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By Sylvia Moore, smoore@VenturaCountyStar.com
April 21, 2005 - The home can be the most dangerous place for many children, California Attorney General Bill Lockyer told an Oxnard audience of social service professionals and elected officials on Wednesday.

Lockyer said about 400,000 children in California were referred to social service agencies last year because of abuse or neglect.

"Violence at home is an epidemic," said Lockyer, who spoke at the annual Abuse Across the Lifespan Conference at the Residence Inn by Marriott at River Ridge in Oxnard.

The conference was organized by the Ventura County Partnership for Safe Families. The event also featured speakers Rebecca Whiteman, a senior healthcare analyst for the Family Violence Prevention Fund; Dr. Vincent J. Felitti, an internist with Kaiser Permanente in San Diego; and Linda Chamberlain, founding director of the Alaska Family Violence Prevention Project.

The partnership also presented its "I CARE" award to Terry Miller of Interface Children Family Services and Barbara Marquez O'Neill, a family violence prevention consultant and activist.

Whiteman is no stranger to domestic abuse. To illustrate the importance of what people in social services do, she described her own childhood in rural Colorado. Her father was abusive and controlling; a man who wouldn't let her mother work or go to college. Whiteman said the family wasn't even allowed to throw away old food. She said her father screened her mail, phone calls and dates.

"I was a target of a lot of his anger and control," Whiteman said.

After running away from home at 17 and attempting suicide at 18, Whiteman eventually got her life together. Her mother eventually left her father and went on to earn a bachelor's degree. "It's just an honor, the work that you do," Whiteman told the audience of several hundred people.

In his address, Lockyer recounted a story of how, as a college sophomore, he visited a friend in the hospital who was dying of cancer. Lockyer said he asked his friend what he had learned in life so far.

"He said our first responsibility, our principal duty in life, is for the kids," Lockyer recalled, "to see that each kid has the same opportunities we had, and, you know, he's right."

Lockyer said the best thing social service and healthcare professionals, law enforcement and elected officials can do is work together to make a difference in children's lives. He said there are three ways to decrease family and youth violence: focusing on prevention, catching perpetrators of abuse and detaining them. He said prevention is often the most neglected of the three.

Lockyer, a Democrat, said prevention needs to be a bipartisan effort.

"What we need from you to draw on is not so much your mental skills," Lockyer told the audience. "What we need is heart. What we need is commitment. What we need is caring."

On the Net:

http://www.partnershipforsafefamilies.org

HFPA Grants More Than $1,000,000 to 27 Film Schools and Non-Profit Organizations During Annual Installation Luncheon

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 20, 2005--For the second year in a row, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association is donating more than $1,000,000 in financial grants to film schools and non-profit organizations.

These awards were announced during the Association's Annual Installation Luncheon honoring its 2005-2006 slate of officers at the Beverly Hills Hotel today.

Over the past 11 years, the HFPA has given more than $5,500,000 in financial grants. Celebrities attending the event included Kevin Bacon, Jesse Bradford, Peter Falk, America Ferrera, Sally Field, Brad Pitt, Emmy Rossum, and Ziyi Zhang.

Newly-elected president Philip Berk introduced the officers Mahfouz Doss, vice president; Jorge Camara, treasurer; Meher Tatna, executive secretary; and board members Lorenzo Soria (Chairman), Yani Begakis, Yoram Kahana, Mira Panajotovic, Noemia Young and Silvia Bizio (alternate).

The event was moderated by Rossum and Falk. Acceptance remarks were made by Brad Pitt on behalf of the Film Foundation Inc., Sally Field on behalf of the Sundance Institute (for international filmmakers), Ziyi Zhang on behalf of FilmAid International, America Ferrera on behalf of the National Association of Latino Independent Producers, Kevin Bacon on behalf of Film Independent (FIND), Jesse Bradford on behalf of Columbia University, and Anne Douglas and Jack Valenti on behalf of the Community Partners for the Anne & Kirk Douglas Playground Award.

"Members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association always look forward to our annual summer luncheon," said Berk. "Not only do we celebrate the installation of the organization's new officers and board members, we take pride in donating over $1,000,000 in charitable contributions to many outstanding film-related charities and educational institutions. We are fortunate that the success of the Golden Globes allows us to do so."

HOLLYWOOD FOREIGN PRESS ASSOCIATION 2005 GRANTS

General Financial Grants
------------------------

California Film Institute
$5,000 towards the "Documentary in Focus" consisting of a season of
documentary film presentations plus a retrospective and master class
with a master-in-residence.

California State Summer School Arts Foundation
$20,000 to provide scholarships for Los Angeles students to attend the
2005 session of the CSSSA InnerSpark, a summer training program for
California high school students who have demonstrated exceptional
talent in the arts.

California State University, Long Beach; Department of Film and
Electronic Arts
$20,000 to support student internships in a year-long documentary
program of the Department of Film and Electronic Arts that engages
film and journalism students in producing documentary films.

California State University, Los Angeles, Communication Studies, Reel
Rasquache
$15,000 to support student stipends and related costs associated with
organizing the "Reel Rasquache 2006 Festival" to celebrate the U.S.
Latino experience in film and art.

Community Partners for The Anne and Kirk Douglas Playground Award
$25,000 toward funding to Los Angeles schools to improve and enhance
outdoor and recreational space for children.

Ensemble Studio Theatre - The LA Project
$5,000 for the 2005-06 season of play development and West Coast
premiere productions featuring emerging playwrights and theater
artists.

The Film Foundation Inc.
$250,000 to initiate a series of restorations in 2005 of films of
Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. Specific projects to be
identified and approved by HFPA.

FilmAid International
$50,000 to continue the "HFPA Kakuma Peace and Reconciliation Series"
serving Sudanese and other refugees in the Kakuma Refugee Camp in
northwestern Kenya.

FINCA International
$5,000 special grant to support micro-loans for impoverished women in
the developing world.

The Ghetto Film School, Inc.
$10,000 to provide training and experience for youth from South Bronx
and Harlem interested in film industry careers.

Film Independent (FIND)
$30,000 to support the job placement component of "Project: Involve,"
a professional training and mentoring program that provides 40
under-represented filmmakers the opportunity to develop their craft
and make valuable connections that can become the basis for their
careers.

Independent Feature Project, New York
$10,000 toward the IFP Rough Cuts Lab, a mentorship and networking
program for emerging filmmakers with quality works-in-progress, so
their films can successfully enter the marketplace.

Inner-City Filmmakers
$15,000 towards a year-round pre-professional training and support for
low-income/minority youth from Los Angeles to prepare for careers in
the film industry.

Latin American Cinemateca of Los Angeles (LACLA)
$10,000 for premiere sponsorship of a tribute to Argentine comedian
Nini Marshal at the Ford Amphitheatre in Summer 2006.

Lone Pine Film Festival
$8,940 to purchase seating for the newly constructed "Old West Museum
Movie Theater," which is part of a museum of film history preserving
this region's history as one of Hollywood's principal locales for
shooting western movies. Funding is provided on a one-time special
basis only.

Los Angeles Conservancy
$30,000 for "Last Remaining Seats - 20th Anniversary Season," to
strengthen public appreciation of the motion pictures and movie
palaces that are part of Los Angeles' history.

National Association of Latino Independent Producers, Inc.
$20,000 toward costs for mentors in the 2005 Latino Producers Academy,
which identifies and nurtures new Latino/a filmmakers though intensive
workshop and practicum sessions to support the development of their
film projects.

New Roads School
$5,000 toward camera equipment for the school's Film and Video Program
providing film appreciation and film production classes for middle-
and high-school students.

Outfest
$20,000 toward costs of establishing the Outfest LGBT Film Study
Center at UCLA , a new, extensive collection of LGBT films.

The Sundance Institute
$75,000 toward the next phase of the Sundance International
Initiative, which supports international filmmakers across all
programs, including the Feature Film Program and Film Festival.

Young Musicians Foundation
$5,000 special grant to support the youth orchestra's 51st season.

Higher Education Grants
-----------------------

American Film Institute
$30,000 for HFPA Fellows Scholarships for second-year MFA candidates.

California Institute of the Arts, School of Film/Video
$105,500 grant with $50,000 for HFPA Fellows Scholarships for up to 12
scholarship awards ranging from $5,000 to $10,000 each for top-ranked
senior undergraduates and graduate students in the School's four
programs (directing, film/video, character animation, and experimental
animation); and $55,500 institutional support toward equipment
upgrades and improvements to HFPA Digital Labs.

California State University, Northridge, Department of Cinema and
Television Arts
$89,080 grant with $50,000 for HFPA Fellows Scholarships for 10 senior
film students to enable them to complete their required final film
projects; and $39,080 institutional support for HFPA sponsorship of
the 2006 Annual Student Film Showcase and to replace antiquated sound
and projection equipment.

Columbia University School of the Arts
$50,000 for HFPA Fellows Scholarships for seven international film
students.

North Carolina School of the Arts Foundation, Inc.
$20,000 for HFPA Fellows Scholarships to undergraduate students in the
NCSA School of Filmmaking who demonstrate financial need and artistic
merit.

University of California, Los Angeles, School of Theater, Film and
Television
$50,000 for HFPA Fellows Scholarships of $10,000 each for five MFA
Directing students, with preference given to foreign students.

President's Discretionary Fund
------------------------------

The Trustees unanimously approved an additional $20,685 for the
President's discretionary fund to be distributed prior to the end of
2005.

Contacts

The Michael Russell Group
Michael Russell, 310-939-9024

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Youth Empowerment
Lorraine Bowman, President
4249 Manzanita Drive
San Diego, California 92105
info@empowering-youth.org