Monday, June 24, 2013

This Week's News: Youth in Transition

Education

Large increase in NYC Latino high school grads, but numbers still lag for English language learners
NBC Latino, New York, NY – June 18, 2013
More Latino students are graduating from high school in New York City than ever before, but the number of English Language Learner graduates in the city continues to lag, with a near 5-point drop in graduation rates this year alone.

City Boasts Strong Graduation Rate Among 5 Largest Districts Statewide
CBS, New York, NY – June 17, 2013
The high school drop-out rate in New York City has hit an all-time low and the graduation rate remained steady, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and schools chancellor Dennis Walcott announced Monday.

Mesa schools work to bring back dropouts; state graduation rate below U.S. average
East Valley Tribune, Mesa, AZ – June 19, 2013
Mesa Unified School District, the largest in the state, tops the national average in graduation rates, according to a report issued in early June.

Juvenile Justice

Washington one of nation's 'comeback states' on juvenile justice
King5.com, Washington – June 18, 2013
Washington’s juvenile detention population dropped 40% between 2001 and 2010, according to a new report released Tuesday by the National Juvenile Justice Network.  The analysis puts Washington among nine “comeback states” on the issue of juvenile justice.

Fewer Wisconsin juveniles being locked up, study shows
Green Bay Press Gazette, Wisconsin – June 23, 2013
A national study cites Wisconsin as one of just nine states that have drastically cut the incarceration rate for youth offenders, a trend the study claims helps reduce crime.

Foster Care

Texas foster kids find transitional support, housing before ‘aging out’ of system
The Dallas Morning News, Texas – June 19, 2013
In some ways, Charles Pruitt has been an adult for much of his childhood.  The teenager cared for his three youngest sisters when their parents neglected them and they missed two years of school. In his Waxahachie foster home, his graceful acceptance of chores and rules makes him a leader among the eight other teens.  Now 19, Pruitt officially became an adult about a year ago. Every year, there are 1,500 just like him in Texas who “age out” of foster care.

Project Aims to Help Teens Transition Out of Foster Care
CBS KUTV, Utah – June 19, 2013
Volunteers are working on a project aimed at helping teens trying to transition out of foster care.  Every year hundreds of Utah teens "age out" of the foster system and try to start a new life. Christmas Box International worked with dozens of volunteers to prepare Life Start Kits. They are 30 gallon plastic bins filled with essential items such as dishes, pots and pans, bedding and other items needed to help get young adults on their feet.

Lubbock Transition Center students shop for life after foster care
Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, Lubbock, TX – June 21, 2013
In Lubbock’s pioneer days a 15-year-old was often able to independently live outside the family.  In the 21st century, except for minimum-wage jobs, even an 18-year-old still is in urgent need of support from somewhere.

Teen Pregnancy

Study shows slight decrease in teen pregnancy
Charleston Daily Herald, West Virginia – June 21, 2013
West Virginia is seeing slight decreases in teenage pregnancy, according to a recent report released by a pro-choice nonprofit group.  Margaret Chapman Pomponio, executive director of WV FREE, a reproductive rights organization, said since the group began reporting on teenage pregnancy and childbearing in 2010, there has been a small decrease.

Monday, June 17, 2013

This Week's News: Youth in Transition

Education

Be Lab helps high school dropout focus on passion for learning
Reporter-Herald, Loveland, CO – June 10, 2013
Fifteen-year-old Sierra Goldstein dropped out of high school two years ago and joined the Be Lab because school, she believes, held her back.  "I felt I could so much more," Sierra said.  The unschooler wanted to do school in a way that would fast-track her learning and propel her career forward.

C-M to participate in pilot program to reduce dropout rate
Observer-Reporter, Pennsylvania – June 11, 2013
Canon-McMillan School District is one of five in Pennsylvania chosen to participate in First Lady Susan Corbett’s program to increase high school graduation rates across the state.

Juvenile Justice

New York Brings Juvenile Justice ‘Close to Home’
Corrections, New York, NY – June 13, 2013
New York’s juvenile justice system is slowly being overhauled by Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s Close To Home initiative, a set of proposals designed to keep youth close to their communities and facilitate their return to society.

Juvenile justice system overhaul now law
The Banner-Press, Lincoln, NE – June 10, 2013
Reform of the state's juvenile justice system was passed by the Legislature and signed by the governor May 29.  LB561, introduced by Sen. Brad Ashford of Omaha, transfers responsibility for the state's roughly 3,000 juvenile offenders from the Department of Health and Human Services to the Office of Probation Administration.

Foster Care

Nixon Signs Bills Allowing Older Youth to Re-Enter Foster Care
Ozarks First, Columbia, MO – June 13, 2013
Gov. Jay Nixon signed two bills into law Thursday aimed at helping strengthen the state's foster care system.  Senate Bills 205 and 208, the Governor says, allow older youth who have exited foster care to return to foster care if reentry would be in the young person's best interests.

Foster care kids need help as they age out of system
News-Press, Florida – June 11, 2013
Setting up a new apartment and living independently is challenging for a new graduate with a new job, but if you’re one of the roughly 113 children a month aging out of the foster care system in Southwest Florida the challenge can be even more daunting.  The Children’s Network of Southwest Florida provides independent living training each month for 100 to 125 people turning 18 and preparing to leave the foster care system, according to Aimee McLaughlin.

Teen Pregnancy

School health centers seen as way to reduce teen pregnancy
Gazette-Mail, Charleston, WV – June 16, 2013
West Virginia can lower its teenage pregnancy rate by adding more school-based health centers, getting parents more involved, teaching comprehensive sex education in schools and by reducing its poverty rate, the head of a reproductive rights group said Friday.

Conference Held to Prevent Teen Pregnancy
WLTX, Columbia, SC – June 13, 2013
The South Carolina Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy is holding their annual conference  this week in Columbia.  The two day conference is designed for  teen pregnancy prevention professionals, and others who work with young people.

New Mississippi law address teen pregnancy
Clarion Ledger, Mississippi – June 11, 2013
Starting in July, healthcare providers will be required to comply with a new Mississippi law targeting teenage pregnancy prevention.  In an effort to address Mississippi’s high teenage pregnancy rates, lawmakers have passed House Bill 151 which mandates that umbilical cord blood be collected from some mothers under the age of 16.

Monday, June 10, 2013

This Week's News: Youth in Transition

Education

High School Graduation Rate Hits 40-Year Peak in the U.S.
The Atlantic – June 6, 2013
The nation's high school graduation rate is approaching 75 percent, its highest rate in 40 years, according to a new report from Education Week. Of course, that good news must be tempered with a sobering statistic -- an estimated 1 million students will fail to graduate this year, a loss of 5,500 students for every day on the academic calendar.

Goodwill to open four more dropout recovery schools
Indianapolis Business Journal, Indiana – June 6, 2013
Goodwill Industries of Central Indiana will nearly double its number of adult education schools in August and thinks it has only scratched the surface of the potential market for this new breed of schools.

Region sees dramatic decline in dropout rates
The Exponent Telegram, Clarksburg, WV – June 8, 2013
ED options programs, credit recovery, meetings with superintendents and graduation coaches are being credited for helping some area school districts reduce their dropout numbers by more than 50 percent, officials say.

Juvenile Justice

Lawmakers debate dropping age for trying some accused as adults
BlueRidgeNow.com, North Carolina – June 9, 2013
When Johnathan Brunson was an impressionable 14-year-old, police nabbed him for stealing a watch and CD player from the local mall in Wilson. The petty theft changed his life.  North Carolina is one of only two states in the nation that treats those 16 and above as adults in the eyes of the courts. Teenagers as young as 13 can be tried as adults too, but only if a judge finds reason.

In Illinois, a Season of Restorative Justice
Corrections.com, Illinois – June 5, 2013
It has been a good spring for juvenile justice in Illinois. In a year of great fiscal challenge, the General Assembly approved Gov. Pat Quinn’s proposal to double funding for Redeploy Illinois, a successful program helping teens get services in their communities instead of behind sent away to distant prisons. Legislators also passed a bill to customize Redeploy programs for Cook County neighborhoods and bring the diversion program to the state’s largest county for the first time.

Foster Care

Foster kids start new life after 'aging out' of program
The Eagle, Texas – June 7, 2013
LeBrone Foster, 18, has lived in at least five homes over the past five years.  But now that the teen has graduated and is officially transitioning to adulthood, he has "aged out" of foster care.  On Thursday, Voices for Children, a local nonprofit organization that advocates for neglected and abused children, held an "Emancipation Shower" to help ease 10 foster teens' move toward independence with gifts that will be useful in starting a home of their own.

New law offers support for young people who age out of foster care
Real Change, Washington – June 5, 2013
About 550 people age out of the state’s foster care system every year. Some of them, after being dropped from state services, end up homeless.  A new law passed by the Washington Legislature will help ensure that many young people who are too old for foster care will remain housed.

Coming of Age: Preparing Ohio's Older Foster Youth for Life
Public News Service, Columbus, OH – June 4, 2013
The years spent coming of age are a critical time in a youth's life, especially for those who must face this time without the support of a stable home environment. In Ohio, the "Connecting the Dots" initiative is helping teenagers and young adults who have been in foster care make a successful transition into adulthood.

Teen Pregnancy

WV youth participate in teen pregnancy prevention campaign
The State Journal, West Virginia – June 4, 2013
West Virginia historically has had a high teen birth rate. But last month, youth across the state and country took steps to increase awareness about the consequences of teen pregnancy.  As part of National Day to Prevent Teen Pregnancy's month-long campaign, The Leadership to Prevent Teen Pregnancy Taskforce of West Virginia organized a video contest for middle and high school students.

Black teen birth rate falls 60 percent in 10 years
The Cincinnati Herald, Washington, D.C. – June 1, 2013
A new report by the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention shows that the teen birth rate for African Americans has declined by 60 percent between 1991 and 2011 – a rate 10 percent greater than the overall dip in teen birth rates.

Monday, June 03, 2013

This Week's News: Youth in Transition

Education

Edinburg high school dropout recovery program hits milestone
ValleyCentral.com, Edinburg, TX – May 30, 2013
A group of former high school dropouts received their diploma in Edinburg.  “The Vision Academy,” a recovery program created by the superintendent of Edinburg CISD, gives dropouts a second chance at a high school diploma.  Today, the school graduated its 500th student.

How to Cure the College Dropout Syndrome
The New York Times – June 2, 2013
Jeffrey Selingo, the former editor of The Chronicle of Higher Education and currently an editor at large there, is the author of a new book, “College (Un)Bound.” In it, he argues that the higher-education system is both vital to the American economy and “broken.” (An essay adapted from the book was published in the Education Life section of The Times last month.) My exchange with him, edited slightly, follows.

Cobb, Marietta high school graduation rates increase
The Marietta Daily Journal, Marietta, GA – June 2, 2013
High schools in both the Cobb and Marietta school systems reported increases in the number of students who graduated compared to last year, but only Cobb’s rates were higher than the state’s overall rate.

Juvenile Justice

Gov. Heineman signs juvenile justice reform into law
Omaha World Herald, Nebraska – May 30, 2013
The state embarked on a new approach in dealing with troubled juveniles Wednesday.  Gov. Dave Heineman signed into law a major reform bill that shifts the focus from incarceration to treatment for youthful offenders and puts state probation officers in charge of that rehabilitation work instead of state social workers.

Juvenile Justice Dept. Brings Reform Plans to Fort Myers
WGCU, NPR News, Fort Meyers, FL – May 28, 2013
The Florida Department of Juvenile Justice has been taking its plans for reform on the road since last fall, making presentations and soliciting feedback.  The DJJ’s Roadmap to System Excellence tour comes to Fort Myers Tuesday evening.  The Roadmap reforms involve placing less emphasis on detention of juvenile offenders and more emphasis on community based intervention programs to keep kids out of the system.

Foster Care

New law extends foster age to 21
The Daytona Beach News-Journal, Florida – June 2, 2013
Soon after blowing out the candles on his 18th birthday cake, Calub Short left his Deltona group foster home and entered the real world.  With no safety net to fall back on, Short used his savings to buy a car and secure an apartment. But he went through those savings fast.

Aging Out: Gaining a voice
Great Bend Tribune, Great Bend, KS – May 29, 2013
Memorial day weekend is here.  Families are getting together for cookouts and camping trips, taking trips to the cemetery to honor their ancestors and loved ones.  We often take these ties for granted.  In a perfect world, after a child is taken from their family and placed in the foster care system, a loving and understanding foster family would be found to take the child and provide a stable home, and they would remain there until they are reunited with their family or adopted by another.  They would also be able to remain in their own community, attend the same school they always had.  Unfortunately, we don’t live in a perfect world.  In recent years, initiatives by several non-profit have focused on bringing these inequities to the attention of members of Congress.
   
Teen Pregnancy

Education can help prevent teen pregnancy
Billings Gazette, Montana – June 2, 2013
In Montana, we saw 5,272 teen pregnancies in 2011. And Montana is one of only three states whose teen birth rates did not decrease from 2007-2010. Teen pregnancy is typically affected by a range of factors, including access to accurate, comprehensive information on sexual health from parents, teachers, doctors and other adults, access to birth control, what they hear from friends, media and the Internet, and other risky choices.