Youth Development
Riverside recognizes that an investment in its young people is an investment in the city's future and offers a variety of training and counseling programs to serve youth needing help getting back on track. The city's RESET program (Riverside Educational Services & Employment Training) is aimed at young people between the ages of 18 and 23. Working with local colleges and universities on a shared cost basis, the city coordinates an internship program to expose kids to a world of opportunities and offer them potential employment.

One of the City's strategic goals is to "Increase Investment in Our Youth and Children." Riverside is a Community of Promise so named because of its affiliation with the national America's Promise. An Alliance for Youth. To fulfill "America's Promise, " the City worked with local school districts and other organizations to establish a Youth Action Office (YAO). The YAO provides a focused and organized approach to the delivery of programs and services to youth and families in a collaborative fashion. Its mission is to be the focal point and lead agency to identify, enhance and maximize the resources available in our community to address problems and issues affecting or relating to Riverside's young people. The City also boasts a Mayor's Youth Advisory Council, which recently proposed to the City Council the formation of a Youth Commission, following the model of the City's boards and Commissions, in order to a have an even more direct say in the decision-making processes of their community.

Youth at Risk
The city also offers a Summer Youth Employment program geared toward kids 14 to 19. The program typically employee approximately 65 students. In coordination with the Youth Accountability Board, a segment of the city's volunteer program places youth who have committed misdemeanor crimes in city assignments to work off their debt to society. The Youth Education Motivation Program provides mentors who visit local middle schools in an effort to give kids the motivation to continue their education. In partnership with the local community college, the Puente Counseling Program provides minority students with mentors.

Every year, the Park and Recreation Department's efforts are focused on the City's major asset, its children. The Park and Recreation Department assists them in growing socially, educationally, physically and personally. In addition to youth development, the department provides programs to improve the quality of life for tot, youth, teen, adult and senior residents at the 9 community centers and 51 parks. Many of these thousands of patrons participate in the hundreds of programs offered by the department. From dance and defense classes to dive-in movies to dog obedience classes, the City's vast community service and recreation schedule, offered three times annually, is designed with investment in the communities in mind.