Supervisors Fund Task Force to shape future intimate partner violence policy

SANTA CLARA COUNTY, CA—The Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved $225,000 on Tuesday to fund a task force that will help shape future policy to address violence within households and other close relationships that goes beyond husband-wife conflicts that have long been considered "domestic violence."

Called the Intimate Partner Violence Blue Ribbon Task Force, it will engage experts over the next two years to convene, inventory and evaluate the current prevention and treatment systems to be included in a report to the Domestic Violence Council and the Board of Supervisors.

Supervisors Cindy Chavez and Ken Yeager introduced the "inventory item," which is a Board member's proposal to change the budget. They will be organizational chairs of the Task Force along with the Santa Clara County Office of Women's Policy and a to-be-determined community organization that focuses on domestic violence.

Tuesday was the second day of a weeklong series of public hearings scheduled to conclude Friday with the adoption of a budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1.