Commissioners praise Youth in Government Day, urge better mentor ratios

Commissioners at the Riverside County Youth Commission’s Jan. 22 meeting described Youth in Government Day as a valuable hands-on learning experience and urged improvements to mentoring capacity.

Carla Mendoza, the District 4 co-commissioner, said her pairing with Animal Services was especially meaningful and recounted an adoption outcome: “By the end of the day, I was able to speak with someone from the district attorney's office, and she instantly connected with Baby, and I am proud to share that Baby was adopted the same day,” Mendoza said. She credited staff from Animal Services and the district attorney’s office for the warm welcome.

District 1 and District 5 commissioners urged participants to take full advantage of assigned mentors. District 5 noted a shortcoming in mentor-to-student ratio and recommended assigning fewer students per mentor to increase engagement. District 1 said mentors can provide valuable perspective on career choices and encourage students to pursue opportunities.

Youth in Government Day is intended to educate students about county government and job-shadow county employees; the commission said the program includes a pairing process informed by students’ department-interest forms and earlier assessments. The commission also noted the event will continue to be promoted across districts to maintain relationships between students and mentors.

The commission did not take formal action on staffing ratios at this meeting but recorded the recommendation for future planning and inclusion in the youth commission’s annual report to the Board of Supervisors.