Child Abuse Council of Santa Clara County Awards Local Leaders

From the Child Abuse Council of Santa Clara County:

WHAT:

The Child Abuse Council of Santa Clara County will hold the 34th Annual Child Abuse Council Symposium addressing trending issues that affect welfare and lives of children, including child-on-child crime, chronic youth homelessness, sentinel injuries/physical abuse, gender identify and non-conforming, and protecting youth from the dark side of technology.

The Angel Award will be presented to Congresswoman Anna Eshoo for her commitment to ensuring that children and families have life’s basic necessities, from health care to housing.

Child Protector of the Year Awards will be presented to Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Detective Jennifer Toomey and San Jose Police Detective Sean Pierce. (Bios below)

President Dave Cortese, County of Santa Clara Board of Supervisors, will present a proclamation. He is the keynote speaker for the “Home Not Found” workshop at 1:15 p.m.Youth make up approximately 25% of the homeless in Santa Clara County. The workshop panel of speakers will provide facts and reasons for this chronic problem of youth living on the street, and will discuss solutions that are urgently being put in place to help this population.

WHO:

Congresswoman Anna Eshoo, Angel Award Recipient

Supervisor Dave Cortese, County of Santa Clara Board of Supervisors

Andrew Cain, Chairperson, Child Abuse Council of Santa Clara County

Detective Jennifer Toomey, Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office, Child Protector of the Year Award Recipient

Detective Sean Pierce, San Jose Police Department, Child Protector of the Year Award Recipient

Dr. David Finkelhor, (Keynote Speaker: Trends in Child Welfare), Director, Crimes against Children Research Center; Co-Director, Family Research Laboratory, and Professor of Sociology at the University of New Hampshire

WHEN:

Friday, April 1, 2016, 8:00 a.m.-4:30 p.m.

9:15 a.m.: Symposium Keynote speaker (Dr. David Finkelhor)

12:15 p.m.–1:15 p.m.: Awards and Proclamation Presentation

WHERE:

Villa Ragusa

35 South 2nd Street, Campbell, CA 95008

ABOUT THE AWARD RECIPIENTS:

Congresswoman Anna Eshoo - Angel Award

Congresswoman Anna Eshoo will receive the Angel Award for her commitment to ensuring that children and families have life’s basic necessities, from health care to housing. Congresswoman Eshoo has sponsored or supported numerous legislation that brings reliefs to the housing crisis in the community. In the wake of the nation’s housing crisis which put extraordinary strain on the California housing market, she broke new ground for homeowners. When families were struggling to keep up with their mortgages, forcing many to give up their dream of owning a home, Eshoo created consensus around inclusion of a “Homeowner Bill of Rights” in the 50-State Settlement—a $25 billion settlement for mortgage servicing abuses perpetrated by the largest servicers. Eshoo’s new borrower safeguards put an end to “dual tracking,” a practice in which borrowers are foreclosed upon even as they negotiate the terms of a modification. The new rules also guarantee a single point of contact for borrowers seeking information about their loans. In Congresswoman Eshoo’s two decades in Congress, she has defended consumers, promoted American competitiveness and innovation, fought for access to health care for families and children, protected the environment, and encouraged development of clean energy technology.

Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Detective Jennifer Toomey – Child Protector of the Year Award

Detective Jennifer Toomey, Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office West Valley Division, served for four years as a School Enforcement Officer for 22 schools in Cupertino and Saratoga. As the School Enforcement Officer, Detective Toomey made approximately 300 arrests that included child endangerment, child abuse, rape, sexual assault, as well as many others. Although Detective Toomey’s primary role was to make arrests for crimes committed on and around school grounds, she went above and beyond her role to provide guidance and to mentor both the young men and young women at the various schools around Cupertino. Detective Toomey spent a lot of her personal time and money to buy books and clothes for teens who may have been having a hard time at home and/or couldn’t afford nice clothing for a job interview. Detective Toomey made it her passion to protect the students who were being bullied, abused or just struggling in life. In addition to protecting the students in the many schools in Cupertino, Detective Toomey would participate in the Sheriff’s Office Teen Academy and mentor the young ladies who had an interest in law enforcement. After serving as a School Enforcement Officer, Detective Toomey transferred to the Sexual Assault Investigative Unit to continue to protect those who have been abused.

San Jose Police Detective Sean Pierce - Child Protector of the Year Award

Detective Sean Pierce with San Jose Police Department has been a police officer for 19 years. He has worked on child exploitation cases for more than half of his career, taking great satisfaction and pride in protecting those who cannot protect themselves, especially children. He is currently assigned to the Child Exploitation Detail/ Internet Crimes against Children Task Force. He was born and raised in San Jose, and has two boys with his wife of 29 years.

About the Child Abuse Council

The Child Abuse Council of Santa Clara County began as a committee, appointed in 1980 by the County of Santa Clara Board of Supervisors, to address a serious lack of coordination and cooperation among numerous public and private agencies which provided services to child abuse victims and their families. The Council was reorganized into its present form in 1987. Its members represent many different public and private agencies, community volunteers, a wide range of professional disciplines, a diversity of cultural and ethnic backgrounds, and the various geographical areas of the county.

The mission of the Child Abuse Council of Santa Clara County is to protect children from abuse and neglect by their parents and caregivers, and from the systems designed to protect them. Council meetings are open to the public. People who are concerned about child abuse and committed to its prevention are invited to join. People are also invited to join the various Committees of the Council.