Monday, April 25, 2011

This Week's News: Youth in Transition

Education

MLive, Grand Rapids-Wyoming, MI – April 23, 2011
Slashing the high school dropout rate in half in the Grand Rapids-Wyoming metro area for just one class could pump millions of dollars into the local economy, according to a new study. The Grand Rapids-Wyoming metropolitan statistical area was among nine Metropolitan statistical area in the state analyzed in "Education and the Economy" by the nonprofit Alliance for Excellent Education, with the support of State Farm. The group studied the economic returns lost from young people deciding to leave school. "The best economic stimulus is a high school diploma," said Bob Wise, president of the Alliance for Excellence in Education, a Washington, D.C., think tank that advocates for resources for at-risk kids in middle and high school.

Albert Lea Tribune – April 23, 2011
If a state Democrat-sponsored bill gets signed into law, high school dropouts would be unable to obtain their driver’s licenses until they are 18. The proposal has bipartisan support, including the backing of Sen. Gen Olson, a Minnetrista Republican who heads the Senate Education Committee. The bill hasn’t had a hearing yet. “We need to make sure our students stay in school,” said Rep. Jeanne Poppe, D-Austin. “The biggest thing to prevent people from going into poverty or crime would be to have education.”

MindShift – April 22, 2011
Despite President Obama’s loftiest hopes to extend the number of school days per year, many schools are actually having to decrease them because of severe budget cuts. While the number of school days in other countries exceeds 200, they’re being cut further in the U.S. to fewer than 180. With families that have access to enrichment programs and encourage learning online at home, the discrepancy can be filled. But for low-income kids who don’t have those opportunities, fewer school days puts them at an even greater disadvantage. For these kids, the nonprofit organization Citizen Schools attempts to fill that gap. The organization works with low-income students in low-performing middle schools across the country to, in essence, lengthen the learning day by “bringing in a second shift of educators who work with students,” says Stacey Gilbert, the organization’s spokesperson.

Juvenile Justice

Pantagraph, Springfield, IL – April 21, 2011
A prison reform group is criticizing one of the state's juvenile detention facilities in southern Illinois for relying too heavily on solitary confinement to discipline youth. The Illinois Youth Center in Harrisburg, a medium security facility for boys, used solitary confinement more than any other Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice facility, according to a report issued Wednesday by the John Howard Association, a prison watchdog group. The 239-resident facility used confinement 122 times in January and 103 times in February this year, the report said. Kendall Marlowe, a spokesman for the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice, said the department is reviewing the use of confinement at all of its facilities.

Youth Today – April 21, 2011
After a long, frustrating wait for action on any juvenile justice-related legislation, the pending reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act – now known as No Child Left Behind – offers advocates a chance to improve the plight of youth who are incarcerated. The education act sets standards for schooling in juvenile facilities, which can be a key to improving a youth’s chances for staying out of such institutions in the future. “This is a huge piece of the day running 24-7 facilities,” said Ed Dolan, deputy commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Youth Services. Having a better school day can “stabilize things for so many other units.”

Tampa Bay Online – April 18, 2011
A program designed to give juvenile law-breakers a chance to avoid arrest records will be bolstered around the state under bills approved by the House last week and on track for passage in the Senate. Employing what are known as civil citations, the program provides social services for first-time youthful offenders who commit certain nonviolent crimes and allows them to take responsibility for their actions without having to enter the juvenile justice system. "This bill is a really important first step in our juvenile justice reform efforts," said Wansley Walters, secretary of the state Department of Juvenile Justice, speaking before a Senate committee that approved the bill sponsored by Sen. Ronda Storms, R-Valrico.

Foster Care

The Spokesman Review – April 21, 2011
Justin Vinge, Josephine Davis and Mariah Hottell have a lot in common. They’re bright, articulate and successful college students. They’ve also been called disposable, unwanted and told they’d never succeed. These Spokane Falls Community College students are former foster youth who are proving their detractors wrong. Recently, the three shared their stories at a College Success Foundation storytelling workshop in Issaquah, Wash. The foundation funds and administrates several scholarship programs like Passport to College Promise, which makes it possible for foster care youth to attend college. “We’re all part of the Passport program,” Hottell, 19, said. For young people who’ve spent their childhoods moving from house to house, never feeling like they belonged, the sense of community they’ve found at SFCC is empowering.

Huffington Post – April 19, 2011
In the first part of this two-part series highlighting the hardships that half a million foster children face each year, Enrique Montiel shared his story. As a foster care alumnus, he now works as a social worker within the system that took him, and his five siblings, from his parents when he was only 9. Montiel advocates for teens who share the experiences he endured and the problems that persist in America's foster homes. His story provides hope for those who continue to deal with the rampant race issues, homophobia that results in the abuse of LGBT foster children and the denial of adoptive opportunities for LGBT potential parents, problems in education stemming from emotional stress and frequent relocation, and health hazards that result from neglect and abuse that plague the foster care system. However, as looming budget deficits force states to scramble to reduce recessionary spending, many may cut the programs that provide services to foster children.

­­NY Daily News – April 8, 2011
Like many young adults her age, Jessica Jimenez is looking for her first apartment. She's figuring out rent, calculating how she would get around, juggling figures to see how she can afford utility bills, health care and cable television. "It's stressful," Jimenez said. "A lot of stuff is going on and, sometimes, it's a little overwhelming. "But I have hope that everything is going to be fine." As she says this, Jimenez's eyes are a bit careworn and the set of her jaw resolute. Judging from where she came from to where she is now, there is little doubt the College of Staten Island second-year student will get where she plans to go. Jimenez has been in the city's foster care system since she was 8 years old. The 21-year-old will "age out" of the system in a few weeks, meaning she will be on her own.

Monday, April 18, 2011

This Week's News: Youth in Transition

Education

Southeaast Missourian, Missouri – April 15, 2011
High school dropouts are costing Missouri hundreds of millions of dollars in lost earnings and spending every year, according to a new study.  "Education and the Economy," released by the not-for-profit Alliance for Excellent Education, a national policy and advocacy organization, tracks the economic potential of bolstering graduation rates.  An estimated 20,000 students dropped out of Missouri's class of 2010, according to the report. The lost lifetime earnings in Missouri for that class of dropouts alone totals nearly $5.2 billion, based on figures from a previous study the organization conducted.

NKY.com, Frankfort, KY – April 13, 2011
Starting this fall, Kentucky's public schools will be judged not only by their test scores, but also on how much progress they make and whether they're closing learning gaps among disadvantaged students, the state board of education decided Wednesday.  It's the first phase of a new accountability system that will replace the Commonwealth Accountability Testing System, or CATS, which was dismantled as part of Senate Bill 1, a wide-ranging education reform bill passed by the Kentucky legislature in March 2009.

School Dropouts Help Build Homes
WOWT.com, Omaha, NE – April 14, 2011
A low-income Omaha family received the keys to a new home Thursday morning thanks to the work of Habitat For Humanity and Goodwill Industries. The five-bedroom, two-bathroom house at 22nd and Fowler took six months to build. While the homeowner had to put in a lot of time in working on the residence, students from a Goodwill program called YouthBuild Omaha provided most of the labor. It gives high school dropouts ages 16-24 a chance to get a GED and get real life, work experience.

Juvenile Justice

Standard Speaker, Harrisburg, PA – April 12, 2011
After hearing a Wilkes-Barre mother’s impassioned plea for justice, a Senate committee this morning approved the most sweeping package of bills to date to address issues raised by the Luzerne County courthouse scandal.  Sandy Fonzo asked that bills to add safeguards to the conduct of juvenile justice cases be approved in the name of her late son, Edward Kenzakoski. She told senators that the improper detention of her son in a juvenile case on orders of former Luzerne County Judge Mark A. Ciavarella Jr. set events in motion that led to his suicide years later.
Philly Burbs, Trenton, NJ – April 15, 2011
Students from the Juvenile Justice Commission participated today in the 12th Annual Science Fair at the New Jersey State Museum.  Students from nine Juvenile Justice Commission's residential day and transitional programs took part in the event.  This year's theme was “The Climate of Weather.” “This is a wonderful educational event that allows the JJC’s students to do something that all of their classmates across the country do every year – participate in a science fair,” said Veleria N. Lawson, executive director of the Juvenile Justice Commission. 

Sunshine State News, Florida – April 14, 2011
Leaders from the Florida Network of Youth and Family Services unveiled a report from the Justice Research Center Wednesday that found the state saved more than $160 million annually.  And the state did it by employing prevention services aimed at helping troubled youth stay out of the state juvenile justice system.

Foster Care

Oregon Live, Salem, OR – April 15, 2011
No one disagrees with the premise: Oregon ought to do all it can to help kids aging out of foster care get a solid start as adults.  But a proposal to waive the cost of tuition and fees for foster youths who want to study at Oregon's state colleges and universities is struggling in the 2011 Legislature because of government's money troubles.  House Bill 3471 has both a Republican and a Democratic sponsor. A team of former foster youths has been to the Capitol to lobby for it. The waiver would cost about $1 million for the 2012-13 academic year, chump change in a $14 billion state budget.

Herald Argus, Michigan City, MI – April 15, 2011
Best-selling author Ashley Rhodes-Courter said it was a CASA volunteer who helped save her from a life of abusive foster homes and neglect, and set her on a path for success.  She spoke Thursday evening to Harmony House/CASA volunteers during a 20th anniversary celebration in their honor at the Blue Chip Casino and Visitors Center.

Monday, April 11, 2011

This Week's News: Youth in Transition

Education

Detroit Free Press, Michigan – April 8, 2011
After pledging its largest financial gift to increase high school graduation rates, General Motors added a human element to its pledge, saying it will provide mentors to help students achieve. Mark Reuss, GM's North American president, said in a conference call Thursday that he's asking employees to volunteer to tutor at seven Detroit-area schools targeted by the grant because of poor graduation rates.

The New York Times, Memphis, TN – April 5, 2011
Jack London was the subject in Daterrius Hamilton’s online English 3 course. In a high school classroom packed with computers, he read a brief biography of London with single-paragraph excerpts from the author’s works. But the curriculum did not require him, as it had generations of English students, to wade through a tattered copy of “Call of the Wild” or “To Build a Fire.” Mr. Hamilton, who had failed English 3 in a conventional classroom and was hoping to earn credit online to graduate, was asked a question about the meaning of social Darwinism. He pasted the question into Google and read a summary of a Wikipedia entry. He copied the language, spell-checked it and e-mailed it to his teacher.

Program helps northwest Alabama teens get GED, motivation for success
Daily Reporter, Florence, AL – April 11, 2011
For eight months, Tyler Springer rode a bus four hours back and forth each day to a court-ordered program that he often marked off as a waste of time.  Springer has a different perspective these days of the Lauderdale County Special Programming for Achievement Network program. He now says the program has turned his life around. Instead of facing a bleak future as a high school dropout, Springer, 17, is preparing to further his education.

Juvenile Justice

My San Antonio, Cheyenne, WY – April 8, 2011
Wyoming needs to establish a unified court system to handle all criminal cases involving juveniles in the state, the ACLU concludes in a report released Friday.  The report, titled "Inequality in the Equality State," also calls on Wyoming to enforce standards for juvenile detention facilities and do a better job of tracking youth rehabilitation services.
Montville Patch, Connecticut – April 9, 2011
If all goes according to plan, 17-year-olds in Connecticut will no longer be treated like adults when it comes to criminal justice.  Prior to 2010, Connecticut adjudicated 16-year-olds accused of minor crimes as adults. Yet research showed youths who go through the juvenile system are less likely to re-offend.

Foster Care

New York Daily News, New York, NY – April 8, 2011
Like many young adults her age, Jessica Jimenez is looking for her first apartment.  She's figuring out rent, calculating how she would get around, juggling figures to see how she can afford utility bills, health care and cable television. Jimenez has been in the city's foster care system since she was 8 years old. The 21-year-old will "age out" of the system in a few weeks, meaning she will be on her own. She's been appointed to the youth advisory board of New Yorkers For Children, a nonprofit group that provides college scholarships, tutoring programs, job training, mentoring and networking opportunities for children in the foster care system.

Union-Tribune, California – April 7, 2011
California legislators have introduced a bill to give former foster youth priority registration in the Cal State system, but Cal State San Marcos in North County has been ahead of the curve for several years now. The San Marcos university began giving priority registration and housing to former foster youth in 2008. It also helps those students through its ACE Scholar Services program, which stands for Achieving College Excellence, and with things like scholarships and time-management courses.

News-Press, Florida – April 6, 2011
They play fight. They fall backward without knowing who will catch them. They tell each other their deepest, darkest secrets.  For the last eight months, the students in Michelle Hayford's Theatre Lab at FGCU have worked as hard on the skill of trust as they have on writing and staging "Suit My Heart," which premiered Wednesday.  Told in dialogue, song, dance, video and movement, this ensemble-created performance piece is onstage at the lab theater at FGCU's arts complex through April 17.  "Suit My Heart" was inspired by the stories of girls and adults involved with Footsteps to the Future, a Lee County nonprofit that helps young women who are transitioning out of foster care.

Monday, April 04, 2011

This Week's News: Youth in Transition

Education

High School Graduation Rate in the City Is Lower Than Reported
The New York Times, New York City, NY – March 29, 2011
New York City’s high school graduation rate may be slightly lower than advertised because some dropouts have been improperly left out of the calculations, the state comptroller’s office said Tuesday. The comptroller conducted an audit because of allegations made in 2009 that the city may have been inflating its graduation rate by counting some dropouts as “discharges,” a classification that generally refers to students who transfer to private schools or to schools outside the city. Discharges are not counted against a school’s graduation rate, but dropouts are.

University of Wisconsin-Madison News – March 29, 2011
Reports on the fourth-year evaluation of school choice in Milwaukee will be released at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Wednesday, March 30.  For the first time, the researchers will report findings regarding the effect of the choice program on rates of high school graduation and college enrollment.
Huffington Post - March 30, 2011
Last Tuesday, Vice President Joe Biden issued a call to boost college graduation rates across the country and meet President Obama's goal of the United States having the highest proportion of college graduates in the world by 2020. A key component of reaching that goal is graduating more students from high school. Every year, more than one million students leave high school without a diploma.

Juvenile Justice

The Crime Report – April 1, 2011
The Obama administration has dropped its controversial proposal to overhaul federal juvenile justice funding.  Assistant Attorney General Laurie Robinson told the House subcommittee that funds the Justice Department  on March 30 that the White House would come up with a new plan that allocates 90 percent of federal aid to improve juvenile justice by formula to the states.

Morton Times News, Springfield, IL – April 2, 2011
The Illinois State Bar Association (ISBA) is offering a free booklet on its website to help citizens learn how to reduce juvenile delinquency in their community and provide alternatives to youth imprisonment.  Called “Juvenile Justice in Illinois,” the booklet includes a description of the need, a summary of programs already in place, and action steps to implement a local program.

Foster Care

KPBS, San Diego, CA – March 28, 2011
A new play creates theatre from the life experiences of youth in and out of the foster care system. It was written by San Diego playwright Lisa Kirazian and produced by the Playwright's Project, a local program that supports the art of playwrighting in schools and communities.

The University Faily Kansan, Kansas – March 31, 2011
Imagine growing up without a stable family, group of friends or a sense of familiarity. Moving from home to home, perhaps without a mentor to teach you life skills.  This is reality for many of Kansas’ foster children. And when these children turn 18, they “age out” of the foster system and instantly become independents. Many of these children simply lack the necessary living and coping skills to do this, according to Justine Burton, founder StopGap Inc., an organization that will teach youth those skills.  “Looking at the kids now, they don’t have the knowledge to budget (or) maintain a home,” Burton said, adding that she wants to teach foster kids how to live healthy lives.  Burton addressed the Douglas County Commission on Tuesday to help promote her organization. Although StopGap is in the development phase, Burton has a clear idea of what she wants to do.

TC Palm, Florida  - March 29, 2011
Meet Melanie Dorn.  At age 7, Dorn entered Florida's foster care system. For the next four years she lived with five different families.  "It wasn't something I'd like to experience again," said Dorn, now 21. "The families that children are being placed with should be inspected better. In one home they made me iron my clothes. I didn't know how to do that. I've got a scar on my finger from where I was burned by the iron."  For many teens "graduating" from foster care, this is a frightening prospect.  Every year about 800 young adults in Florida's foster care system turn 18 years old. Of this group, 62 percent are left unemployed; 50 percent never earn their high school diploma; 33 percent will be homeless within three years, and 60 percent will become parents within four years, according to the Children's Home Society.  Too many of these young adults are left to fend for themselves when they "age out" of the system.  Thankfully, it's a different story on the Treasure Coast.