Youth Task Force and Human Rights Commission forward work plans to full Board; youth leaders present homelessness survey and outreach goals

The Children, Seniors and Families Committee heard annual work‑plan presentations Oct. 7 from the Santa Clara County Youth Task Force (YTF) and the Human Rights Commission and voted to forward both commissions’ annual work plans to the full Board of Supervisors.

Kendall Nord, a Mountain View High School student and co‑chair of the Youth Task Force, described the YTF’s two principal goals for 2025–26: conduct a homelessness survey to identify student service gaps and inform policy recommendations, and expand outreach and recruitment to increase countywide representation for the YTF. Nord said the homelessness subcommittee is finalizing survey questions and will partner with school administrators and the Office of Supportive Housing for survey distribution and analysis.

Brian Franzen, Human Rights Commission chair, briefed the committee on the commission’s priorities for the coming year, including immigration‑related work, a task force on local immigration laws, and attention to LGBTQ community impacts and disability justice. Franzen emphasized the commission’s intent to be “an arm of” the Board in holding and elevating community human‑rights concerns.

Committee members thanked the volunteer commissioners and youth leaders for outreach and invited supervisors to visit YTF meetings. The committee voted unanimously to forward the YTF and Human Rights Commission work plans to the Board of Supervisors for approval; the motion passed on a 2–0 roll call by committee members present.