Monday, September 08, 2008

This Week's News: Youth in Transition

Education

GISD goes after dropout students
The Daily News – September 8, 2008
Ovidio Sanchez, 18, stopped going to school when he realized he could make good money spending his days at Gulf Copper Dry Dock and Rig Repair instead of inside a Ball High School classroom. After four months of work and three months in jail, Sanchez said he wanted to go back to school. The Galveston public school district administrators who roused him from bed Saturday morning gave him just the push he needed to go back to school.

Reaching out to dropouts
Youth Radio – September 7, 2008
For some, the path to graduation can be frought with obstacles. Saturday, educators and concerned citizens reached out to dropouts to help them continue on the track to graduation. This year's Reach Out to Dropouts Walk kicked off at Madison High School in south Houston. Volunteers went to the homes of dropouts to encourage them to return to school.

Mayor, officials drop in on dropouts
El Paso Times – September 7, 2008
A crew of principals, teachers and campus administrators of the El Paso Independent School District, together with elected officials and local celebrities, went door-to-door Saturday to encourage high-school dropouts to return to school. Britaney Hernandez, a 17-year-old single mother, dropped out after she could not afford day care for her 2-year-old son. As EPISD declared dropout prevention and recovery the focus for this school year, Superintendent Lorenzo Garcia joined Mayor John Cook to call on Hernandez.

Juvenile Justice

Highfields program aims to guide at-risk girls
Lansing State Journal – September 8, 2008
Although the kinds of crimes committed by girls do not differ much from boys, the reasons behind their behavior are often different."In some ways, boys act out and girls act in," said Tim Monroe, who oversees treatment programs at Highfields, a nonprofit that has started a new program, called Girls Gender-Specific, that specifically targets at-risk girls. It seeks to change the behaviors that lead girls to commit crimes or fall into truancy problems.

Juvenile justice gets $2.8 million facility
Myrtle Beach Sun News – September 7, 2008
A nonprofit group presented the Department of Juvenile Justice with a $2.8 million facility where offenders can connect with family members, therapists, educators and others as they prepare to re-enter society. The 10,000-square-foot Bill Rogers Community Connections Center opened at DJJ's Broad River Road complex this weekend.

County increases capacity of juvenile rehab programs
Milpitas Post – September 3, 2008
Santa Clara County has taken several steps to increase the capacity of the rehabilitation programs it offers to high-risk youth in our juvenile justice system. In June, the Board of Supervisors approved the addition of 24 beds at the county's William F. James Ranch that staff will accomplish by installing temporary facilities. In August, the board contracted with a community based organization to provide space for six probation youth in its residential program for at-risk youth.

Foster Care

Valley Voices: Struggling child safety group tries harder
The Modesto Bee – September 8, 2008
Assistant Director Jan Viss helps run Stanislaus County's Community Services Agency, Child and Family Serv- ices Division, known to the community as CPS. Much of the work this agency does flies below the radar because of the strict confidentiality laws that govern its services. Last year, callers reported the abuse or neglect of 10,234 children on the county's child abuse hot line. Of those cases, CPS decided about 1,000 were serious enough to warrant assigned caseworkers. Nearly 400 of those children received services from the agency while staying at home. Almost 600 others were removed by the court to live with family, in foster care or to be adopted or placed under someone else's legal guardianship.

Keeping foster kids on right track
The Seattle Times – September 8, 2008
Washington state has been under a court order to improve its track record in foster care. A survey of youths once in the system highlights progress. About 88 percent of 700 teens interviewed by phone said they had been treated very well or somewhat well in foster care. An equal percentage reported being in good health and feeling optimistic about their futures. Those interviewed were between ages 15 to 18 and in foster care in 2007.

Call to aid youth leaving care
They Sydney Morning Herald – September 7, 2008
Those who have grown up in care say more support for young adults leaving foster homes, group accommodation and juvenile institutions is needed to help them fend for themselves. At the start of National Child Protection Week today, Jacqui Reed, the chief executive of the CREATE Foundation, which helps those in so-called out-of-home care, said transition to independent living was "the biggest burning issue". The call for greater assistance for young people comes as figures from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare show the number of children in care nationally has almost doubled in the past 10 years, growing from 3 per 1000 children to 5.8 per 1000 at June 30, 2007.

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