on our buildings, it's always a struggle, it's more expensive. And so we envisioned an entirely new facility, we would create an additional 120 beds, which would expand our services by 160%. And, you know, just really assist in this crisis".

CEO of ABC Recovery said, "The governor's office has, they want these projects to move as fast as possible. And so they've waived the conditional use permit requirements with the city as well as the environmental impact studies to try to move these projects along".

There is a large population of Homeless Individuals in the Coachella Valley and some of them have Mental Illnesses and abuse Substances with no resources catered specific to them. "If left untreated, they're not going to be successful. You can give them a house, you know, but they're not going to be able to maintain that lifestyle without some in depth change from inside, you know, and so I'm glad to see that they're finally recognizing the problem and funding the problem" said Yingling.

  The recovery center is already aligned with Riverside County, but will also partner with Imperial County  to provide services. 

• Additional ways the $518.5 million dollars will be allocated

Governor Newsom’s CARE Court proposal takes a new approach to homelessness and takes stronger action to get people off the streets and into a place where they can get the care they need; State funding will start with this proposal.

CARE Court is a proposed framework to deliver mental health and substance use disorder services to the most severely impaired Californians who too often languish – suffering in homelessness or incarceration – without the treatment they desperately need.

Care Court Breakdown:

• Will authorize specified persons to petition a civil court to create a voluntary CARE agreement or a court-ordered CARE plan

-CARE plan includes: behavioral health care, stabilization medication, housing, and other services for adults who meet specified criteria 

• Would specify the process by which the petition is filed and reviewed 

-Would require the petition to be signed under penalty of perjury

-Consideration of petitioner’s assertion that the respondent meets the CARE criteria. 

• The bill would make the hearings in a CARE proceeding confidential and not open to the public
• The bill would give eligible petitioners the option to opt into a one-year CARE plan-care plan that can be extended once up to a year
• Each eligible petitioner would be assigned appointed counsel and CARE supporter unless they have counsel and/or CARE supporter of their own.