An innovative Sacramento County Office of Education youth violence prevention program—Project S.A.V.E. (Safe Alternatives and Violence Education)—was recognized as a recipient of the Day of Peace Award on January 19 during a meeting of the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors.
The Day of Peace Award is bestowed annually by the Sacramento County Probation Department to "outstanding students and/or organizations whose actions embody the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s message of brotherhood and the non-violent resolutions of our differences."
Other Project S.A.V.E. Advisory Committee members include: Assistant Chief Deputy Rex Sager, Sacramento County Probation Department; Captain Ernie Daniels, Sacramento Police Department; Captain George Anderson, Sacramento County Sheriff's Department; Prevention and Student Services Director Cheryl Raney, Sacramento County Office of Education (SCOE); Lt. Danny Munoz, Sacramento County Sheriff's Department; Mary Ann Treadaway, Criminal Justice Cabinet; and SCOE Project Specialist Sengsavang "Steve" Ly.
Project S.A.V.E. was selected for the Day of Peace Award by the Sacramento County Probation Department because it offers "a unique violence awareness and education program to both youth and parents throughout Sacramento County. Project S.A.V.E. works to educate students on the realities of violence in our schools and communities. S.A.V.E. uses local law enforcement officers from the Sacramento Sheriff, Sacramento Police, Sacramento County Probation, and Sacramento County District Attorney's Office as instructors and focuses on peer pressure and refusal skills with youth participants, and parenting and awareness skills with parents." Project S.A.V.E., which has been cited statewide as a model program for reducing youth violence, has worked with over 250 families in Sacramento County since its start in March 1998.
For more information about Project S.A.V.E., contact Steve Ly at (916) 228-2204.