Monday, July 15, 2013

This Week's News: Youth in Transition

Education

All Kentucky schools must increase dropout age to 18 by 2017
Lexington Herald Leader, Frankfort, KY – July 10, 2013
Kentucky will abandon a generations-old policy that allows minors as young as 16 to drop out of school, a move being heralded by Gov. Steve Beshear as an important step for a state that has strived to improve its economy and educational standing.

Cut Alabama dropout rate and save $69 million in Medicaid spending, report says
AL.com, Birmingham, AL – July 12, 2013
Alabama would save $69 million per year in Medicaid spending by cutting the state's number of high school dropouts in half, according to a report released this week by the advocacy group Alliance for Excellent Education.

Beyond Wyoming's rates: More to graduation than just a percentage
Star-Tribune, Wyoming – July 14, 2013
Many educators across the state say the method of calculating graduation rates doesn't tell the whole story.  One part the official 78.9 percent Wyoming graduation rate for 2012 leaves out is the students who graduate later than their senior classes.

Juvenile Justice

Task Force Wants To Reduce Racial Disparities in Juvenile Justice
Fox 27, Charlottesville, NC – July 9, 2013
African American youth in Charlottesville and Albemarle County are one and a half times more likely to be placed in juvenile detention compared to Caucasian youth.  Community residents and a Charlottesville task force discussed how to change that, and similar statistics, Tuesday night, at the first of a series of meetings on racial disparity in the juvenile justice system.

Juvenile law change forbids minors from being held in adult prison
The Times-Tribune, Pennsylvania – July 8, 2013
Juvenile justice advocates are applauding a rule change recently enacted by the state Supreme Court that precludes authorities from holding juveniles in adult prisons pending their appearance in juvenile court.

Foster Care

CASA launches new program to help kids connect
Porterville Recorder, Visalia, CA – July 10, 2013
Children in the foster care system due to abuse or neglect can lose contact with extended family, friends and neighbors. They feel isolated and lost when their world, as they know it, seems to disappear.  Court Appointed Special Advocates of Tulare County is launching a new program to train volunteers to help children remain connected with their history, in partnership with Tulare County Child Welfare Services and funded through a planning grant from First 5 Tulare County.

Teen Pregnancy

Logan students talk teen pregnancy with lawmakers
Herald-Dispatch, Washington, D.C. – July 12, 2013
Two seniors at Logan High School recently meet with the West Virginia congressional delegation to discuss the issue of teen pregnancy.  Ciara Campbell and Jimetta Early met with Sens. Jay Rockefeller and Joe Manchin, both D-W.Va., as well as Rep. Nick Rahall, all D-W.Va., during the Human Rights Summit hosted by the American Friends Service Committee.

Program aimed at reducing teen pregnancies and STDs gets funds
Pacific Daily News – July 12, 2013
Federal funding for the Department of Education's new Personal Responsibility Education Program, or PREP, will total $1.2 million at the end of three years.  The goal of the program is to teach students and teachers strategies to decrease the risk of sexually transmitted diseases and teen pregnancy.

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