‘Unprecedented opportunity’: Newsom stumps for Prop. 1 at Indio drug treatment center

Gov. Gavin Newsom came to Indio on Friday, touring an addiction recovery center as part of a last-minute push for a ballot measure that would put billions into treatment and housing for people dealing with mental health and substance abuse issues.

The stop at the nonprofit ABC Recovery Center was to lobby for Proposition 1, the only initiative voters will see on Tuesday's ballot. Newsom said it presents an "unprecedented opportunity" to address the issues driving many Californians toward homelessness or prison.

"This is a scale and a scope unlike anything we've ever seen anywhere in the United States," the governor said.

Proposition 1 would fund a $6.4 million bond to bolster the state’s mental health and substance abuse treatment infrastructure, with most of the money — $4.4 billion — to be used for 10,000 new in-patient and residential treatment beds statewide, according to CalMatters. The second part of the measure would require counties to change how they spend existing mental health dollars by prioritizing housing for people who are chronically homeless.

More: California primary: Prop 1 asks for billions to help homeless. Will it help?

Before a press conference, Newsom toured the grounds of the treatment center, including one of its residential units. With him were two ABC staffers who've seen firsthand how treatment can turn lives around: Deonte Clayton, who was homeless when he came to the center three years ago to detox, and Chris Yingling, who came there in shackles from state prison 15 years ago.

Clayton is now a behavioral health technician at ABC, and Yingling has been the CEO since 2016.

Both lived at ABC for more than a year, partly in intensive residential treatment and partly in sober living meant to transition them to a normal life and employment. And Yingling said that if the state wants to address homelessness and addiction, it's vital that more people get that kind of help — and the time to benefit from it.

Private insurance often covers only about a week of inpatient drug treatment, Yingling said. And for many people, a week — or even a month or two in treatment — simply isn't enough.

"Sending them back to their environment after 60 days doesn't change a lifetime of addiction," Yingling said.

He said most of ABC's clients either have been homeless or are at risk of it. The center works with them on what he called "slowly disbanding the structure" — the parts of their life that foster the cycle of addiction — and making a plan for steady employment, stable housing and sober living.

The center has 56 beds, all full, and is working on a 120-bed expansion thanks to a $27 million state grant it got in 2022. And during the governor's tour, Yingling showed him land where the center could expand even more if it gets the funding.

After meeting Yingling and Clayton, Newsom called them examples of what he hopes Proposition 1 will make possible for more people.

Proposition 1 has gained support from a wide array of statewide groups, including the California Teachers Association, the California Chamber of Commerce, the California Labor Federation and the California Hospital Association.

With more than $20 million in fundraising, the proposition’s supporters have far outraised the opposition, which includes the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association and ACLU California Action, per CalMatters.

While turnout could play a key role in the ballot measure’s success, preliminary polling indicates strong support for Proposition 1 among California's voters. A poll conducted by the Public Policy Institute of California late last year found that two in three likely voters said they would vote to approve the measure.

The trip marks a rare appearance in the valley for Newsom, who reportedly last visited the area when he came to Palm Springs to talk with local officials on the day of Tropical Storm Hilary’s arrival last August. Newsom also came to the area in February 2021, when he visited a COVID-19 vaccination clinic at a Coachella packinghouse.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Gavin Newsom stumps for Proposition 1 at Indio drug treatment center