Tuesday, May 29, 2012

This Week's News: Youth in Transition

Education

Reducing school dropouts: Toso forming board with agencies to address attendance in JPS
The Jamestown Sun, Jamestown, ND – May 22, 2012
On Monday the Jamestown Public School Board heard plans for a new board that will be formed with the intended effect of reducing dropout numbers.  Superintendent Bob Toso has been working for more than two years on the School Attendance Review Board, which will include community agencies to better address attendance issues.

Oakland schools' black male students at risk
San Francisco Chronicle, Oakland, CA – May 23, 2012
By the time they reach middle school, more than half of the African American males in Oakland show signs they'll miss high school graduation day, with suspensions and chronic absenteeism topping the list of common characteristics among them, according to a study released Tuesday.

Giving Students a Second Chance
Times-News, Twin Falls, ID – May 27, 2012
Robby Lopez stood in an empty house earlier this month at El Milagro finishing some painting.  The 20-year-old Burley resident’s boots were covered with paint splatters – the result of renovating a small house in the Twin Falls migrant housing area.

Juvenile Justice

Bill would keep some 16 and 17-year-olds out of adult court
The News & Observer, North Carolina - May 22, 2012
State lawmakers are mounting another effort this session to keep more juvenile offenders out of the adult court and prison system.  The “Raise the Age” bill would keep 16- and 17-year-olds in juvenile court for misdemeanors only. North Carolina and New York are currently the only two states where 16- and 17-year-olds are automatically sent to adult court – even though 86 percent of crimes committed by that age group are misdemeanors.

Bibb County Agencies Set To Reduce Juvenile Justice Cases
I3 WMAZ, Bibb County, GA – May 24, 2012
An attorney with the Georgia Legal Services Program worked with the Bibb County Juvenile Justice and school systems to develop a new student discipline protocol.  The goal is to curb the number of students sent before a juvenile court judge for minor offenses at school.

Foster Care

Family Finders connects kids, family
The Charlotte Observer, North Carolina – May 28, 2012
Ever heard of Family Finders? One might assume it’s an organization that finds families interested in adopting kids.  That’s partially correct.  The goal is connecting foster children and youths with families, but the fascinating, and widely unknown, objective of Family Finders is to reunite foster kids with their own families.

Financial mentors help foster teens with budgeting
The Sacramento Bee, California – May 27, 2012
For most teens, money is a gotta-have-it, wanna-spend-it commodity. But for foster teens, who often bounce from home to home in their young years, it's far more complicated. There's no mom or dad doling out a weekly allowance.

Teen Pregnancy

Poor girls aren't condemned to pregnancy, poverty
CNN – May 25, 2012
"Why is the teen birth rate in the United States so high, and why does it matter?" Those questions are posed in the title of a new paper in the Journal of Economic Perspectives getting a good deal of applause on the Internet.


SC is winning the battle against teen pregnancy
GoUpstate.com, South Carolina – May 23, 2012
Imagine sitting with your friends 20 years ago today and spotting a headline in the newspaper about rising teen pregnancy rates. Then imagine someone suggests that — with a modest investment in state dollars, a strong commitment to prevention at the local level, and a coordinated statewide effort involving parents, schools and the faith community — we could reduce teen pregnancy by 40 percent over the next two decades.

Monday, May 21, 2012

This Week's News: Youth in Transition

Education

Public high school graduation rates rise
Wisconsin Rapids Tribune, Wisconsin – May 18, 2012
Wisconsin's public high school graduation rate has improved, newly released state numbers show.  Figures released by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction on Thursday show a graduation rate of 87 percent in 2011.

Project 10% aims to reduce high school dropout rates
ABC30, Fresno, CA – May 19, 2012
Merced County is launching a first of its kind program to cut crime, by reducing high school drop out rates.  The district attorney and local education leaders announced the initiative on Friday. It's called Project 10%, and the goal is to reduce high school drop-out rates in the county by 10 percent.

Program gives school dropouts H.O.P.E.
Bastrop Enterprise, Bastrop, LA – May 18, 2012
The Northeast Louisiana Workforce Centers Inc. began a new program in Morehouse, Union and West Carroll parishes this month that can aid high school drop-outs in entering the work force.

Juvenile Justice

New rules to protect youths in adult jails
Independent Mail, Washington, D.C. – May 18, 2012
The thousands of juveniles held at any time in adult U.S. jails and prisons will receive new safeguards to protect them from rape and other physical abuses by older inmates, under rules unveiled Thursday.  The department's directive represents the first-ever federal effort to protect inmates, including juveniles, from sexual abuse at national, state and local levels.

Foster Care

Aging Out Of Foster Care Gets Easier In Ohio
NBC4i, Columbus, OH – May 14, 2012
Every year, more than 1,000 kids age out of (or grow too old for) Ohio's foster care system and are left to fend for themselves in the adult world.  NBC4 talked to a former foster child who is trying to make a difference in Central Ohio.

Casey Family Programs host job fair helps D.C. foster care youths
The Washington Post, Washington, D.C. – May 17, 2012
Casey Family Programs hosted a job fair at the CFSA Youth Empowerment Center called the ‘JumpStart Fair’ on May 17. The fair was for young people who will soon age out of foster care with resources they need to live on their own. Trainers from Wells Fargo and recruiters from local businesses such as Copper Canyon Grill attended, as did D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray. More than 130 youths participated.

Program helps teens in foster care find self-sufficiency
The News & Advance, Lynchburg, VA - May 14, 2012
There’s a tricky balance in helping teens make the connection between freedom and responsibility.  Yet Terrick Moyer does it each day as program manager for Step Forward Transitional Services, a program created to help young adults successfully transition from foster care to self-sufficiency.

Teen Pregnancy

Engaging teens in pregnancy prevention may be paying off
Minnesota Public Radio, St. Paul, MN – May 16, 2012
Amid the lunchroom hubbub at South High School in Minneapolis, a group of students wearing matching black sweatshirts strikes up a conversation about teen pregnancy with a group of eight boys.  Jasmine Powell, a confident 11th grader, leads the discussion, asking if the teens have thought about how to prevent a pregnancy.

Sex prevention talk with teens
Fox23.com – May 17, 2012
Teens are being targeted through their cell phones. And some say it's for their own good.  The program is called act now. The goal is to use texting to help girls avoid getting pregnant. It’s a way to get girls some answers to questions they might otherwise never ask.

Monday, May 14, 2012

This Wee's News: Youth in Transition

Education

College program assists high school dropouts
Richmond Confidential, California – May 9, 2012
Contra Costa College has received a $325,000 grant from the Gateway to College National Network to implement a small learning community model for high school dropouts. Designed for young adults between the of ages 16 and 21 who have dropped out of high school or are behind in credits and unlikely to graduate, the program will enable students to complete their high school diploma requirements while also earning college credit toward an associate degree or certificate.

Mall-based schools offer second chance for at-risk students
The Herald Bulletin, Indianapolis, IN – May 13, 2012
Jayne Carter spends her mornings at a shopping mall earning her high school degree.  It may sound like a teenager’s dream, but for Carter, 18, and her classmates, it’s a second chance.

Graduate or Go to Prison: Choice Bus
NBC5 DFW, Texas – May 10, 2012
Several local middle schools will host The Choice Bus sponsored by State Farm this week in a nationwide campaign to reduce high school dropouts.  The Choice Bus is one of three buses operated by the Mattie C. Stewart Foundation.

Juvenile Justice

Youth Recovery Court starts in Winnebago County
NBC3 Winnebago County, IL – May 11, 2012
Experts know when some people commit crimes, the behavior can be out of those people's control. Maybe substance abuse or mental illness are a problem.

Youth court steers first offenders to the right path
The Livingston County News, Livingston County, NY – May 10, 2012
A broken window, a stolen T-shirt or a fake ID has landed many teenagers in Livingston County family court where a probation officers must decide the best path toward more lawful behavior.  Today, court officers have a useful tool at their disposal called Youth Court, a program that coordinator Steve Todisco says allows cases to be “diverted” to a courtroom of a young offender’s closest peers.

Foster Care

Ohio to aid young adults who age out of foster care
WKSU 98.7, Ohio – May 11, 2012
Attorney General Mike Dewine wants more court advocacy, temporary housing, and treatment for post traumatic stress disorder for 18-to-24-year olds who spent much of their childhood in foster care.

State grants will help homeless, former foster youth
The Columbus Dispatch, Ohio – May 12, 2012
Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine is backing three pilot projects that aim to help the state’s most underserved homeless population: young people age 18 to 24.  DeWine said yesterday that his office will provide as much as $875,000 for three programs, or as much as $275,000 in each two-year grant.

Teen Pregnancy

Graduation is first example high school senior wants to set for her daughter
Las Vegas Sun, Nevada – May 13, 2012
Evaleen Diaz plods up three flights of stairs at Western High School as rushing students course around her. At the top, the 18-year-old lets out a huge sigh. It is still early in the morning, but Diaz is spent. She’s pregnant.  The news came as a surprise to her in December, when she was preparing for her last chance to pass the Nevada High School Proficiency Exam, a necessary step in earning her diploma.

City, local school districts try to fight teen pregnancy issue
San Antonio Express-News, Texas – May 9, 2012
Like Texas and the rest of the nation, Bexar County has seen a significant drop in the number of teen births since the mid-1990s.  Still, last year, almost 3,000 Bexar County teens 19 and younger had babies. And the rate of teen births in Bexar County in 2010 was almost 50 percent higher than the national average.

Monday, May 07, 2012

This Week's News: Youth in Transition

Education

Finding new paths to high school graduation
SoMdNews.com, Great Mills, MD – May 2, 2012
A modest crowd gathered last Thursday evening at Great Mills High School to hear about what St. Mary’s public schools offers to help keep kids on track to graduate.

Teachers Discuss High School Drop Out Rates in Florida
WUSF News, Florida – April 29, 2012
An initiative called American Graduate: Let's Make It Happen, which is funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, brought together public school teachers from across the state, including Tampa, to Jacksonville this weekend.

Fighting The Odds: Inside D.C.'s Dropout Crisis
WAMU 88.5, Washington, D.C. – May 2, 2012
WAMU 88.5 has spent the past several months delving into the high school dropout crisis in Washington, D.C., where more than 40 percent of students fail to complete their studies within four years. We visited innovative schools, talked with kids managing to succeed despite having the deck stacked against them, and compared the U.S.'s floundering graduation rate to that of schools overseas.

Juvenile Justice

Does race matter in the juvenile justice system?
The CT Mirror, Connecticut – May 4, 2012
When a child is referred to a Connecticut court, the state's juvenile justice system is largely colorblind.  New state data from 2011 show that whether a youth is black, white or Latino, he has about a 50 percent chance of having his case dismissed. Similarly, about 30 percent of all youths -- regardless of skin color or ethnicity -- receive probation after they are arrested.

4th District court a model for change
The News Star, Louisiana – May 29, 2012
The 4th Judicial District Court has become the state's model for change in the juvenile justice system thanks to the efforts of multiple local agencies over the past two years.  The district was selected two years ago to be a pilot site for the Louisiana Models for Change initiative to develop a model program for juvenile drug courts and the juvenile justice system. The project was funded by a $385,000 grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, which ends in May.

NILE discusses challenge to steer kids from violence
Chicago Tribune, Memphis & Shelby Counties, TN – May 4, 2012
More than 100 people came out Thursday night to discuss their organization's efforts to reduce the number of children entering local juvenile and criminal justice systems and to recognize the rehabilitation of former juvenile offenders.

Foster Care

First Place for Youth helps former foster care youth find housing
ABC 7, Los Angeles, CA – May 3, 2012
Ashley Marquez, 18, was briefly homeless until she moved into her first apartment in Baldwin Hills Thursday. When Marquez turned 18, she was aged out of L.A.'s foster care system.

At-risk young adults find career paths through Montgomery nonprofit
Gazette.net, Rockville, MD – May 3, 2012
Future Link is a youth development program that helps young adults who are aging out of foster care, who have experienced homelessness, substance addiction, incarceration and/or abuse, or who are first generation college students. The program works with students to identify sustainable career paths. Then, it provides them guidance and connections to get started.

Teen Pregnancy

Teen Pregnancy Prevention Month
The Daily Freeman-Journal, Iowa – May 2, 2012
In Iowa and across the country, communities will be observing Teen Pregnancy Prevention Month in May. Statewide reports showing a decline in teen pregnancy and teen birth rates which is positive for programs that provide teens with accurate, age-appropriate sex education, and access to confidential sexual health services.

Holyoke is Looking to Reduce Teen Pregnancy
Fox 6, Holyoke, MA – May 3, 2012
The Holyoke Board of Health has organized a task force to help reduce the number of teen pregnancies in the city.  The announcement was made Thursday afternoon by Mayor Alex Morse and the Holyoke Adolescent Sexual Health and Pregnancy Prevention Task Force.

Thousands gather to address teen pregnancy
Sun Herald, Biloxi, MS – May 5, 2012
Nearly 3,000 pre-teens, teens, mothers, concerned women and community leaders came together to educate young women about preventing teenage pregnancy.  The fifth annual event at the Coast Coliseum was filled with education, love and a little entertainment for those who attended.