Monday, December 31, 2012

This Week's News: Youth in Transition

Education

Some changes are helping high school students prepare for work
The Inquirer, Vineland, NJ – December 31, 2012
The phone rang at 3 a.m., an unnerving noise at a bad news hour.  It wasn't life and death, but it was an emergency just the same. A 22-year-old man enrolled in a Vineland, N.J., program where dropouts can earn high school diplomas while receiving vocational training had a question:  Should he move out of his parents' house and move in with his girlfriend?  Sam Mercado, who helps run a local version of YouthBuild, a nationally lauded program helping dropouts get diplomas and find jobs, spent 90 minutes on the line with the caller.

Increasing Graduation Rate Involves All Ages
Patch, Easley, SC – December 29, 2012
District officials are looking at a variety of ways to keep students in school.  The school board has challenged the district to achieve an 80 percent graduation rate, according to Superintendent Dr. Kelly Pew.  “Obviously we would like 100 percent of our kids to graduate from high school, but the reality is not all of our kids who are going through school are diploma-tracked,” Pew said during a recent meeting between district officials and the Pickens County Legislative Delegation.  “It is a system issue,” she said. “It is a K-12 issue.”

Orfalea Foundation’s REACH Program Recruiting New Students
Santa Barbara Independent, California – December 31, 2012
REACH, which stands for Resilience, Education, Adventure, Community, and Health, works to empower students for lives of purposeful action, continuous learning, and the courageous pursuit of opportunity.  The program welcomes each new group of students with a 25-day wilderness expedition during the summer between their sophomore and junior year.

Juvenile Justice

State sees decrease in incarcerated youth
 Amarillo Globe-News, Texas – December 28, 2012
How times have changed for the Texas juvenile justice system. Five years ago, the number of youths locked up in state-run detention centers was about 4,700. Since then, the number has steadily dropped, and now it is less than 1,500 — more than a two-thirds reduction.  “We’ve come a long way,” said Benet Magnuson, policy attorney at the advocacy group Texas Criminal Justice Coalition. “Thanks to a series of reforms, we’ve taken many kids out of state-run facilities and kept them closer to their homes where they are helped or rehabilitated.”

Foster Care

Copley teen helping youths moving from foster care
West Side Leader, Copley, OH – December 27, 2012
Local Girl Scout Kristin Osborne knows she is fortunate to be in a family with two parents who make sure she has what she needs.  Now, for her Gold Award project, Kristin, 16, is trying to help youths not much older than she is who are faced with starting their adult lives without the support of their parents.

Teen Pregnancy

Reading trouble linked to teen pregnancy in new study
ABC 7, Chicago, IL – December 28, 2012
Teenage girls who have trouble reading may have a higher risk of getting pregnant.  Researchers in Philadelphia evaluated reading scores of more than 12,000 7th grade girls and tracked them over a course of six years. During that time 1,600 of those girls had a baby.  The team found that two-thirds of the girls scoring below average were more likely to become pregnant than average scoring girls.

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

This Week's News: Youth in Transition

Education

Teens learning to make difference
The Advocate, Washington, D.C. – December 25, 2012
Civics and U.S. history students at Mentorship Academy have spent months studying and delivering action plans aimed at solving high school dropout rates, poverty and homelessness in their communities.  They plan to deliver their message of civic and social responsibility to state and national leaders while they attend the presidential inauguration of Barack Obama in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 21.

In Fixing Schools, Bay Area City Looks to Harlem Model
New American Media, Hayward, CA – December 24, 2012
Gerardo Ramirez wants to be a forensic crime scene investigator. An avid fan of TV dramas like Criminal Minds and CSI, the 16-year-old is bussed every day from Tennyson High School in Hayward, Calif. to a regional occupation program (ROP), where he studies criminal justice in exchange for high school credit.


Juvenile Justice

Durbin chairs first hearing on school to prison pipeline
Daily Herald, Illinois – December 12, 2012
U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin Wednesday chaired the first federal hearing looking at the relationship between schools and the criminal justice system. The hearing follows a recent change in Illinois law prompted by an attack on an Elgin teacher and subsequent Daily Herald investigation.

Juvenile Justice Changes On Tap
Peach Pundit, Georgia – December 20, 2012
During the 2012 Session of the Georgia General Assembly, laws were changed to relax sentences on some crimes to help deal with Georgia’s growing prison population and save the related expenses of incarcerating so many of our fellow citizens.  Key to the debate was not only the direct costs to the state, but the indirect costs of lost future income of those with felonies on their “permanent record”, leaving them with fewer if any stable job opportunities – and opportunities to pay taxes – after their prison sentence ended.

Foster Care

Grace of Giving: Kids in foster care get assistance with life skills
My San Antonio, Texas – December 23, 2012
As children in foster care grow older and closer to independent living, options for their future often are uncertain.  “Essentially, an 18- or 19-year-old is a child,” said Mary Fuentes Valdez, vice president and secretary of Youth Transitioning Into Adulthood, an organization that provides life-skills training to teens and young adults in foster care. “We realized there's a big need for bridging the gap for youth leaving foster care,” she said.

Dana’s House nearing independent living program for older youth
Suttgart Daily Leader, DeWitt, AK – December 20, 2012
Dana’s House is nearing its goal for an independent living program for those who age out of foster care.  Administrator Jennifer Poston said the non-profit shelter is in the process of purchasing the former Westside Elementary School, which is about a block from Dana’s House in DeWitt. The purchase is set to close at the beginning of 2013.

Teen Pregnancy

Partial funding restored, county program aims to aid more teens
Ventura County Star, California – December 25, 2012
After Michell Manriquez gave birth to her daughter at 16, there were plenty of times she wanted to drop out of Hueneme High School.  But thanks to a state program for pregnant and parenting teens, the Oxnard resident graduated with her class in 2011, and she now plans to attend college.

Gaston County opens teen wellness center
Charlotte Observer, Gastonia, NC – Decmeber 24, 2012
She’s a sexually active 16-year-old looking for birth control advice.  He’s a high school football player in need of a quick sports physical.  Another student needs a round of immunizations.  All these young people could wind up at the new Teen Wellness Center at the Gaston County Health Department.  It’s a place teens can come with almost any kind of medical problem – with or without their parents or guardians.

Monday, December 17, 2012

This Week's News: Youth in Transition

Education   

Fighting High School Dropout Rates
WBNG News, Binghamton, NY – December 15, 2012
Binghamton High School students got a little extra motivation to make sure they graduate.  Students put on the "American Graduate" event to raise awareness on student dropout rates.

Districts start earlier to identify, help students who may drop out
Hattiesburg American, Sumrall, MS – December 15, 2012
Eighteen-year-old Alyx Colson will graduate from Sumrall High School on Dec. 21, but that almost didn’t happen.  That’s when Lamar County School District dropout prevention coordinator Jarrod Bohannon stepped in to help.  “I found out what his real issues were, why he dropped out of school and set up a plan to get him back in school,” he said.  Bohannon and dropout prevention coordinators at school districts around the Pine Belt are working with at-risk students to keep them in school.

UNC Launch Pad startup STENCIL tackles high school dropout rate
WRAL, Chapel Hill, NC – December 11, 2012
Julian Wooten holds degrees in biology and chemistry from UNC-Chapel Hill, and nanomedicine from UNC Chapel Hill’s Eshelman School of Pharmacy, and recently decided to pursue an MBA.  But it was prestigious teaching internships at Philips Exeter Academy and Johns Hopkins University that led him to become an entrepreneur and launch a company called Students and Teachers Employing New Criteria in Learning, or STENCIL.  The company develops software that allows teachers and school administrators to manage data on student attendance, behavior and course performance.

Juvenile Justice

Lucas County awarded $1.3M to aid youths
Toledo Blade, Toledo, OH – December 17, 2012
County officials and treatment providers are hoping a new federal grant, awarded to only three communities across the country, will break the cycle of drugs, alcohol, and crime among juveniles in Toledo.  The four-year grant awarded to the Lucas County juvenile court, provides $1.32 million to provide training to implement a new model of treatment, called Reclaiming Futures, for juveniles who go through the court system.

Foster Care

Orlando Sentinel Family Fund: Faine House to provide hope, opportunity for foster kids
Orlando Sentinel, Florida – December 13, 2012
DeVante Bynoe remembers coming here in 2004. He was only 11 then and had just taken his first steps as a wayward child of the state.  Bynoe, now 19, hopes to live in the Faine House, a project etched in the kindness of a man who understands how fortunate he was not to get caught up in that dysfunctional wave of neglect.

Angel House provides new opportunities for women
The Marietta Daily Journal, Canton, OH – December 16, 2012
Kids in a Candy Store is filling orders for its first holiday season in business.  The business started in February at the Angel House of North Georgia. Through Kids in a Candy Store, young women living in the independent living program at Angel House make candy bouquets for weddings, businesses and gifts.  “They’re aging out of foster care, or community kids who need life skills to get a good start,” Worsley said. The independent living program teaches skills including budgeting and household management while residents work to save money to start life on their own.

Teen Pregnancy

Governor holds summit to ‘Stomp Out Teenage Pregnancy’
The Mississippi Link, Mississippi – December 13, 2012
Gov. Phil Bryant told approximately 350 attendees last week that he has a goal to try and decrease teen pregnancy by 15 percent by 2017. The Governor was the keynote speaker at his Healthy Teens for a Better Mississippi first Teens Pregnancy Prevention Summit, Dec. 6, at the Jackson Convention Complex.

Monday, December 10, 2012

This Week's News: Youth in Transition

Education

Heart of West Michigan United Way sets goal of decreasing dropout rate 50 percent by 2020
MLive.com, Grand Rapids, MI – December 5, 2012
A child who isn't proficient in reading by third grade is four times more likely to drop out of high school than a proficient reader, according to a 2011 report by the Annie E. Casey Foundation. Last year, nearly 2,000 Kent County high school students dropped out before graduating with their class.

Solving Utah's dismal graduation rate: Two schools may have the answer
Deseret News, Utah – December 8, 2012
Utah is the fourth-worst state in the nation for graduating Latino students, with just 57 percent of seniors collecting a diploma each year.  But at least two programs both inside and outside the state of Utah could provide a template for how to increase the number of high school graduates, particularly in the minority communities that lag far behind other states.

Kids Count Youth And Work Report: Number Of Young Adults Out Of School, Work Hits Half-Century High
Huffington Post – December 4, 2012
Nearly 6.5 million U.S. teens and young adults are neither in school nor working, according to a new report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation. The report warns of a future of chronic unemployment due to a continuing failure to educate and train America's youth in needed skills.

Juvenile Justice

Foundation Strives to Create Legacy for Juvenile Justice Reform
Juvenile Justice Information Exchange, Washington, D.C. – December 6, 2012
The nonprofit MacArthur Foundation has spent more than $100 million since 2004 on developing blueprints for reform within the juvenile justice systems of 16 states. Earlier this week, its reform initiative, Models for Change, brought together nearly 400 judges, advocates, probation officers and other juvenile justice professionals for two days of workshops in Washington, D.C.

Putting wayward youth on right road
Orlando Sentinel, Miami-Dade County, Florida – December 7, 2012
While leading Miami-Dade's Juvenile Services Department, Wansley Walters slashed arrests and confinements by de emphasizing detention and focusing on juvenile-offender services.  Turns out that her Miami experience laid the groundwork for the path she intends to take as secretary of the state Department of Juvenile Justice. She's barnstorming Florida, promoting the Roadmap to System Excellence, the blueprint that emphasizes prevention over detention, with a focus on front-end services.

Foster Care

Eliada School of Trade Arts helps former foster kids
Citizen-Times, Asheville, NC – December 4, 2012
The odds were good that one or all five of the young men in chef’s jackets standing proudly over a luncheon buffet would end up unemployed, homeless or in prison by the time they were 19 or 20.  Instead, the inaugural class of the Eliada School of Trade Arts has been offered an opportunity to turn those odds upside down, learning personal and professional skills that will open doors to futures they could only have dreamed of a year ago.

Teen Pregnancy

TIPS aims to empower, support teen parents
Anson Record, North Carolina – December 6, 2012
With Anson County ranking 12 out of 100 counties for teen pregnancies in 2011, Teen Information and Parenting Services (TIPS) is working to educate teen parents and help prevent future adolescent pregnancies.  TIPS, a service offered by the Anson County Partnership for Children, “serves adolescents who are pregnant or parenting their first child and their children,” according to its website.

Monday, December 03, 2012

This Week's News: Youth in Transition

Education

Gwinnett academies put focus on getting students back on track
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Gwinnett County, GA – December 2, 2012
The Gwinnett County school system has a new program targeting a specific category of potential high school dropouts: overage eighth graders.  It’s a group that, statistics show, desperately needs a lifeline. While the district has a 67.6 percent overall high graduation rate, only about 13 percent of its students who enter ninth grade a year or more behind are leaving high school with a diploma.

A place to fit in, and learn: Carleton Project serves potential high school dropouts
The Bangor Daily News, Lincoln, ME – November 29, 2012
Sierrah Davis loves to write and comes across as intelligent, but she says she really dislikes high school.  Davis is back at school now — sort of.  The Lincoln resident is among 17 students enrolled this year in the Carleton Project, RSU 67’s alternative education attempt at keeping students in high school.

Center Aims to Help Recent Graduates, Dropouts
CBS, KLAS TV, Las Vegas, NV – November 29, 2012
A recent report revealed a 62 percent high school graduation rate in Nevada, among the lowest in the nation.  A center in east Las Vegas is trying to change the low graduation rate and help adults with a second chance at a career.

Juvenile Justice

Report urges reforming juvenile justice based on science
NewsWorks – December 2, 2012
"Adult crime -- adult time" has been one of the many battle cries calling for tough sentences for juvenile offenders. A new report commissioned by the federal justice department suggests that this approach doesn't work.

Woodruff releases report to help protect juveniles
New Pittsburgh Courier, Luzerne County, PA – November 28, 2012
Following the revelations that two Luzerne County judges had conspired to sentence juveniles who had committed minor infractions to a private jail for kickbacks, Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Dwayne Woodruff was named to the commission empanelled to devise statewide reforms of the juvenile justice system.

Foster Care

Foster kids need opportunities to overcome odds
Mercury News, California – November 30, 2012
Even with the Silicon Valley economy leading the way in California and the nation, unemployment is still an unpleasant fact of life for young people. It's especially tough on kids who are in foster homes or coming out of foster homes and now have to stand on their own as adults. They have been dealt a double dose of bad odds.  Take the case of Antaeus S., who politely sketched out his life to a group of businesspeople the other day. "It isn't easy being a foster kid because of the legality issues," he said. "You are a ward of the court."  And what do foster youths need? Antaeus will tell you it's not a handout or charity. It's simply this: "All we are looking for is opportunity."  The Foster Youth Employment Coalition is working on that: Finding job opportunities for foster kids and other disadvantaged youths.

Teen Pregnancy

After school program offers abstinence lessons
The Chronicle, North Carolina – December 1, 2012
The Goler Institute for Development & Education (GIDE) Youth Education Academy (YEA) is facilitating a series of classes about adolescent sexuality designed to encourage young people to delay sexual activity and reduce risky behavior.

Purdue outreach program helps support teen mothers
The Exponent, Indiana – December 2, 2012
Carrying babies to full-term as a teenage girl is something that should be supported but not glamorized, which is something that Purdue and the state are trying to accomplish.  Teenage pregnancy rates have continually decreased in the past 20 or more years, but many girls still deal with the issue of growing up while raising a child and completing their education simultaneously.

Monday, November 26, 2012

This Week's News: Youth in Transition

Education

Communities in Schools program aims to prevent dropouts in East Nashville
The Tennessean, Nashville, TN – November 26, 2012
A national dropout prevention program is setting up shop in Nashville in hopes of helping some the city’s poorest kids graduate from high school.  The 30-year-old national Communities in Schools program is the only nonprofit drop¬out prevention organization in the nation to show both an increase in graduation rates and progress made on reading and math scores during a five-year study, said Francie Hunt, the group’s Nashville liaison.

System warns educators of dropout risk
The Spokesman-Review, Spokane, WA – November 23, 2012
A data system launched this fall in Spokane Public Schools puts each child’s academic and behavioral information at educators’ fingertips, helping educators address problems at an earlier stage.

Gadsden City Schools launches FOCUSED program
The Gadsden Times, Gadsden, AL – November 25, 2012
Gadsden City Schools will launch a new program in January focused on graduation intervention and dropout prevention through community support.

Juvenile Justice

Report Says Teen Neurology Should Shape Juvenile Justice Reform Efforts
Corrections.com – November 21, 2012
A new report from the National Research Council suggests that juvenile justice reform efforts should be grounded in the emerging understanding of adolescent development.  “Reforming Juvenile Justice: A Developmental Approach,” sponsored by the federal Department of Justice, draws strong connections between the neurological development of teens and their environmental influences as factors in juvenile delinquency.

Legislature to review mandatory sentencing for juvenile offenders
Wicked Local, Newton, MA – November 20, 2012
With the pending murder trail of a former Newton North High School student raising questions about the incarceration of juveniles and the distinction between state and federal law, a local state legislator is spearheading an effort to address the broader issue of certain mandatory sentences for juveniles.

Foster Care

Ohio AG Wants To Make It Easier For Foster Children To Make It On Their Own
10TV.com, Columbus, OH – November 19, 2012
A recent state report said many foster children "lack skills for independent living and often end up homeless."  A Wisconsin study found that half had no jobs, and a third ended up homeless and victims of crime.  Next month, the Attorney General's task force will recommend some ways to help them.

Memphis-based program gives Tennessee's most vulnerable teens needed support system
The Commercial Appeal, Memphis, TN – November 25, 2012
Nineteen-year-old Marquez Hardaway's earliest memory is of his father bleeding and running to get into the family's car.  As a foster care kid who was about to "age out" of the child welfare system without being adopted, he is among the population most likely to end up in jail, without a job, abusing drugs or alcohol, impoverished or even homeless.  But Hardaway was paired with a mentor, James Caldwell, 27, a specialist with the Transitional Living program at Youth Villages.

Teen Pregnancy

High school dropout effort is yielding results, say officials
Wrangler News, Tempe, AZ – November 19, 2012
Becoming a parent at a young age doesn’t necessarily mean dropping out of high school, and the Tempe Union High School District’s Adolescent Pregnancy and Parenting Program appears to be proving the point.

Study: Pregnant teens need better school support
Bradenton Herald, Miami, FL – November 22, 2012
When 15-year-old Kali Gonzalez became pregnant, the honors student considered transferring to an alternative school. She worried teachers would harass her for missing class because of doctor's appointments and morning sickness.  Instead, her counselor set up a meeting with teachers at her St. Augustine high school to confirm she could make up missed assignments, eat in class and use the restroom whenever she needed.

Monday, November 19, 2012

This Week's News: Youth in Transition

Education

6 area high schools improve graduation rates
The Herald, South Carolina – November 13, 2012
Six area high schools – Nation Ford, Clover, Indian Land, South Pointe, Northwestern and Chester – saw their graduation rates improve noticeably in 2012 over the previous year, according to South Carolina’s 12th annual school report cards released Tuesday.  Indian Land Principal David Shamble credited the increase to better record-keeping and an effort to reach potential dropouts early.

Hybrid High Schools Help Kids Imagine Their Futures
Alaska Public Radio, Alaska – November 12, 2012
Alaska’s high school graduation rate lags behind the nation – and Alaska Natives are more likely to drop out of school than others. In rural Alaska, high school students who have their sights set on graduation may not be sure what to do next. In the next installment of our “Being Young in Rural Alaska” series, from the producers of Kids These Days, reporter Mark Arehart looks at an idea designed to keep kids in high school, by giving them a glimpse of their possible futures.

Addressing disparities among Minn. American-Indian students
MPR Radio, Minnesota – November 13, 2012
When it comes to discussing education, Dennis Olson has a few statistics memorized; numbers he says are 'unacceptable.' In Minnesota, the statewide high school graduation rate is 76 percent. Among American Indians it's 42 percent. The dropout rate for all students in Minnesota is 4.8 percent. For American Indians it's 18.8 percent.

Juvenile Justice

National Report Says Teen Neurology Should Shape Juvenile Justice Reform Efforts
Youth Today – November 16, 2012
A new report from the National Research Council suggests that juvenile justice reform efforts should be grounded in the emerging understanding of adolescent development.  “Reforming Juvenile Justice: A Developmental Approach,” sponsored by the federal Department of Justice, draws strong connections between the neurological development of teens and their environmental influences as factors in juvenile delinquency.

6 facts about the adolescent brain, risky behavior
MPR News, Minnesota - November 15, 2012
Laurence Steinberg, professor of psychology at Temple University, has spent his career studying adolescent brain development and his findings have led him to believe that our society needs to rethink the way we discipline teenagers.

Foster Care

Michigan foster care kids may qualify for extended benefits and a better chance at success
MLive.com, Michigan – November 19, 2012
Josie Brown had no place to call home after leaving the state’s foster care system at age 18.  Now Brown has an apartment of her own because of the program financed primarily through federal sources. She gets support from a caseworker. She’s continuing to take classes at Lansing Community College, with a goal of possibly becoming a nurse someday. And fresh off her 20th birthday, she’s lining up interviews for part-time jobs.

Teen Pregnancy

NC teen pregnancy rate falls
News & Observer, Durham, NC – November 13, 2012
North Carolina’s teen pregnancy rate fell 12 percent last year – the single largest drop in state history – according to data released Tuesday by the N.C. State Center for Health Statistics.  In 2011, less than 5 percent of females 15 to 19 in the state got pregnant.  “Cultural shifts have made it easier for our young people to avoid pregnancy,” said Kay Phillips, CEO of the Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Campaign of North Carolina.

Teen parents get education, support at pregnancy conference
WATE TV, Knoxville, TN – November 13, 2012
Pregnant teens and teen parents got a little extra help Tuesday.  The Teaching Teens Outstanding Parenting Skills (T-TOPS) program returned for its 12th year, helping educate young parents about rearing children and helping them get their high school diplomas.

Monday, November 12, 2012

This Week's News: Youth in Transition

Education

Lanier High School to participate in dropout prevention research project
Montgomery Advertiser, Lanier, AL – November 11, 2012
Sidney Lanier High School isn’t the only school in the state working on improving its graduation rate, but the local high school is one of only 10 recently selected to participate in a dropout prevention research project.

Harbor College opens high school dropout center
Daily Breeze, California – November 8, 2012
After his sophomore year at Banning High in Wilmington, Oscar Natividad pretty much stopped attending, opting to stay home and draw - or do a little tagging, truth be told.  This summer, the 17-year-old found a second chance in the Harbor YouthSource Center, a new entity located on the Los Angeles Harbor College campus whose small staff of tutors and counselors helps high school dropouts ages 14-21 get back on track.

Juvenile Justice

New initiative seeks to keep Philly juveniles out of jail
PoliceOne.com, Philadelphia, PA – November 6, 2012
With the number of juveniles arrested in Philadelphia dropping to its lowest point since 2007, the city and youth advocates are working to ensure that children who commit minor offenses are helped back on the right path.

Foster Care

Ex-foster kids get a place to call home
My San Antonio, Texas – November 6, 2012
When Cindy Rodriguez turned 18 and “aged out” of the foster care system — something about 1,300 youth in Bexar County do each year — she found herself living on the streets, addicted to drugs and alcohol.  But seven months ago, she learned about a new housing program called Lexi's Place, a cozy, brick-and-stucco home nestled on a shady street near Churchill High School.

Teen Pregnancy

New organization targets teen pregnancy
MS News Now, Jackson, MS – November 10, 2012
A new organization in the Capital City hopes to prevent local teens from becoming parents.  Teenagers and adults met tonight at the King Edward Hotel for the gathering of Mississippi Youth Incorporated.

Monday, November 05, 2012

This Week's News: Youth in Transition

Education

State’s high school on-time graduation rates on the rise
The Washington Post, Virginia – October 31, 2012
Virginia education officials say on-time high school graduation increased under the Class of 2012.  According to Virginia Department of Education data released Oct. 23, 88 percent (85,359 of 97,023) of state public school students who entered ninth grade in fall 2008 got a diploma within four years.

Moss Point schools roll out plan to reduce dropout rate
WLOX Channel 13, Moss Point, MS – November 2, 2012
t is one of the top five priorities for the Moss Point School District this year--reduce the dropout rate. A new initiative launched Thursday aims to do just that.

Meeting focuses on future of Graduation Matters Missoula
Missoulian, Missoula, MT – November 1, 2012
When Missoula County Public Schools administrators talk about Graduation Matters Missoula, they don’t just talk about how to get more diplomas in the hands of students.

Juvenile Justice

Holistic reform takes root in Mississippi
The Chicago Reporter, Mississippi – November 1, 2012
For a few years now, Mississippi’s juvenile justice system and the U.S. Department of Justice have been close acquaintances for all the wrong reasons.  One key ingredient in this effort is an amendment to a state law that gives 17-year-olds charged with felonies a second chance at rehabilitating their lives.

King County's new approach tries to steer kids away from trouble
The Seattle Times, Seattle, WA – October 28, 2012
A few days ago I watched a young woman named Morgan regain custody of her two young children.  She and her family are among the many beneficiaries of a better way of dealing with juvenile-justice and family-court issues.

Foster Care

Youth Villages seeks enough funding to help all TN foster kids who age out
The Tennessean, Tennessee – November 4, 2012
Tennessee tries to take care of former foster youth in ways that few other states do, yet only half of teens who age out of custody have access to services.  Now, the state’s largest provider of transitional living assistance — Memphis-based non-profit Youth Villages — says it has a way to reach everyone.

Funding fuels project for at-risk youth in Olmsted County
The Post-Bulletin, Rochester, MN – October 30, 2012
Workers in Olmsted County's Child & Family Services division are about to embark upon a three-year project to expand and enhance the way the county helps kids who are in foster care or at risk of being placed outside their homes.

Teen pregnancy

Poor Reading Skills Linked to Teen Pregnancy Risk
U.S. News – October 31, 2012
Preteen girls' reading skills can strongly predict whether they'll get pregnant when they're teens, a new study suggests.  University of Pennsylvania researchers looked at the reading skills of more than 12,000 girls when they were in grade 7 (average age 11.9 years) in Philadelphia public schools and then checked to see how many of them gave birth when they were teens.

Monday, October 29, 2012

This Week's News: Youth in Transition

Eduction

Virginia’s on-time graduation rate for class of 2012 rises to 88 percent, dropout rate falls
The Washington Post, Richmond, VA – October 23, 2012
Nearly 90 percent of students in the class of 2012 graduated after four years of high school, the Virginia Department of Education said Tuesday.  The on-time graduation rate for the 97,865 public high school students who were first-time ninth-graders in 2008-09 was 88 percent, an increase of more than a percentage point from the previous year’s class, officials said.

Dropout rate falls in Greenwood
San Francisco Chronicle, Greenwood, MS – October 27, 2012
The Greenwood Public School District is crediting implementation of a plan to tackle dropout and graduation rates for major improvements in its high school completion rates between 2010 and the current academic year.

Juvenile Justice

'A door to anywhere': Juvenile Justice Center aims to get kids on the right track
The Daily Courier, Arizona – October 27, 2012
"When the juvenile court system started in Chicago 110 years ago, they realized that there's hope for children," Arizona Supreme Court Justice Robert Brutinel told an audience of 300 at a ribbon-cutting ceremony Friday for the new Yavapai County Juvenile Justice Center in Prescott.

Youth Court Program Separates Teen Defendants from Adults
DNAinfo.com, New York – October 22, 2012
On Wednesday afternoon last week, Judge Felicia Mennin quickly made her way through cases typical of Midtown Community Court — a series of petty crimes, like illegal vending, and various summonses for parking and other minor violations.  But Mennin took a moment to pause before her last case of the day, when a 16-year-old sporting purple Uggs and a pink North Face backpack appeared before her.

Kids Count Report Demonstrates New Jersey’s Successes In Juvenile Justice
NJToday.net, Trenton, NJ – October 24, 2012
Advocates for Children of New Jersey today released a special juvenile justice Kids Count report entitled, “Measuring Change in New Jersey’s Treatment of Young Offenders.” The report details the successful reforms in juvenile justice since the implementation of the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s Juvenile Justice Detention Alternatives Initiative (JDAI) in New Jersey.

Foster Care

Hearing on Aging Out of Foster Services
NBC6, Nebraska – October 28, 2012
Nebraska lawmakers have scheduled a hearing on children who "age out" of the state's foster care system.  The Legislature's Health and Human Services Committee will hear testimony Thursday about the services that are available for youths who leave the system because of their age.

Teen Pregnancy

Education, alcohol awareness keys to preventing teen pregnancy
Great Falls Tribune, Cascade County, MT – October 26, 2012
Cascade City-County Health Department Health Officer Alicia M. Thompson has data, pages and pages of it, pointing to a correlation between alcohol and unintended teen pregnancy. The challenge comes with interpreting the data and using it to educate the public.

Fathers play key role in teens’ sexual behavior, says study
The Washington Post – October 22, 2012
Fathers’ attitudes toward teen sex and the emotional closeness of their relationship with their teens have a sizable influence on their teens’ sexual behavior, separate from the influence of moms, a new review of studies suggests.

Monday, October 22, 2012

This Week's News: Youth in Transition

Education

FCHS senior addresses drop out problem
Daily American News, West Frankfort, IL – October 18, 2012
There are many factors that are common to all high schools. Most are good and positive. Some, like the “drop-out" rate, raises its ugly head in all districts. Frankfort Community High School is no exception. But “Freshman Focus,” a new program implemented this year by FCHS principal Danny Stevens, seems to be making a difference.

In southern Iredell, 'Stay in School' is more than a slogan
Mooresville Tribune, Iredell County, NC – October 15, 2012
Public high schools in southern Iredell County have some of the lowest student dropout rates in the state.  The Mooresville Graded School District reported that in 2011-12 it had its lowest dropout rate – 2 percent -- in six years. Lake Norman High School had a dropout rate of less than one percent -- .6 percent to be exact.

The Cornerstone of Success: Education
Chicago Tribune, IL – October 17, 2012
It might begin with a child discovering a new word through a volunteer reading to them. Or perhaps a teen struggling in class receives the additional attention needed to pass a math test. These small acts can trigger years of learning and academic success . And when one child succeeds, an entire community is uplifted.

Juvenile Justice

Commission Examines Youth Court System
WTOK ABC 11, Mississippi – October 21, 2012
To make sure all three branches of state government are on the same page, the Commission  on Children's Justice held its final public hearing Thursday.  It brought together judicial, foster care and educational sectors to get a better understanding of what happens when juveniles face the state's judicial process.

Foster Care

Hart: Judges listen, make difference in children's lives
Houston Chronicle, Texas – October 16, 2012
On paper, the plan made no sense to Juvenile Judge Angela Ellis. Sixteen-year-old twin girls in foster care wanted to go live with a 21-year-old sister. But after several face-to-face meetings with all of the young women, the judge changed her mind and agreed to the arrangement.

Horses Make a Difference in the Lives of At Risk Youth
The Herald, Old Bethpage, NY – October 17, 2012
Family Residences and Essential Enterprises, Inc. (FREE) www.familyres.org, a not-for-profit agency that supports more than 3,000 individuals with different abilities on Long Island, will join Heart Gallery NYC www.heartgallerynyc.org at an Open House and Press Conference to introduce an ongoing series of Life/Job Skills and Workforce Development Workshops for children in care and for those young adults transitioning out of foster care.
   
Teen Pregnancy

Milwaukee's teen birthrate drops for fifth year in row
Journal Sentinel, Milwaukee, WI – October 19, 2012
Milwaukee's teen birthrate - the second highest in the nation less than a decade ago - last year dropped for a fifth year in a row to a new historic low.  The drop wasn't as dramatic as those seen in 2009 and 2010, but the city remains on pace to reach a goal of reducing the teen birthrate to 30 per 1,000 teens ages 15 to 17 by 2015 - a goal set in 2007 by United Way of Greater Milwaukee, the Center for Urban Population Health and the Milwaukee Health Department.

Alexandria Campaign on Adolescent Pregnancy Gets Grant Funds to Target Teens
DelRay Patch,  Alexandria, CA – October 18, 2012
More teens in Alexandria will be learning about how to prevent pregnancy, HIV and other sexually transmitted infections through a new federal grant to the Alexandria Campaign on Adolescent Pregnancy (ACAP).  ACAP was awarded a three-year Personal Responsibility Education Program federal grant to provide prevention programs that address teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections.

Class aims to lower teen pregnancy, build life skills
The News Herald, Panama City, FL – October 18, 2012
Ninth-grade students at Bay High are in a class designed to prevent teen pregnancies and build life skills.  The Teen Outreach Program, called TOP, is a youth development program that, in addition to covering safe sex and contraceptives education, reaches into the social aspect of the lives of adolescents, helping them to find a sense of purpose.

Tuesday, October 09, 2012

This Week's News: Youth in Transition

Education

CPS announces low one-year dropouts and high freshmen “on-track-to-graduate” rate
Chicago Sun-Times, Chicago, IL – October 5, 2012
Chicago Public Schools officials early Friday hailed more positive signs for the system: a record low one-year dropout rate and a record high freshmen “on-track-to-graduate” rate.  Schools CEO Jean-Claude Brizard said in an embargoed statement that the 2011-2012 numbers were “another encouraging sign of progress.’’

In Fight Against Dropouts, ‘The Meat Of The Sandwich Is Middle School’
KERA News, Texas – October 4, 2012
In the battle to keep students in school, experts often target the ends of the educational spectrum: early childhood, when kids pick up basic skills, and high school, when most dropouts happen. But some are starting to look in a different direction – the middle.

Beyer High program in Modesto gains national honor
The Modesto Bee, Modesto, CA – October 1, 2012
Beyer High's AdvancePath Academy will be honored this month by the National Dropout Prevention Network for its success in keeping kids in school.  The program was announced Monday as one of two nationwide to earn the network's Crystal Star Award. Terri Salaiz, head teacher in the Beyer program, will travel to Orlando, Fla., for the Oct. 16 ceremony.

Juvenile Justice

Georgia considers juvenile justice reforms
The Augusta Chronicle, Atlanta, GA – October 8, 2012
After overhauling its adult criminal justice system to provide alternative sentences for nonviolent offenders and reduce skyrocketing prison costs, the state of Georgia is turning its attention to the juvenile justice system.

Mayor Highlights "Close To Home" Juvenile Justice Program
NY1, New York – October 4, 2012
Juvenile offenders are now living within the five boroughs and attending schools here after years of serving time upstate. The Close to Home initiative transfers the majority of young offenders to the city's control from the state. Mayor Michael Bloomberg was in Brooklyn Thursday to highlight the program. NY1's Zack Fink filed the following report.

Juvenile Justice wins Harvard award
The Advocate, Louisiana – October 5, 2012
The Louisiana Office of Juvenile Justice has been recognized by Harvard University for its innovative programming, an OJJ spokeswoman said Thursday.  OJJ’s Service Coordination Model was recognized through the “Bright Ideas” program, an initiative of the broader Innovations in American Government Awards program at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, Jerel M. Giarrusso, OJJ’s spokeswoman, said in a news release.

Foster Care

Local Program Teaches Independence to Foster Kids
WSET ABC13, Lynchburg, VA – October 8, 2012
Kids in foster care have a tough transition when they leave the system and go out on their own. But one area organization is bridging that gap and seeing a lot of success. Lynchburg's Impact Living Services opened its doors in July.

Footsteps to the Future offers mentoring for girls aging out of foster care
Naples News, Naples, FL – October 4, 2012
Turning 18 can be an exciting milestone for teens, but for those in foster care it's a number they dread.  But a Fort Myers-based nonprofit is trying to offer young women in foster care a chance at success.  Footsteps to the Future, which helps young women transition out of foster care, has developed a new mentoring program that pairs at-risk teens with mentors who will push them to graduate, while also guiding them into adulthood.

Foster kids can overcome extra financial obstacles
Chicago Tribune, Illinois – October 2, 2012
Eddye Vanderkwaak's life story is really two tales.  There's the girl who grew up in a dysfunctional home in Iowa until she was 14, living primarily with her father. It was a week-to-week existence, with her father borrowing from friends and family members to cover the bills.  It's been a dramatic transformation -- one that Vanderkwaak admits might not have happened if not for Opportunity Passport, a financial education program developed by the Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative.

Teen Pregnancy

Alternative schools focus on pregnancy
Tulsa World, Tulsa, OK – October 8, 2012
Some kids hold hands in the hallway, work on school work during lunch break or chat about their upcoming weekend plans.  Pregnant and parenting teens have the option of staying in their schools, but many choose to attend alternative schools.

Fewer abortions, teen pregnancies with free birth control
Chicago Sun-Times, Washington, DC – October 5, 2012
Free birth control led to dramatically lower rates of abortions and teen births, a large study concluded Thursday, offering strong evidence for how a bitterly contested Obama administration policy could benefit women’s health.

Monday, October 01, 2012

This Week's News: Youth in Transition

Education

Boston Center Helps Dropouts Get Back On Track
WBUR 90.0, Boston, MA – September 25, 2012
The start of a new academic year is often a painful reminder for the 1,100 or so students who drop out of high school in Boston every year.  Dropouts cite three main reasons for leaving: they fall too far behind, have problems with school, or have overwhelming personal obstacles. But the Boston Public Schools’ Re-Engagement Center in Roxbury is now clearing a path back to their diploma.

AU program works to cut high school dropout rate
Opelika-Auburn News, Opelika, AL – September 25, 2012
It was celebration of achievements as well as an investment in their futures as members of Auburn University’s Truman Pierce Institute shared the results of their Building Individual Capacity for Success program at the Auburn Alumni Center on Tuesday.

District officials go door-to-door encouraging dropouts to return to school
WISTV Channel 10, Orangeburg County, SC – September 29, 2012
Cynthia Wilson is in charge of Orangeburg Consolidated School District 5.  She spent Saturday making house calls.  She was looking for her high school students who have not shown up to class this school year.  "We're interested in Kadijah coming back to school," Wilson told a mother. "She hasn't returned yet. We want her to come back so that she can finish her education and graduate."

Juvenile Justice

Gov. Brown signs bill giving juveniles 2nd chance
KSWT News 13, Sacramento, CA – September 30, 2012
Gov. Jerry Brown on Sunday announced signing a bill that could one day bring the release of some criminals who were sentenced as juveniles to life in prison.  There are 309 inmates serving life-without-parole sentences in California for murders committed when they were younger than 18.

Youth Justice Awareness Month Returns
Juvenile Justice Information Exchange – September 27, 2012
Four years after a Missouri mother started a homemade campaign about the judicial system that led to her son’s suicide in prison, more than half of the states are hosting events aimed at increasing awareness of the treatment of youth in adult courts, jails and prisons.

Bill would cut sentences of juvenile murderers in Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Pennsylvania – September 27, 2012
The state House of Representatives is considering a bill that would dramatically reduce sentences for some juveniles convicted of murder as the state moves to comply with a U.S. Supreme Court decision.

Foster Care

Learning the Value of Money, From Inside the Foster Care System
Huffington Post - September 28, 2012
The financial crisis may have at least one silver lining. A new survey by TD Ameritrade shows that young people who watched their parents deal with the difficult economy have taken the value of money to heart: Three in four young people said they think saving money is important, and four in 10 said they have a budget, which they follow closely.

Open houses seek to fill gaps in foster-care system
The Republic, Arizona – September 29, 2012
Courtney Hofstede was a homeless 23-year-old when she got connected with Open Table, a non-profit that helps teens aging out of the foster-care system transition into the real world. Nearly one in four foster kids will become homeless after transitioning out of the system, according to Open Table officials.

Teen Pregnancy

Task force: Curbing teen pregnancy is community effort
The Clarion-Ledger, Mississippi – September 28, 2012
It’s not easy to be a kid who takes a stand against getting pregnant as a teenager, Gov. Phil Bryant says.  “Imagine going into a high school as a student and saying you want to get a group together to talk about teenage pregnancy,” Bryant said today. “Imagine the peer pressure you’d get. You might not be able to get in the popular girl group.”  But that’s exactly what Bryant wants to happen with high school members of his task force Healthy Teens for a Better Mississippi.

NYC Schools Offer Morning-After Pill - What It Means for Latina Teen Pregnancy
ABC News, New York, NY – September 24, 2012
For the past year, New York City schools have tested a pilot program that provides Plan B, or the "morning-after pill," free of cost to teenage girls without parental consent in 13 high schools across the city. The program has had a particular impact on Latina students -- many of the pilot schools are located in areas with high Latino populations, including Queens and the Bronx.

Monday, September 24, 2012

This Week's News: Youth in Transition

Education

EPISD dropouts urged to return
El Paso Times, El Paso, TX – September 20, 2012
The El Paso Independent School District, still plagued by a plan some administrators devised to kick low-performing students out of school to rig accountability measures, is focusing its efforts to bring dropouts back to the classroom.

Volunteers urge dropouts to return to Des Moines high schools
IndyStar.com, DesMoines, IA – September 23, 2012
Des Moines schools employees and community volunteers hit the streets Saturday morning in an effort to get 303 students to come back to high school.

District trying to keep high school grads from dropping out of college
The Examiner, Washington, DC – September 23, 2012
The District is testing a new mentoring program at three universities in an attempt to keep the large numbers of D.C. high school graduates who drop out of college from calling it quits.

Juvenile Justice

Dropout Nation: From Detention To Diploma
KPBS, Flagstaff, AZ – September 17, 2012
The high school dropout rate for American Indians is almost twice the national average. Educators in Flagstaff, Ariz., have tried to turn that trend around. And they’ve had some success at a place you wouldn’t suspect -- the Coconino County Juvenile Detention Center. Most of the kids who wind up there are Native American. Incidentally, we weren’t allowed to show faces of most of the kids because of their age.

Staten Island Youth Court: Teens get involved in justice system
Staten Island Advance, Staten Island, NY – September 23, 2012
A group of teens sits in the Staten Island Youth Court, silent and attentive as the bailiff leads in the respondent, Youth Court's equivalent of a defendant.  Just moments before, the teens were laughing and joking. But now, it's serious business, and they know it -- business that can include accusations of shoplifting, graffiti vandalism or truancy.

Georgia at Work on Juvenile Justice Reforms for Next Year
Juvenile Justice Information Exchange, Georgia – September 18, 2012
With technical assistance from the Pew Center on the States, a Georgia blue ribbon panel is studying the state’s juvenile criminal justice system, charged by the governor with recommending policy changes.

Foster Care

Bridging the gap to independence
Camarillo Acorn, Camarillo, CA – September 21, 2012
Allison Bravo doesn’t know who her parents are.  Now 19, Bravo has spent her life alternating between living in a group home and staying with a foster family that was not a good match. When she aged out of foster care, she became homeless.  Fortunately for Bravo, Casa Pacifica offered her a steppingstone into the future. The nonprofit, which serves Ventura and Santa Barbara counties, provides care for abused and neglected youths.

Life after foster care
The Daily Journal, San Mateo County, CA – September 17, 2012
Graduates from high school or college are more and more likely to still be living at home. Finding a path to employment is increasingly challenging for young adults, especially for those with little or no support network.  For foster youth who have aged out of the system, going back home may not be an option.  Sims’ and Kopyscianski’s paid internships with the San Mateo County Parks Department are part of a new county Supported Training and Employment Program (STEP). The program, which started three years ago, is designed to help foster youth follow their employment and education goals once they have aged out of the foster care system.

Foster kids get help to move on
Courier-Journal.com, LaRue County, KY – September 22, 2012
When Willie Wells turned 18, he was discharged from a group home in LaRue County and given a bus ticket to Louisville.  Hoping now to help others avoid that kind of struggle, Wells and others have put together a Youth Empowerment Summit in Lexington today, where young people in foster care can get information and advice about what’s available when they leave state custody and enter adulthood.

Teen Pregnancy

Record low local teen pregnancy rates
CBS 10, Amarillo, TX – September 19, 2012
Fewer teen girls are becoming pregnant in Amarillo.  The Teen Pregnancy Prevention Coalition says they're seeing the lowest rates since they began keeping track over ten years ago. They held a meeting today with area social workers, nurses, and students to announce their latest findings.

Sex Education in Mississippi: Will a New Law Lower Teen Pregnancy Rates?
Time Magazine, Mississippi – September 21, 2012
During the four years Ashley McKay attended Rosa Fort High School in Tunica, Miss., her sex education consisted mainly of an instructor listing different sexually transmitted diseases. “There was no curriculum,” she says. “The teacher, an older gentleman who was also the football coach, would tell us, ‘If you get AIDS, you’re gonna die. Pick out your casket, because you’re gonna die.”  The scare tactic backfired.

Monday, September 17, 2012

This Week's News: Youth in Transition

Education

LAUSD Reaches Out To Bring Dropout Students Back To School
CBS2, Los Angeles, CA – September 14, 2012
Members of the Los Angeles Unified School District launched the fifth annual Student Recovery Day Friday morning.  “Our whole community is coming together,” LAUSD board member Steve Zimmer said. “We are not complete without you, we want to know why you left and we want to help you come back.”

Schools come knocking to re-enroll dropouts
Des Moines Register, Des Moines, IA – September 12, 2012
Community volunteers will team up next week with staff from the Des Moines school district to extend a simple, but heartfelt, message to disengaged students: We want you back.

LISD begins 'Expectation Graduation'
NBC11, Lubbock, TX – September 15, 2012
For the third year in a row, Lubbock Independent School District is taking the fight against drop outs to the street. Groups of LISD teachers and volunteers went to the homes of kids who have dropped out of school to try and talk them into coming back.

Juvenile Justice

Families Unlocking Futures: Solutions to the Crisis in Juvenile Justice
Youth Today – September 13, 2012
In 2001, my 13-year-old son, Corey, was sent to what the New York Times called “the worst juvenile prison in the country.”  What crime had he committed that earned him this hellish journey to the Tallulah Correctional Center for Youth in Louisiana? He stole a $300 stereo out of pick up after he smashed out the window with a crowbar. His sentence was five years in one of the most brutal facilities in the United States.  The families of children who are system involved are often thought of as lazy, uneducated, uncaring or worse. But a new report by Justice for Families (J4F) gives us a much different picture of families and relies on substantial data rather than outdated myths and stereotypes.

N.J. court makes it harder to try kids as adults
CourierPostOnline.com, Trenton, NJ – September 12, 2012
A divided state Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that county prosecutors must adhere to a higher standard when they seek to try juvenile defendants in adult court.  The 3-2 ruling by the high court stems from a case in which three juveniles were accused of beating and robbing a Woodbridge man in 2009.

Foster Care

New Social Network Aims to Fill Void Left by Foster Care System
Mashable – September 10, 2012
The Camellia Network, a social network launched over the summer, wants to provide young people who age out of the foster care system with the support and resources of a family.  When foster children turn 18 (or 21 in a few states), the system stops providing them housing if they have not been permanently adopted by a family. This adds up to roughly 30,000 teens and young adults being kicked out of their homes each year, with slim or no resources to get on their feet and begin adulthood.

The Courtyard housing project unveiled
The Journal Gazette, Fort Wayne, IN – September 11, 2012
Three organizations teamed up to propose a $5.2 million facility designed to help stop young adults leaving foster care from ending up homeless.  The Courtyard of Fort Wayne was unveiled Monday before community members, government and housing officials. Under a mostly federally funded project, the 36-unit residence plans to provide housing to young adults who “age out” of the foster care system at 18.

Teen Pregnancy

YWCA to tackle teen pregnancy in Allen County
The Lima News, Allen County, OH – September 10, 2012
After assessing the needs of Allen County, the YWCA of Northwest Ohio is ready to tackle its first issue. It wants to start with teen pregnancy and is committing $100,000 to do so.  “The unanimous vote of the board was that in order to make a great impact in the community, we wanted to start with teen pregnancy,” Lisa McDuffiie, of the Northwest Ohio YWCA, told the Allen County Family and Children First Council on Monday.

Houston-area school districts adopt new take on sex ed
Houston Chronicle, Houston, TX – September 13, 2012
Some Houston-area school districts are shifting away from traditional abstinence-only sex education classes this school year, part of a statewide trend that has prompted concern among some parents that kids are learning too much, too soon about sex.

Monday, September 10, 2012

This Week's News: Youth in Transition

Education

Teams to visit school dropouts
Houston Chronicle, Houston, TX – September 4, 2012
Some faculty members and volunteers from Westbury, Bellaire and Lamar high schools are among those gearing up for the Houston school district's ninth annual "Grads Within Reach" program in which they walk to visit high school dropouts to encourage them to get back in school and graduate.

Help cut dropout rate for students via JAG program
News-Sentinel, Indiana – September 8, 2012
Indiana has a 27 percent high school droput rate. That means on your street alone, there are likely one or two students who won't earn a diploma, putting them at a significant disadvantage.  CANI is part of the solution through a new youth-focused program. The objective of JAG (Jobs For America's Graduates) is to help high school juniors and seniors at risk of not graduating to get back on track and graduate.

Immigrant Students Beat U.S.-Born in NYC High School Graduation
San Francisco Chronicle, New York, NY – September 5, 2012
Immigrants were more likely to graduate from New York City high schools than U.S.-born students in 2009, according to the city’s Independent Budget Office.

Juvenile Justice

Youth court fall juror training set
The Press-Enterprise, Riverside, CA – September 7, 2012
Riverside Youth Court is an innovative approach to juvenile justice and acts as an early intervention for first-time offenders of misdemeanor crimes.  It is designed to give youth between the ages of 10 and 17, who have broken the law and admitted their guilt, a second chance.

Foster Care

Mentoring program aids teens ‘aged out’ of foster care
Pine Island Eagle, Florida – September 8, 2012
Turning 18 is a milestone birthday for any teen but for youths in foster care, it's also a sharp line in the sand.  Teens "age out" of foster care when they become legal adults and, while there are some continuing services available, too many find themselves on their own - and ill-prepared for that transition.  That's where Footsteps to the Future, a local not-for-profit, steps in.

LCCC gets grant to help at-risk students
The Telegraph, Illinois – September 3, 2012
A federal grant will enable a local college to serve more at-risk students in a comprehensive alternative education program that literally builds futures.

Teen Pregnancy

Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Campaign
Gaston Gazette, North Carolina – September 8, 2012
A teen mom shouldn’t depend on her baby’s daddy to help raise their child.  Eight out of 10 dads don’t stay with the teen mothers of their children, said Diana Willman, coordinator for the health department’s Teen Pregnancy Program, a parenting program for teen mothers.

TV Writers Script Safe Sex 'Product Placement'
NPR – September 6, 2012
For an egregious example of a silly product placement, look no further than the CW show The Vampire Diaries, where a character actually says "I Bing'd it" of a search online. But believe it or not, product placement can actually be serious and socially conscious.

Tuesday, September 04, 2012

This Week's News: Youth in Transition

Education

Walk to target dropouts
Houston Chronicle, Houston, TX – August 28, 2012
Some faculty members and volunteers from Lee High School are among those gearing up for the Houston school district's ninth annual "Grads Within Reach" program in which they walk to visit high school dropouts to encourage them to get back in school and graduate.

Program reaches out to those who haven't graduated
WCF Courier, Waterloo, IA – September 2, 2012
The three volunteers knocked on the door, not knowing if anyone would be home.  When a woman in a bathrobe finally answered the door, they apologized for their early interruption around 9 a.m. on a Saturday.

New school gives dropouts a second chance at graduation
WRAL, Durham, NC – August 27, 2012
For students at the Magic Johnson Bridgescape Academy, the traditional trek back to school Monday was anything but routine.

Juvenile Justice

Following a New Roadmap to Juvenile Justice
Juvenile Justice Information Exchange, August 31, 2012
These days are exciting ones for youth justice in the United States. Several factors have come together to influence the evolution of the field, including the economic downturn, a recognition that traditional models have failed, and a wide variety of new alternatives.

Juveniles entitled to hearing before being moved to state prison, N.J. court panel rules
NJ.com, Trenton, NJ – August 28, 2012
Unruly juveniles housed at any of the state's facilities for young offenders are entitled to a hearing before they're transferred to a state prison, a state appeals court panel ruled today.

Foster Care

Labor Department Announces $75 Million in Education Grants for ‘Out of School’ ‘Youth’ Ages 16-24
CNSNews.com – August 31, 2012
Labor Secretary of Hilda Solis announced on Wednesday that $75.7 million in grants are being distributed to organizations that help “out of school youth” earn a high school diploma and learn occupational skills.

$1.1M BCC grant builds job skills of at-risk youth
Florida Today, Florida – August 30, 2012
A Brevard Community College program that helps at-risk youth earn a high school diploma or GED, as well as develop job skills, will continue thanks to a $1.1 million grant announced Wednesday by the U.S. Department of Labor.  Across the nation, many participants have been in the juvenile justice system, are aging out of foster care or have dropped out of high school.

Teen Pregnancy

Teens Say Parents Most Influence Their Decisions About Sex
The Sacramento Bee, Washington, DC – August 28, 2012
Teens say that parents (38%) most influence their decisions about sex—more than peers (22%), the media (9%), teachers and educators (4%), and others, according to a new survey commissioned by The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy.  Nearly 9 in 10 (87%) young people surveyed also say that it would be much easier for teens to delay sexual activity and avoid teen pregnancy if they were able to have more open, honest conversations about these topics with their parents.

Advocacy group gives teen moms support
The Journal, Martinsburg, WV – August 29, 2012
Jill Bevins and Shayla Plowden-Smallwood might not look they would have a common bond at first sight. Bevins is in her 30s and a mother of three. Shayla is 20 and also a mother. Both became pregnant with their first child when they were teenagers.  YoungLives, a faith-based, non-denominational ministry to teen mothers in the Eastern Panhandle, works to provide young mothers with resources and support.

Monday, August 27, 2012

This Week's News: Youth in Transition

Education

Graduation ceremony honors those who were once most at-risk in Palm Beach County
The Palm Beach Post, Lake Worth, FL – August 25, 2012
Somewhere around his junior year, Michael Meese just decided he didn’t really want to go to school anymore.  But thanks to a pilot program aimed to cut down on high school dropouts, Meese got back on track again, graduating as his family looked proudly on.

North Marion High School Hosts Drop Out Prevention Invitational
WBOY12, Marion County, WV – August 24, 2012
North Marion High School invited juniors and seniors from Fairmont Senior and East Fairmont High Schools to join their students in the drop out prevention invitational.  Students worked with the U.S. Marine Corps to improve their physical and mental abilities.

Dropouts offered 2nd chance
Toledo Blade, Ohio – August 21, 2012
Allison Hinds decided in her senior year that she and high school didn't mix.  Her prospects weren't bright.  But these days, she has a job and her own place and is back on track at school, thanks to a new program at Owens Community College for high school dropouts.

Juvenile Justice

Kids Behind Bars: Illinois Rethinks Juvenile Justice
NPR News, Illinois – August 18, 2012
The state's juvenile prison system has been called an expensive failure. So Illinois, like several other states, is trying a new approach to make sure kids out on parole don't come back: treating youths who commit crimes less like adults. And the structure of the system is starting to shift.

Life-without-parole bill lands on governor's desk
San Francisco Chronicle, Sacramento, CA – August 20, 2012
A bill to let prisoners appeal lifetime sentences they received for crimes committed when they were juveniles is now in the governor's hands.

Foster Care

Former Foster Children Get A Leg Up At Sac State
KTXL Fox40, Sacramento, CA – August 24, 2012
A program to help Sac State students who were in foster care arranged for the donation of much needed laptop computers.  The Guardian Scholars program at CSUS helps students navigate the university system by providing financial aid, counseling and vocational guidance.

Visa offers path for immigrant youth in state care
The Sacramento Bee, Cumming, GA – August 25, 2012
Maria Boudet has no memory of Mexico or how she came to the United States. What she does remember is the year she turned 16 and found out she was living in the country illegally.  Two years ago, her mother was deported, her brother was detained and she was put in foster care. A powerful reminder of all she lost and gained is printed on the top right corner of her green card: "SL6." That's the code for special immigrant juvenile status (SIJS), the little-known program that allows Boudet and hundreds like her each year to live and work in the U.S. as a legal permanent resident.

Teen Pregnancy

Greater New Haven nonprofit honors graduates of teen pregnancy prevention program
New Haven Register, North Haven, CT – August 26, 2012
An ambitious local nonprofit is attempting to tackle the issue of teen pregnancy prevention through positive reinforcement. The organization is recognizing New Haven teens who have chosen to not have children.

Ads invoke reality to fight teen pregnancy
Journal Sentinel, Milwaukee, WI – August 21, 2012
United Way of Greater Milwaukee, in collaboration with Serve Marketing, is launching a new "What You Can't Do with a Baby" campaign to get teens talking and thinking about how life changes when a teen becomes a parent.  The ads depict a high school basketball player and a cheerleader in action, both with attached baby carriers and the message: "Think your life won't change with a baby?" The ads direct teens to BabyCanWait.com, connecting them to information and resources to help prevent pregnancy and promote healthy relationships.

Monday, August 20, 2012

This Week's News: Youth in Transition

Education

High school dropouts get a second chance in Camden County
MLive.com, Lansing, MI – August 17, 2012
The Capital City is home to one of the worst high school dropout rates in Michigan, but a potential charter school could help remedy that.  The Lansing school board on Thursday unanimously approved a request from BCFI to send a letter to the Michigan Department of Education expressing interest in becoming an authorizer for the BCFI Empowerment Academy, a charter school.

One More Time: Yes, College Is Worth It
Time – August 16, 2012
A new study from Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce finds that a college degree is indeed the best defense against unemployment. “It’s a tough job market for college graduates,” the report says, “but far worse for those without a college education.”

Montgomery educator reaches out with house calls
Gazette.net, Montgomery, MD – August 15, 2012
It was the day after the Hughes family’s vacation, and Scott and Lisa Hughes and their sons were relaxing in their Derwood home.  Their oldest child, Jake, who is about to begin eighth grade at Shady Grove Middle School, paced around the living room.  His principal, Edward Owusu, was on his way.

Juvenile Justice

Kids Behind Bars: Illinois Rethinks Juvenile Justice
NPR, Chicago, IL – August 18, 2012
A damning report from the Illinois Juvenile Justice Commission called the state youth prison system an expensive failure. Its study showed that "well over 50 percent of youth" leaving the state's facilities will go back to juvenile facilities — and others will head to adult corrections system.  Some of the juveniles in Illinois' system committed serious offenses, the report shows. But many others are there for lesser crimes and, officials say, would be better served in treatment or educational programs.

Juvenile offender program working
Tampa Bay Online, Tampa, FL – August 17, 2012
A program to keep first-time juvenile offenders out of Hillsborough County's criminal justice system recorded a 91 percent success rate after one year, county commissioners learned Thursday.

Report: Juvenile detention population down
WVUE Fox8, Baton Rouge, LA – August 14, 2012
A report by Louisiana State University on the current status of the juvenile justice system has concluded multiple parishes have seen a decline in the number of youths detained over the past five years.  The study concludes that the decreases are thanks to needs assessment tools helping probation officers develop case plans specific to a person's individual needs.

Foster Care

State's Ready by 21 prepares foster youth for life
The Baltimore Sun, Maryland – August 19, 2012
Shalita O'Neale approached her 21st birthday with more dread than enthusiasm. Reaching the milestone meant she would officially age out of the state's foster care system.  Nine years later, she is a college graduate established in a career with a home and family of her own. But she understands the desperation that comes with severing ties to a system that has filled in for absentee parents.
She has become a strong proponent of a new state initiative, known as Ready by 21.

Help for Fla foster youth after they leave system
The Miami Herald, Tallahassee, FL – August 16, 2012
State child welfare officials are overhauling a program that helps teens as they age out of foster care.  Department of Children and Families Secretary David Wilkins on Wednesday appointed 12 people to the newly reassembled Independent Living Services Advisory Council.

A Next Step for Foster Kids
The Wall Street Journal, New York, NY – August 19, 2012
What happens when a young person ages out of the foster-care system?  For five New Yorkers in particular the plans are divergent, yet familiar. One young woman wants to become a script supervisor. Another wants to be a doctor. Two young mothers want help finding housing and assistance earning a GED. And a young man wants to pursue his dream of developing video games.  Beginning Aug. 20, they and some 45 others from around the country will be able to post their aspirations online and raise money and support through the newly launched Camellia Network.

Teen Pregnancy

Teen Pregnancy Declines, But U.S. Still Lags
NPR, Washington, D.C. – August 19, 2012
The U.S. teen pregnancy rate is the highest in the developed world. In 2008, nearly 7 percent of girls between ages of 15 and 19 became pregnant. But there's good news: The numbers have been going down for a few decades, hitting a 42-percent drop by 2008. The decline occurred across all races — though blacks and Latinos continued to have higher numbers.  The dramatic decline is a huge success for those who have worked to prevent teen pregnancy, but there's still much work ahead.

Jackson County Officials Work to Decrease Pregnancy Rates among Latina Teens
The Lund Report, Jackson County, OR – August 16, 2012
Jackson County has the tenth highest teen pregnancy rate in Oregon – and a disproportionately high teen pregnancy rate among Latina girls.  Even more disconcerting, said Maggie Sullivan, program manager for the Health Care Coalition of Southern Oregon, was the age of some of the girls. She was working at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Jackson County when she and several other health officials conferred, and noticed a high number of middle school-aged Latina girls coming into community clinics requesting pregnancy tests.  Health officials started by holding a health fair called La Salud de Mi Hija (Spanish for “my daughter's health) for Latino families.

Monday, August 13, 2012

This Week's News: Youth in Transition

Education

Law asks panel to find ways to boost graduation rate in Illinois
Chicago Sun-Times, Illinois – August 12, 2012
The Commission for High School Graduation Achievement and Success will look at alternative education programs to help keep at-risk students in class. The group has to present its findings to Quinn and lawmakers by Nov. 1.

YouthBuild to allow more students to join program
Pantagraph.com, Normal, IL – August 10, 2012
A student can now earn a high school diploma, GED or learn vocational skills at YouthBuild McLean County without being a high school drop-out.  That change was approved by the McLean County Unit 5 school board this week when it amended its charter school agreement with YouthBuild. Another change allows YouthBuild to become a year-round school.

'Be Ready' Program Hopes To Improve High School Graduation Rates
WIBC 93.1, Indiana – August 11, 2012
An initiative called 'Be Ready' is gearing up to make sure Hoosier students are prepared for academic success. It's an effort led by the Boys and Girls Club to decrease high school dropout rates.

Juvenile Justice

College hopes renewed for Lawrence dropouts
Eagle-Tribune, Lawrence, NH – August 9, 2012
This month’s opening of Phoenix Academy-Lawrence, a new alternative high school, will revive college hopes and careers for hundreds of dropouts in the city.

Juvenile offenders to get fresh start
Weatherford Democrat, Parker County, TX – August 9, 2012
The U.S. Department of Labor recently awarded a grant of $1.5 million that is expected to help young Parker County adults who have been involved in the juvenile justice system gain education, vocational training and an opportunity to give back to the community.

Foster Care

Angel House provides launch into real world
The Cherokee Ledger-News, Georgia – August 7, 2012
Angel House of North Georgia, a private nonprofit foster care facility near Canton, offers a haven for young girls in need. Now, the organization has spread its wings to provide another service —transitional apartments where the young women can live as they age out of foster care and gain a footing living independently.

Foster scholars get help
The Union Democrat, Calavaras County, CA - August 6, 2012
A half-dozen college freshmen who grew up in foster care in Calaveras County could get a little more care and support this year if a campaign envisioned by a Valley Springs woman takes off as planned.  Karen Pekarcik, who has extensive experience working with youth as the executive director of First 5 Calaveras, is recruiting at least five county residents who want to join her in sponsoring a student.

Teen Pregnancy

Scholars argue lack of economic prospects leads teens to pregnancy
MLive.com, Michigan – August 9, 2012
The Catherine Ferguson Academy is on its summer schedule, and the custodians’ floor-polishing has pushed much of what is unique about the Detroit charter high school into the halls. A line of high chairs blocks a row of lockers. A table with built-in chairs for four infants stands near a pushcart designed to hold nine of them. And everywhere are posters of rainbow-colored condoms.

Salem-Keizer School District to keep teen pregnancy prevention class by Planned Parenthood
The Statesman Journal, Oregon – August 8, 2012
Salem-Keizer School District announced Tuesday it will keep its teen pregnancy prevention class as is despite a parent’s objection to Planned Parenthood’s involvement.  Planned Parenthood received a $20 million grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to offer Teen Outreach Program to five states, including Oregon.