Home Elected Officials Joe Parisi, Dane County Executive

Joe Parisi, Dane County Executive

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Joe Parisi, Dane County Executive
Joe Parisi, Dane County Executive

Dane County’s partnership with community centers

Neighborhood and community centers are one of the most important investments we can make toward ensuring all our children and families have the ability to reach their full potential. I recently introduced my 2020 budget, recognizing the great potential of community centers in advancing longstanding county policy priorities: reducing poverty, improving mental health services for young people, and bringing partners together to support families. 

My budget creates a new $500,000 grant program for community centers to launch new mental and behavioral health work for children and families. As we’ve seen with the Building Bridges school mental health program I created a few years ago, when you take available services to where young people gather, you can directly improve living situations and outcomes.

Childhood mental health, trauma and poverty are all barriers to the future success of young people. These centers see firsthand every day the effects of mental health challenges and trauma on our younger residents. That’s why I’m also funding training on trauma informed care for center volunteers and staff across the community. 

The budget for next year also links two of our greatest assets — community centers and Dane County parks — to get young people better engaged with the natural world around them. I’m creating “Dane County Get Outside!” an initiative connecting those ages 7‒14 with the vast array of natural resources and parks that contribute so much to our quality of life. Parks staff will visit centers to work with students on the importance of natural areas, and from there the fun will head outdoors.

Neighborhood centers offer more than just a physical place to gather, they change lives and make memories, often by simple acts of the great human gifts of time and generosity. I’m proud to partner with them into 2020 and beyond.