This Week's New: Youth in Transition

Education

Time to Reform Public Higher Ed
Boston Globe - December 4, 2006
The National Conference of State Legislatures is out with a new report on the state of higher education across the United States, and the picture isn't pretty.

New Richland One Program Offers Second Chance For Drop-Outs
WLTX.com, SC - Nov 15, 2006
Jamie Radden is just 16 years old, and she's already facing the same issues that people twice her age are dealing with.

States Attempt To Lower High School Dropout Rates
clickondetroit.com - 12/2/2006
He was only in 10th grade but already 18 -- and still failing many classes. It's no mystery why Rico Simpson dropped out of Canton High School.


Juvenile Justice

Juvenile Justice Efforts Here Funded
Pittsburgh Post Gazette, PA - December 04, 2006
A report on juvenile justice being released today touts Pennsylvania and Allegheny County as models for national standards in the use of innovative strategies for keeping young people out of the court system.

Juvenile Justice System Needs Public Oversight
Nashville City Paper, TN - Nov 30, 2006
Of course, it is impossible for the public to actually monitor the juvenile justice system as it works to generate these kinds of records.

Juvenile Justice Leaders to Convene at MacArthur Foundation's
Business Wire (press release), CA - Nov 30, 2006
The MacArthur Foundation will commit a total of $100 million to support and accelerate promising models for juvenile justice reform across the country.


Foster Care

Foster Youth's Eternal Quest for a Forever Family
San Francisco Chronicle - Nov 28, 2006
In the last year, unprecedented attention has been focused on flaws in the foster care system. This is encouraging because the state of foster care demands our sustained attention if it is ever going to improve. But make no mistake. Foster care is by no means an end in itself. The true happy ending for a child who has been removed from his birth parents is a "forever family," whether that means returning to his own birth family in a healthy setting or being adopted.

The VOICES are Still Strong
Napa Valley Register, CA - Nov 21, 2006
Shawnee Brooks holds back tears when she’s asked to describe how working at the nation’s first youth-run support organization for foster care youth is changing her 22-year-old hard knocks life.


Youth Engagement

President Carter's Volunteerism Inspiring Young People
WLOX.com, MS - Nov 30, 2006
"It feels good." Volunteers say the Youth Build program gives high school drop outs a new beginning. They've learned not to give up no matter what, and by volunteering, they hope to encourage hurricane victims not to give up either.