In his State of the County Address delivered Tuesday, Dave
Cortese declared 2011 as
”
Year of the Child,
”
asserting he wants to put Juvenile Hall out of business. The
County of Santa Clara Board of Supervisors president touched on
three core topics, including the county’s fiscal condition and new
initiatives such as support for schools, child impact-based
decision making, economic development, public health and senior
needs. Continue reading to view the transcript of his speech.
In his State of the County Address delivered Tuesday, Dave Cortese declared 2011 as “Year of the Child,” asserting he wants to put Juvenile Hall out of business.
“I would like to transition the highly skilled employees there out into the community to work on prevention and intervention instead of locking our kids up,” the County of Santa Clara Board of Supervisors president said in the address.
Cortese touched on three core topics, including the county’s fiscal condition and notable past accomplishments. He spoke on new initiatives, which in addition to restorative juvenile justice included support for schools, child impact-based decision making, economic development, public health and senior needs.
Cortese said he wants to leave a legacy of restorative justice initiatives in support of children, including asking the court system to phase out jailing children ages 13 to 15 year olds, except in cases of the most violent crimes.
He also wants to pursue innovation in creating new systems for pretrial diversions of first-time youth offenders, as well as develop a closer working relationship between the SCC board and the Youth Task Force – an advisory body in San Jose comprised of youth ages 12 to 18 who address teen issues on a regular basis.
Continue reading to view the transcript of his speech.
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