Carson Votes to Form Equity Committee
CARSON — Carson’s City Council announced on Sep. 7, the creation of a diversity, equity, and inclusion committee (DEI). For the committee to move forward, Mayor Lula-Davis Holmes and Councilmember Jawane Hilton will overlook the creation of the DEI.The DEI will plan strategies on how to further diversity, equity, and inclusion for city employees.
Details: tinyurl.com/carson-dei-committee
County COVID-19 Tenant Protections Extended
LOS ANGELES — The LA County Board of Supervisors, Sept. 28 voted to extend LA County’s temporary eviction moratorium through Jan. 31, 2022. These protections, which went into effect March 2020 and set to expire on Sept. 30, provided a set of affirmative defenses against evictions for residential and commercial tenants, as well as mobile home space renters.
The updated policy, now renamed the county’s COVID-19 Tenant Protections Resolution, continues to provide a defense against eviction for residential and commercial tenants, while also expanding the owner move-in provisions.
Details: dcba.lacounty.gov/noevictions. Landlord/tenant laws and programs in LA County: rent.lacounty.gov.
Housing is Key rent relief program: housingiskey. com.
Rent Registry Online Portal Launched
LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles County Department of Consumer and Business Affairs (DCBA) Oct. 1, launched the county’s first online Rent Registry. The LA County Rent Registry, which contains portals for both property owners and tenants, will allow property owners to register and update property information, report changes in tenancy, pay annual registration fees, track case status and request exemptions. The registry will add enhanced functions in the upcoming months for property owners and tenants, including the ability to submit applications for rent adjustments, as well as property owner requests for capital improvement and primary renovation pass-throughs, and notifications of termination of tenancy directly to DCBA.
Property owners can register their rental properties at rentregistry.dcba.lacounty.gov. DCBA’s Housing and Tenant Protections Division will be hosting informational webinars on the registry for property owners and landlords, and will house helpful materials, user guides, and tutorials on their website at dcba.lacounty.gov/rentregistry.
New Funding Approved for Mental Health Crisis Response
SAN PEDRO — New funding was approved Oct. 5, in the Los Angeles County final budget for FY 2021-22 to improve the response to residents suffering mental health crises.
The final budget resolution, including supplemental changes to the county’s budget, approved Oct. 5, includes:
Funding for five new Veteran Mental Health Evaluation Teams or VMET, which partner a Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health clinician with a sheriff’s deputy and respond to law enforcement scenarios involving a person experiencing a mental health crisis. These five new teams will be specifically dedicated to responding to the unique needs of veterans. They bring the total number of MET teams in the county to 39.
An additional $20 million toward the county’s Psychiatric Mobile Response Teams — unarmed mental health professionals who can be called to respond to a person experiencing a mental health crisis. The new funding will allow the program to be expanded to 24/7 operation and add more teams to improve response times. This is especially important ahead of the national mental health crisis line 9-8-8 going live next summer.
An additional $10 million for LA County’s Crisis Call Center to help support the implementation of 9-8-8 next summer. The funding will enhance our existing call centers to provide appropriate responses to 9-8-8 callers, ranging from over-the phone suicide prevention counseling, mobile crisis response teams, and linkages to mental health and substance use services.
Indigenous Peoples’ Day, Brings Partnership Between California Truth & Healing Council and the Decolonizing Wealth Project
SACRAMENTO — As California honors Indigenous Peoples’ Day for the third year in a row, Gov. Gavin Newsom Oct. 11, announced a partnership between the California Truth & Healing Council and the Decolonizing Wealth Project to support philanthropic and community engagement, grantmaking and narrative change.
Through this partnership, the Office of the Tribal Advisor and the Truth & Healing Council will work directly with the Decolonizing Wealth Project to convene philanthropic ambassadors for the work of the Truth & Healing Council, develop a grantmaking program and galvanize philanthropy to support the recommendations from the council’s final report, among other activities.
The California Truth & Healing Council was established by the governor in 2019 to provide an avenue for California Native Americans to clarify the record on the troubled relationship between Native peoples and the state in the spirit of truth and healing. Led and convened by the governor’s Tribal Advisor, the council includes representatives from California Native American tribes throughout the state. The council officially launched in December 2020 and is slated to issue a final report on or before Jan. 1, 2025.
With a goal to develop civic infrastructure within California’s Native American community, this partnership will also support the engagement of Native American families across the state to participate in the council’s meetings, talking circles, listening sessions and other general activities. The Decolonizing Wealth Project will leverage its expertise in community healing to ensure Native American families, and other participants involved, have access to culturally competent healing opportunities and other tools as they navigate this process. Ultimately, this partnership aims to catalyze deeper community engagement in truth and healing conversations and build political will for truth and healing work in other states and at the national level.
Details: https://tribalaffairs.ca.gov/cthc/help/