Chair recognizes Council Member Stevens on Intro 453 for children of incarcerated parents

Thank you.

I'd like to add that we've been joined by Councilmember Stevens, who will give some remarks regarding her legislation.

Good morning and thank you, Chair.

I'm honored to be here today for Intro 453 legislation that speaks directly to our responsibility to protect and support children and families.

Children visiting incarcerated parents or family members can experience fear, confusion, sadness, and anxiety, and trauma that often goes unaddressed.

As a city, we have the responsibility to make sure that these young people have access to the supports they need and to process those experiences in a healthy way.

This legislation actually came about as most people know that I worked with young people for over 20 years.

And for a multiple number of years, young people who had family members, particularly parents who were experiencing incarceration, would come to my programs with severe trauma.

One of my young people that I worked with actually came to me and helped me develop this even before I was in council to say, I wish I would have had someone to talk to.

I wish someone would have been there to process what I experienced and tell me that I was going to be okay because they were like their parent was never coming home.

This young person's father was facing life in prison and did not know how to process that at such a young age.

And so this legislation is very near and dear to me.

So when talking about incarceration, we can not only focus on the person who's incarcerated, we have to think about the children and the family who are also impacted.

This is why Intro 453 is so important.

This legislation would ensure that

that children visiting incarcerated individuals could receive referrals to mental health services.

As the chair of the Committee on Children and Youth, I believe that our work must always center the well-being of our young people.

We have to meet young people where they are and provide them with the support before trauma becomes a deeper crisis.

Me and my colleagues visited yesterday Horizon, and we saw hundreds of children who were in secure detention.

And that was because a lot of them did not know how to process trauma.

So this is a way and a step that I believe that could help with some of that prevention.

If we're serious about breaking the cycles of harm of incarceration, then we must invest in healing, family stability, and prevention.

Every child deserves the opportunity to process their difficult experience with care, compassion, professional support, especially at a time where young people continue to ask for greater access to mental health.

When young people tell us what they need, we have the responsibility to listen to them.

And more importantly, we must deliver what they're asking for.

Intro 453 is about recognizing that incarceration impacts entire families and supporting children is an essential part of building healthier and safer communities.

I want to thank my colleagues for supporting this and this important legislation, and I urge everyone to continue to support this.

Thank you.

Thank you, Chair.