Monday, June 27, 2011

This Week’s News: Youth in Transition

Education

Case High School Dropout Becomes RUSD Teacher
Patch.com, Mount Pleasant, WI – June 24, 2011
The Horlick High School Class of 2011 had an interesting choice for graduation speaker this year: a high school dropout. That dropout -- Aaron Eick -- is now a teacher at Horlick, after bailing out of Racine's Case High School during his "second junior year" back in 1998. He wants to share his story because it shows that teachers really can make a difference.

SC High School Dropout Rates Drop
WYFF Greenville, Greenville, SC – June 23, 2011
The number of high school dropouts from South Carolina high schools dropped two years in a row according to the South Carolina Department of Education. A report tracking dropout rates from the 2007-2008 school year through the 2009-2010 school year showed the number of dropouts declined 22 percent over the two-year period.

MTV Developing New Documentary Project About High School Dropouts‎
Hollywood Reporter – June 23, 2011
MTV is hoping that shedding light on high school dropouts will encourage kids to stay in school with a possible new documentary project about high school dropouts. MTV hopes the project will reignite young people’s passion for learning and stoke their interest in pursuing a career. Apparently, it’s so early in the process that the creative decisions are still being made as to what form the documentary project will take.

Juvenile Justice

Georgetown selects Berks County for national juvenile justice program
Examiner.com, Washington, DC – June 26, 2011
The Center for Juvenile Justice Reform at Georgetown University in Washington selected its four departments from applicants representing 30 states. Berks County’s juvenile probation department is one of four departments nationwide to be selected for a Georgetown University program to find better ways to reduce crime. The program costs $225,000 and will be funded by a $175,000 Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency grant and $50,000 from the university.

US Department of Labor announces $20 million in grants to support young people transitioning from justice facilities to the workforce
United States Department of Labor, Washington DC — June 21, 2011
The U.S. Department of Labor today announced 15 grants totaling $20 million through the Civic Justice Corps program to help formerly incarcerated individuals ages 18-24 reconnect with their communities and find pathways to success through community service and educational opportunities. Beyond service opportunities, the Civic Justice Corps offers postsecondary education and training, community connections, high staff-to-participant ratios, career development, and post-program support and follow-up, all of which help reduce recidivism rates.

Foster Care

CASA for kids gets grants
The Daily Courier, Prescott, AZ – June 26, 2011
Yavapai CASA for Kids, Inc. (C for K), a non-profit organization that serves the unmet needs of abused and/or neglected children who are in the care of the Court (and often living in foster homes), is proud to announce that it was recently awarded six new grants.

50 years of foster care: Elaine VanLeeuwen, of Portage, honored for half-century of service to kids
MLive.com, Kalamazoo, MI – June 25, 2011
More than 500 children have called her “Mom” or, these days, “Grandma,” over the past half-century. Elaine VanLeeuwen, of Portage, has never said “no” when asked to take a child into her Portage home, according to Joyce Daily-Spence, foster care and adoption services program director at Family & Children’s Services.

Court-ordered raise for foster parents due in July
Contra Costa Times, Contra Costa, California – June 25, 2011
Deanna and Dave Mitchell's first foster care assignment arrived in bulk. Forty years and more than 400 foster children later, Deanna Mitchell insists, "We have received back much more than we have given." It is not unusual for foster parents to cite the emotional benefits of caring for neglected or abused children, but it takes real currency to keep the foster care system running. To this end, California's foster care parents earned a big victory last month, when U.S. District Judge William Alsup ruled that the state has chronically under-compensated them.

Teen Pregnancy


Daughter of teen mom counsels peers against teen pregnancies‎
New York Daily News, Washington Heights, NY – June 23, 2011
Patsy Garcia, 17, who works as a peer educator for a teen pregnancy prevention program, is the daughter of a teen mom. In a world where teens behaving badly are rewarded with reality-star status, Patsy Garcia of Washington Heights is a welcome reality check. She is the product of a teen pregnancy and, at 17, Garcia is the same age her mom was when she got pregnant. But instead of echoing her mother's choices, Garcia works to get the word out about teen pregnancy prevention and safe sex.

Nonprofit receives grant to fight teen pregnancy
 
Daily Times, Farmington, NM – June 23, 2011
Capacity Builders, a Farmington nonprofit organization, has received a $5 million, five-year federal grant for an initiative to reduce teen pregnancy on the Navajo Nation. The Navajo Youth Builder campaign kicks off in the fall when students return to school. “Teen pregnancy is a concern everywhere, especially rural communities because kids don't have anything to do,” said Rachel Nawrocki, executive director for Capacity Builders.

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