Family
Ulster Justice Center Opens With Ribbon Cutting
HUDSON VALLEY PRESS — Doors were opened to the public for the new Ulster County Restorative Justice and Community Empowerment Center.
By The Hudson Valley Press
KINGSTON
County Executive Michael Hein was joined by judges, legislators and other members of the community.
The $3.2 million construction project renovated an aging former county DPW storage building, located adjacent to the county probation department offices at 733 Broadway. Previously, the structure was used as a discotheque.
Restorative Justice comes in response to the Raise the Age Law, passed in 2017, which took effect on October 1 of this year. The state legislation eliminates automatic charging of 16-year-olds as adults. Next year it will also include 17-year-olds, Hein noted.
“I know right now, today, there’s a 16-year-old that’s going to make a mistake,” Hein said. “Why? Because they’re 16 years old, and that’s what they do, okay? And instead of starting down a path that in many ways will define their life and ruin their life, we’re going to provide hope.”
“Everybody makes mistakes, and everybody should have an opportunity to change,” explained Kim Mapes, Youth and Family Engagement coordinator for the Center. “They could make a minor mistake, they could make a major mistake, but it shouldn’t hurt them in the long run; they should have an opportunity to turn around.”
Right now, Mapes is the only employee, she said. Online job posting describes the job as case management and advocacy for minors involved in the justice system, at-risk youth, and families. The center official opens for business on January 2.
Adding that the concept of restorative justice helps eliminate the school-to-prison pipeline, Hein said “the goal cannot and should not and will never be, to simply delay a young person’s entrance into the criminal justice system – the goal is to change lives. This isn’t just about generational poverty, it’s about generational opportunity. We acknowledge and react to the reality that some things may have helped cause these situations,” Hein said.
The center plans to utilize other county services, mentoring, higher education and job opportunities, to help break bad patterns and restore young offenders to a more positive future path.
Bay Area
Emiliano Zapata Street Academy Celebrates 40 Years Serving Oakland Families
The Oakland Emiliano Zapata Street Academy, a public alternative high school, celebrated its 50th anniversary this year with a community party and festival last Saturday with live music, good food, vendors’ booths, and activities for adults and children.
By Ken Epstein
The Oakland Emiliano Zapata Street Academy, a public alternative high school, celebrated its 50th anniversary this year with a community party and festival last Saturday with live music, good food, vendors’ booths, and activities for adults and children.
Attending the Saturday, April 27 celebration were current and past students, families, faculty, and supporters of the school. The school is located at 417 29th St., and the celebration was held nearby at St. Augustine’s Episcopal Church on Telegraph Avenue in Oakland.
For more information, go to www.streetacademy.online or call 510) 874-3630 or (510) 879-2313.
Alameda County
A Safe Place, Bay Area Domestic Violence Community Organization, Opens New Service Center in Oakland
Oakland-Bay Area non-profit, A Safe Place, announces the grand opening of its newly purchased building in Oakland that will be a service center for families that have suffered from domestic violence. The new, two-story building has over six new service rooms for counseling, mental health support groups, legal services, children’s treatment, safe space for community engagement, and partnership activities.
By Courtney Slocum Riley
Special to The Post
Oakland-Bay Area non-profit, A Safe Place, announces the grand opening of its newly purchased building in Oakland that will be a service center for families that have suffered from domestic violence.
The new, two-story building has over six new service rooms for counseling, mental health support groups, legal services, children’s treatment, safe space for community engagement, and partnership activities.
Domestic violence occurrences and offenses account for a considerable amount of all violent crimes in Alameda County. A Safe Place is attempting to provide a safe place for families to heal. A Safe Place is the only comprehensive domestic violence assistance program including a safehouse, in Oakland.
The grand opening celebration will also serve as a fundraiser to build out healing, therapeutic spaces for children and adult victims and survivors and survivors of domestic violence (male and female).
The new service center will expand the work of the organization, founded in 1976 when a group of women working in San Francisco came together to address the urgent need for a shelter in the East Bay. A year later, they founded A Safe Place (ASP) in Oakland. Run solely by volunteers, they set up a crisis line to offer crisis counseling and information to battered women and their children.
The organization serves over 500 adults and children annually through a host of services including crisis counseling via 24-hour crisis line, emergency motel and safehouse sheltering, mental health services (counseling and support groups).
Under the leadership of Executive Director, Carolyn Russell, the organization has grown from a single program into the comprehensive domestic violence and assistance program. ASP strives to meet the growing and diverse needs of our growing community.
The organization hopes to complete all the upgrades and therapeutic room improvements by August 2024. The public is invited to donate to the effort by using the website at www.asafeplace.org/donate. The organization also accepts in-kind gifts as well as items from the organization’s Amazon Wishlist.
Bay Area
Obituary: Former California Education Superintendent Delaine Eastin Passes at 76
Delaine Eastin, who served as a former state Assemblymember representing parts of Santa Clara and Alameda County — and the first woman elected as State Superintendent of Public Instruction — died at age 76 on April 23. Eastin passed away from complications caused by a stroke.
By California Black Media
Delaine Eastin, who served as a former state Assemblymember representing parts of Santa Clara and Alameda County — and the first woman elected as State Superintendent of Public Instruction — died at age 76 on April 23.
Eastin passed away from complications caused by a stroke.
Known for her power of persuasion, Eastin used her influence to be a champion for bipartisan issues that helped raise academic standards, lower class sizes, and emphasize the importance of conserving nature and the environment in schools.
Former Assembly Speaker Willie Brown and fellow legislative colleagues said that Eastin was in demand on the speech circuit while serving as a legislator.
“Few could engender the kind of emotion and passion she delivered in every speech,” Brown said.
State superintendent Tony Thurmond called Eastin a trailblazer who inspired fellow public servants.
“California lost an icon in our school system today. Delaine Eastin’s legacy as a trailblazer in public education will forever inspire us. Her unwavering dedication to California students — from championing Universal Preschool and the “A Garden in Every School” program to honoring our educators by establishing the California Teachers of the Year Awards — has left an indelible mark on our state’s educational landscape,” said Thurmond.
Thurmond honored Eastin’s legacy at the California Teacher of the Year Program, an honor that she established during her time as superintendent.
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