California's Children

Update: Dubois missing child/sex offender bills signed by Gov

UPDATE: Signed into law by Governor Schwarzenegger on September 24. On May 26, Yesterday, National Missing Children’s Day, Moe Dubois (pictured below, with daughter Amber), father of slain teen Amber Dubois, with Assemblymembers Paul Cook (R-Yucca) and Pedro Nava (D-Santa Barbara) unveiled the following the package of four new bills designed to create a quicker response and provide assistance to local authorities when children are taken:

AB 589 requires sex offenders to always carry a distinctive driver’s license or state-issued identification card.

AB 1022 would establish within the Department of Justice the "California Missing Children Rapid Response Team” that would be available to help local police when children disappear. The team would also assist local officials with protocols, programs and technologies related to abductions. 

AB 34 would require the state to file, within two hours, information about a reported missing child under the age of 16 to the Violent Crime Information Center and the National Crime Information Center. The current requirement is four hours. 

67,000 CA kids aided by teacher-direct foundation grant

Yesterday was a happy first-day-of-school for the 2,233 CA teachers who had requested funds and materials for special projects via DonorsChoose.org. Every California request on the on-line site will be honored by the Claire Giannini Education Fund through an immediate $1,304,300 grant, according to the executive director of the $50 million/assets San Francisco-based charity, Hilda Yao.

On DonorsChoose, where the usual donation from the public averages $100, school teachers -- like Alice Mercer, at left, of Oak Ridge Elementary in Sacramento County, who posted an extra-budget need for Webcams and and Flip video cameras for a classroom project --asked for items to complete specific educational classroom projects. Yaho says the Giannini funds will directly benefit nearly 67,000 students.

“I wanted to find a way to reward and recognize teachers who take the initiative and students who have the imagination to come up with creative ways in which to enhance the learning experience,” said Yao.

Claire Giannini Hoffman, the first woman to serve on the board of Bank of America and Sears, Roebuck, died in 1997 at the age of 92; childless, her estate passed to her foundation. She was the daughter of the founder of Bank of America, A. P. Giannini. Hilda Yao is the daughter of Hoffman's closest friend, Dorothy Yao. "Claire, my mother, and I all believed strongly in the importance of investing in the education, training and welfare of children," Yao said yesterday.

Hoffman was also a horse lover, who provided "major philanthropic support" to the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, where a laboratory in equine science is named after her.

In the past, Yao has also donated to the University of Wisconsin in Madison, establishing the Dorothy and Hsin-Nung Yao Fund. Yao, a 1976 graduate of UW-Madison in Library Information Sciences, honors her parents by cash awards to an outstanding UW teacher of undergraduates in the history department.

Yesterday's awards will fund projects that promote literacy and language as well as math and science skills. More than a thousand of the projects are also from "high need" schools, where 40% or more of student populations are from families whose household income is at or below 130% of the poverty line (a maximum income of $23,920 for a family of four). 

Police in SoCal warning parents to "watch kids"

A tragic murder/kidnapping in Moreno Valley has both parents and law enforcement officials on pins and needles this week.  17 year-old Norma Lopez, who went missing after a summer school class at Valley View High School, was headed to meet a friend when she disappeared on July 15. Later that day a few of Norma's personal items were found in field--a popular neighborhood shortcut-- about a block and a half from her school. Norma's body was recovered 6 days later in an agricultural area 2 miles away near the eastern outskirts of Moreno Valley, which sits about 60 miles east of LA.  

Investigators are conducting vehicle check points and contacting registered sex offenders in the Moreno Valley area as part of their expanded search for the killer.  In the meantime authorities are warning parents to keep a close eye on their children and take extra safety precautions. 

Riverside County sheriff's Sgt. Joseph Borja was sparing with details about the case, but did say to parents in the area; "We haven't caught the suspect who killed Norma so obviously there is at least a murderer out there, and so I would be vigilant, I would be aware. If I was a parent I would keep track of my children. I would do everything I could to ensure their safety."

So far, no suspects or persons of interest have been identified, but police are on the look-out for a green SUV seen speeding from the area on the day of Norma's disappearance.

In Memory of: Nate Henn

25-year-old Nathan Henn, most recently from San Diego, was an intern and advocate with the African aid organization Invisible Children (IC), who died on Sunday in Kampala, Uganda after a terrorist attack during the World Cup final.  Nate (at right) worked with IC for a year and a half, without pay, as a Roadie Intern.

Nate grew up in Raleigh, NC, went to college at the University of Delaware. He spent much of the past year traveling around the United States with the IC, his trip to Uganda was his first visit to the country.

During his time with IC Nate--known to the people he worked with as “Oteka” (The strong one)--helped to raise thousands of dollars to educate and rebuild the lives of war-torn Ugandan children. He was also instrumental in the organizations volunteer recruiting program.  Nate’s former youth pastor, Rev. Andrew Hudson, called him a “gentle, sincere young man with deep compassion for those in distress.”

Nate’s family and IC have set up the Nate “Oteka” Henn Memorial Fund to support other students who would like to become a part of the Roadie Internship program.  They released the following statement via a new website set up in Nate’s name;

"People ask us how they can help or what they can do, and we know Nate’s heart was for making the world a better place. Nate’s legacy is the pursuit of peace and a future for the children of Uganda and the Congo. We glow with pride at the man he was, and while we mourn today, we will celebrate him forever. We hope people will feel compelled to join his legacy and support others to live this life of service."

According to their website, Invisible Children is an organization made up staff, students and full time volunteers who use media to tell the story of war torn countries in East Africa.  They have also developed programs across Uganda to assist in development of the country. So far they have worked with 8,400 youth to bring clean water, sanitary conditions, schools, books, teachers, and technology to their communities, 360 displaced families to find them homes, and 13 formerly abducted mothers to teach saving, literacy, and health practices. 

In Memory Of: Julianne Huerta

In Sacramento today, at the opening program of National Foster Care Month, State Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg and Assemblyman Roger Niello honored long-time legislative staffer Julianne Huerta (at right) for her work to support foster children to continue their education. Huerta died from cancer on December 6, 2008; she was 39.

An advisor to members of the California State Legislature, she was a principal consultant to the Assembly Republic Caucus for the budget and appropriations committees, which included the annual deliberations on the Governor's budget for all issues related to human services. She was particularly an advocate for women and children in vulnerable situations, and was honored today for the key legislation she drafted to protect children in the foster care system.

Foster Care PSA with Sen. George Runner and Asm. Roger Niello from CA Senate Republican Caucus on Vimeo.