2012 Governor's State of the State speeches: on Families & Children

Deval Patrick: Parents wonder if their kids will do as well as them

There are parents across our state who wonder tonight whether they will be able to do as well for their children as their parents did for them. There are workers, some unemployed for many months, who wonder tonight whether this new economy has a place for them. There are small businesses and working families who now have the security of health insurance, but who wonder tonight whether they can manage the ever-increasing costs. There are children tonight who wonder whether they will be safe when they step outside their own front door. We are not yet fulfilling our generational responsibility to them.

Sean Parnell: Choose Respect: $12M to eradicate domestic violence epidemic

Our administration's budget includes nearly $12 million to eradicate this epidemic. The Choose Respect initiative focuses on prevention and enforcement, and it provides services for victims and survivors. But Choose Respect is more than just a government initiative--it is a personal initiative. It is about each of us honoring the dignity and value of every human being. It is about setting people free from generations of abuse.

Dave Heineman: Reform child welfare system: collaborative & measurable

Your Health and Human Services Committee has provided the state a series of recommendations to begin a conversation about how the courts, the Legislature and the Executive Branch can work together to develop a more collaborative, a more coordinated and a more comprehensive approach to protecting Nebraska's children.

Together, we need to bring stability to Nebraska's child welfare system. The focus should be on the future & on measurable results

John Hickenlooper: Consolidate 23 early childhood services under one roof

Abundant research demonstrates that if a child fails to learn how to read by the third grade, that child is more likely to drop out of high school and faces an enormous uphill battle for the rest of his or her life. We must develop intervention strategies with parents and teachers to identify failing students long before they reach the third grade and keep them from an illiterate future.