A program dedicated to aiding young first-time offenders and operated by the Sacramento County Office of Education (SCOE) has received a grant and special recognition.
Project SAVE (Safe Alternatives and Violence Education) is the recipient of a $7,000 grant from the Martin Luther King Celebration Committee, as well as a Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition from Congresswoman Doris Matsui (D-Sacramento).
Rep. Matsui presented the grant and the certificate at a special event held May 30 at the Phoenix Park Activity Center in Sacramento.
"Project SAVE is a great success story," Rep. Matsui said while making her presentation.
On hand to receive the awards on behalf of SCOE and Project SAVE were Sacramento County Superior Court Judge Talmadge Jones, Sacramento County Superintendent of Schools David W. Gordon, and County Board of Education Trustees Brian Cooley, Victoria L. Deane, Gretchen Bender, and Harold Fong.
Project SAVE is a program for adolescent first-time offenders, ages 10 to 17, who have been involved in violence or weapons possession on or near a school campus. Project SAVE offers alternatives for the less sophisticated offender who acts without thinking or in response to peer pressure, and who is not yet intimately involved in the juvenile justice system.
Project SAVE requires parent participation. Youth and their parents or guardians attend a six-hour Saturday class that addresses issues of weapons and violence and provides information and skills related to effective anger management, refusal skills, choices and consequences and parenting skills.
Those eligible to participate are Sacramento County students and their parents/guardians. All Sacramento County school districts and SCOE Community Schools also may participate.
Collaborative partners include County Probation Department, County Sheriff's Office, Sacramento City Police Department, Superior and Municipal Courts, Sacramento County School Districts, and community members.
For more information about Project SAVE, call (916) 228-2202.