Monday, March 30, 2009

This Week's News: Youth in Transition

Education

Exeter High School drop out rate declines
Seacoastonline.com, Exeter, NH – March 27, 2009
Schools across the state, including SAU 16, are lowering their dropout rates. Numbers released Wednesday, March 25, showed the state's four-year cumulative dropout rate has fallen 3.8 percent in six years. Superintendent Michael Morgan said SAU 16 showed a 1.1 percent decline in the four-year cumulative rate. Morgan said it's a tribute to voters and employees who strive to offer a variety of educational opportunities to each student.

Engaging high-school dropouts
Independent Record, Helena, MT – March 26, 2009
After trying to attend each of Helena’s public high schools without success, 19-year-old Christina Becker is now on a path to earn her high school diploma — this time at the University of MontananHelena. “(The high schools) are very different, but all have the same teaching methods,” Becker said. “I have a problem reading out of a book and learning. The structure of the college environment is very helpful.”

A drop in dropouts: Statewide, schools are seeing improvements
Foster’s Daily Democrat, Dover, NH – March 26, 2009
It seems efforts by school districts to provide students with alternate educational options and opportunities has been effective in lowering the dropout rate statewide. The state Department of Education released a statement Wednesday that high schools have shown steady improvement in dropout rates, going from a four-year cumulative dropout rate of 15.1 percent in 2001-2002 to 11.3 percent now. "Through hard work, schools have made great progress," said Commissioner Lyonel Tracy in the DOE press release.

Juvenile Justice

Keeping an eye on at-risk youths
Daily News, Los Angeles, CA – March 27, 2009
Probation officers will be stationed at four schools in some of the San Fernando Valley's most troubled areas as part of a pilot program to keep at-risk kids out of the juvenile justice system, officials announced Friday. The Los Angeles County Probation Department will place full-time officers at Birmingham High School in Van Nuys, Panorama High School in Panorama City, Kennedy High School in Granada Hills, and Maclay Middle School in Pacoima. The officers will focus on kids ages 13 to 18 who appear at-risk for criminal activity, working with the children and their families to keep them out of trouble.

Juveniles' justice
Palo Alto Online, Palo Alto, CA – March 27, 2009
Members of East Palo Alto Youth Court practiced their skills Thursday at a mock trial presided over by Judge LaDoris Cordell at East Palo Alto City Hall. Youth Court is an alternative to the juvenile-justice system.

Youth diversion programs defended in Laconia
The Citizen of Laconia, Belknap County, NH – March 27, 2009
Alan Robichaud, director of the Belknap County Citizens Council on Children and Families, defended restorative justice programs to local Rotarians on Thursday, telling them it is more economical to help juvenile offenders before they reach the courts than after. This week's guest to the Laconia Rotary Club, Robichaud said Laconia was very fortunate to have a close-knit community where "people support the idea of community justice" performed with "dignity and respect."

Foster Care

Year Up students learn business and life skills
San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco, CA – March 29, 2009
Not long ago, Beaunca Wilson passed her time hanging out with drug dealers and users, feeling like she had no plans and even fewer options. Today, the 20-year-old single mom, a former foster youth who lives in Oakland, has traded her sweats for business attire and is spending her days learning how to use Excel spreadsheets and network at events.

Philanthropist Doris Buffett Gives $150,000 Challenge Grant to Hearts & Homes for Youth - Area Non-Profit Serving At-Risk Youth
Fox Business, Silver Spring, MD – March 26, 2009
Hearts & Homes for Youth, the Maryland non-profit organization serving troubled and at-risk youth will host a special luncheon featuring philanthropist Doris Buffett, founder of the Sunshine Lady Foundation and sister of billionaire investor Warren E. Buffett on Friday, March 27. Ms. Buffett believes that each of her grants is considered an "investment and a call to action for individuals to do their part to help change lives." The entire $300,000 donation will go towards enhancing Hearts & Homes' multitude of programs and services.

New center calls out for foster teens
Sonoma Valley Sun, Sonoma, CA – March 27, 2009
One day the teenager is in a foster home with meals and a place to sleep, a sense of security and belonging. The next day, an 18th birthday, it’s all gone. The framework of county assistance disappears and the youth is legally emancipated, “aged out” of the system. Beginning April 2, with the opening of Sonoma V.O.I.C.E.S. in Santa Rosa, foster teens will have a place to turn for help and advice. Voicing Our Independent Choices for Emancipation Support brings support services all under one roof for the first time in Sonoma County. The one-stop community center will be staffed by experts – eight recently emancipated foster youth, ages 18 to 22.

Monday, March 23, 2009

This Week's News: Youth in Tranasition

Education

Whatcom County program that works to curb school drop-out rates facing budget cuts
The Bellingham Herald, Whatcom County, WA – March 23, 2009
A statewide program that helps at-risk Whatcom County students stay in school by stabilizing their lives outside of school is facing cuts as Washington legislators grapple with a projected state budget deficit of nearly $9 billion. The Whatcom County Readiness to Learn Consortium, like others across the state, aims to curb drop-out rates by connecting students and their families to existing social services, including for health care, homelessness and domestic violence.

Bredesen urges renewed work on school dropouts
MSNBC, Chattanooga, TN – March 18, 2009
Gov. Phil Bredesen said Wednesday he is proud of the progress Tennessee has made in improving school graduation rates, but he cautioned the work will become more difficult. "It's going to get harder as we move forward because we have increased the (graduation) standards, and it's one of the things we're going to have to deal with," Gov. Bredesen said.

Juvenile Justice

Seminar to examine juvenile justice
2TheAdvocate.com, Lafayette, LA – March 17, 2009
The League of Women Voters of Louisiana will present an educational seminar that focuses on juvenile justice and opportunities for intervention, education and prevention. The seminar, “Too Much, Too Many at Risk,” features keynote speaker Rob Reardon, director of the Lafayette Parish Correctional Center, which coordinates prevention programs for at-risk youth.

Foster Care

Foster care alumni find 2nd chance in a duplex in Braddock
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Pittsburgh, PA – March 23, 2009
Like a lot of teenagers, Richard Taylor and Davaughn Howard yearned for their independence but underestimated the challenges of living on their own when they turned 18. But as foster care alumni who left the umbrella of the system, there was no going back to the security of guaranteed housing, clothing and food that remaining wards of the state would have provided. Last week, the two 19-year-olds moved into their own refurbished duplex on the edge of Braddock, where they've been given a temporary reprieve from some of the challenges of the real world.

New plan keeps young adults in the foster system
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Pittsburgh, PA – March 23, 2009
Latoya Steadman was only 2 when the Allegheny County Office of Children, Youth and Families removed her from her parents' care because of their constant drug use and child neglect. "That might be the best thing that happened to me," said Ms. Steadman, 19, who after years of being shuffled between placements in the foster care system -- moving from family settings to group homes -- is now on her own in college.

Virginia to receive $3.4 million for adoption and foster care programs
MSNBC, Roanoke, VA – March 16, 2009
The Department of Health and Human Services today announced the release of $3.4 million authorized by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to support foster care and adoption assistance programs in Virginia. Nearly $1 million will support adoption assistance programs, while more than $2.4 million will go to foster care programs.

Monday, March 16, 2009

This Week's News: Youth in Transition

Education

Dropout rate vexes officials
The Republican, Turner Falls, ID – March 15, 2009
Figures released by the state last month showed that Turners Falls High School - the district's only high school - had a 19.8 percent dropout rate for students who entered in 2004 and left sometime before last spring. Principal Christine P. Jutres, talked about preventing students from dropping out. Drawing on the work of Robert Balfanz, a research scientist at the Center for Social Organization of Schools at Johns Hopkins University, who has written extensively on high school dropouts, Jutres said that a successful start to education involves more than skills and socialization.

Diverting dropouts is new school's goal
The Marion Star, Marion, OH – March 13, 2009
A new community school is preparing to launch and reach out to dropouts and students in danger of leaving school. The Ohio Department of Education has approved Marion City Schools application to sponsor Rushmore Academy, a community conversion school that will be housed at the district's former Colonial Acres Elementary School at 1565 Amherst Drive. The school will serve junior high and high school students at risk of dropping out or students up through 21 years old who have dropped out and want to return to earn their high school diplomas.

Plan aims to help annual progress rates at Dundalk High
Baltimore Sun, Baltimore, MD – March 10, 2009
Baltimore County schools officials have developed a plan to improve student achievement and the graduation rate at Dundalk High School that includes replacing some school staff, fostering community ties and switching to a six-period day of classes.

Juvenile Justice

Upgraded Duval center to benefit Nassau juveniles
News-Leader, Jacksonville, FL – March 12, 2009
Improvements made to the Duval County Juvenile Assessment Center - paid for by Jacksonville - will benefit Nassau County youths who are charged with crimes and their families. Juveniles arrested in Nassau County are often released to the custody of a parent or guardian, but if an adult cannot be found, or the charge is so serious the child needs to be detained, they are booked into the juvenile holding facility in Jacksonville.

State's Juvenile Justice Act calls for alternatives to incarceration
Press-Register, Bay Minette, AL – March 14, 2009
Baldwin County government, law enforcement and judicial officials will be watching the spring break season closely to see how new state juvenile justice laws impact the handling of girls and boys gone wild. The Juvenile Justice Act calls for more counseling and community-based programs as alternatives to incarceration, and mandates that minors picked up for offenses that aren't considered adult crimes generally cannot be detained in a lockdown facility.

Foster Care

Foster kids find college help after 'aging out'
Associated Press – Richmond, VA – March 13, 2009
Community colleges in several states are working to establish stronger support systems for former foster-care children, who are more likely to wind up homeless or in jail than earn a degree as they struggle to overcome unstable lives. Among them is Virginia, where the Community College System's Great Expectations program uses grants and donations to provide money for tuition, transportation and living expenses.

California legislators consider extending foster care through age 21
Mercury News, Silicon Valley, CA – March 9, 2009
A bevy of bipartisan California legislators vowed Monday to be better parents to the state's foster youth, pledging to extend their life-sustaining benefits through age 21 rather than casting them off as teenagers. Currently, most youth "aging out" of foster care are bounced off state support at 18, a tender age for a vulnerable population that often has nowhere to go and no one to rely on. But an assembly bill written by Speaker Karen Bass, D-Los Angeles, and Assemblyman Jim Beall, D-San Jose, would draw on newly available federal funds to support relative caregivers and transitional living programs through age 21.

Monday, March 09, 2009

This Week's News: Youth in Transition

Education

New Bedford school officials bearing down on graduation rates
South Coast Today, New Bedford, MA – March 8, 2009
School officials at New Bedford High wanted Amy Pimental, then 16, to see one more person before signing the paper that said she was quitting school. Giving up. Becoming a statistic. Becoming part of the problem. She was sent to see Bernadette Coelho, the school's dropout prevention specialist, whose job it was to keep as many people like Amy as she could from walking out the door.

Discipline of Military Redirects Dropouts
The New York Times, New York, NY – March 7, 2009
By his own account, Donte’ A. Dungey had no motivation in high school, sleeping through classes and sometimes showing up only for the free lunch to reduce the burden on his mother, who was struggling with nine other children. Held back three times and scheduled to enter the 10th grade at nearly 18, he knew that “high school just wasn’t going to work for me,” he said. Mr. Dungey is one of 203 youths who graduated from a grueling physical and educational program on Saturday.

Juvenile Justice

Fourth Circuit Juvenile Arbitration to offer training
SC Now.com, South Carolina – March 9, 2009
The first training sessions this year for the 4th Circuit Juvenile Arbitration program will be offered at the Darlington County Library beginning Monday. Juvenile arbitration is a restorative justice program that gives priority to the restoration of the victim’s physical, material and emotional needs. In most cases, the victim meets with the juvenile offender and the arbitrator and tells them about the offense committed against them.

Laconia presenters tell of restorative justice model
The Citizen of Laconia, Laconia, NH – March 5, 2009
Retired Juvenile Justice Willard Martin, and F. Andre Paquette, chair of the Belknap County Citizens Council, were presenters at the "Heads Together '09" statewide conference. They joined Deb Naro and Michelle Golden from the Communities for Alcohol and Drug Free Youth (CADY) Coalition in Plymouth to discuss the restorative justice model of community-based juvenile justice. Restorative justice principles focus on offender accountability, restitution to both the victim and the community, and the personal growth of the youth.

Juvenile justice agency gets federal grant
The Topeka Capital Journal, Topeka, KS – March 3, 2009
The Kansas Juvenile Justice Authority has received an $881,217 federal grant to improve services for juvenile sex offenders. Commissioner J. Russell Jennings said Tuesday the grant is aimed at reducing re-offense rates. The grant will be targeted at providing pre-sentencing assessment services to about 140 youths per year in 12 judicial districts. Those districts account for 43 percent of the juvenile sex offenders placed in the authority’s custody. It also will focus on about 50 youths per year in the juvenile correctional facilities to provide intensive treatment programs and re-entry services.

Foster Care

Foster child gives back to youth
The Lufkin Daily News, Lufkin, TX – March 8, 2009
Most children who age out of the foster care system at 18 eventually end up in prison, pregnant or without a college degree, statistics show. However, one Tyler woman has defied those odds, becoming one of the less than 2 percent of foster care children who go on to earn a college degree. At 22, Jennifer England now works as a Region 4 Youth Specialist for Child Protective Services to help others in the system succeed, too.

UCR social-work researcher wins grant to study youth emancipated from foster system
The Press-Enterprise, Riverside, CA – March 4, 2009
A University of California Riverside researcher has won a $94,781 grant from the John Randolph Haynes and Dora Haynes Foundation to study developmental processes that take place as teens age out of foster care. "It's an exciting new opportunity and we're hoping to listen to the youth with a pretty open ear because they are the experts on this," Yates said.

Monday, March 02, 2009

This Week's News: Youth in Transition

Education

Schools are trying proactive programs to decrease dropouts
Tulsa World, Tulsa, OK – March 2, 2009
Dropout prevention starts early at Broken Arrow Public Schools, where teachers and sta, identify atrisk children in elementary school. “Even going to all-day kindergarten, it’s a proactive approach to dropout prevention,” said Brian Beagles, the district’s assistant superintendent of instructional services. Teachers have had training to identify specific students who need additional help and develop individualized study plans for them.

Help for Part-time Students Among Recommendations Urged To Improve Latino Educational Attainment
Diverse Issues in Higher Education, Washington, DC – March 2, 2009
Warning of an education crisis for the nation’s burgeoning Latino population, academic researchers and advocates came to Capitol Hill Friday, calling for quick action to avert that crisis.

Juvenile Justice

Senate approves rewrite of juvenile offender law
KDBC News, NC – February 28, 2009
The Senate agreed today to an overhaul of state laws governing juvenile offenders and children who are victims of abuse or neglect. Supporters of the legislation say it's necessary for the Children, Youth and Families Department to move forward with a revision of the juvenile justice system. The legislation would put a greater emphasis on rehabilitation and therapy rather than punishment and lockup facilities.

Volunteer Chaplaincy Program Helps At-Risk Kids
WJHG News, Panama City, FL – February 26, 2009
The Florida Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) Faith and Community Network announced on February 24, 2009, a groundbreaking initiative, the Volunteer Chaplaincy Program. Offered through the DJJ Office of Prevention, the program is designed to connect local faith representatives with at-risk youth and their families to help bridge the transition out of the juvenile justice system and into a better future. The program is voluntary for children and parents, and inclusive of all faiths.

Restorative Justice offers mentor training
Village Soup, Waldo County, ME – March 1, 2009
The Restorative Justice Project of the Midcoast (RJP) is offering a free training for volunteer mentors. RJP’s goal is to bring about a cultural shift in the way that the community, law enforcement and the justice system work together to address crime and punishment. Restorative justice creates a forum for victims to have a voice, gives an opportunity for the offender to take accountability and acknowledges the impact of their crime on the community.

Foster Care

Guides prepare budding adults Next Step program helps foster teens learn independence
Bradenton Herald, Bradenton, FL – March 1, 2009
Considered adults, they are turned out of foster homes to fend for themselves. But after being cared for by the state for most of their lives, few are prepared to make it on their own, says Magistrate Susan Maulucci of the Twelfth Judicial Circuit. Next Step volunteers work in teams, collaborative trios of mental health, legal, financial professionals, education professionals and/or business people assigned to a youth in final year before the foster teen becomes an adult and continuing for one year into adulthood.

Former foster kids trying to beat the odds
HeraldNet, Everett, WA – February 24, 2009
Jacklyn Velasquez doesn't need state or national reports to know that few students who grew up in foster care enroll in college. Today, Velasquez, 20, defies state and national odds as a foster care alum who attends college. She's taking classes at Everett Community College, which wants to attract more students with similar backgrounds.

Colorado Education and Training Voucher Program Benefits Foster Kids
Examiner, Denver, CO – February 26, 2009
One issue foster kids often have when they "age out" of foster care is a lack of financial support. They typically must go straight to work to support themselves, and it's a tough battle to find a way to pay for higher education on their own. Some kids turn to illegal means to support themselves, unfortunately. The Colorado Education and Training Voucher Program offers funds to current and former foster kids to help them to attend colleges, universities and vocational training institutions.