This Week's News: 17 April 2006

Juvenile Justice

Question of balance in juvenile justice
Cleveland Plain Dealer, OH – April 10, 2006
... Alucho was arrested and admitted to the Cuyahoga County Juvenile Detention Center at 2:15 am; exactly 12 hours later, a magistrate released him with the ...

Judge slams plan to move St. Lucie juvenile court downtown
The Palm Beach Post, FL - April 14, 2006
FORT PIERCE — A plan to move St. Lucie County juvenile court from its 5-year-old courthouse on North Seventh Street back to downtown Fort Pierce doesn't seem like a good idea to Circuit Judge Scott Kenney, who hears juvenile and dependency cases.

Judge won't stop probe of juvenile detention center
The Palm Beach Post, FL - April 12, 2006
A judge expressed frustration Tuesday with Department of Juvenile Justice attorneys who have asked him repeatedly to stop an investigation into the local juvenile detention center.

Minority task force coordinator: City could set shining example
The Leaf Chronicle, TN - April 14, 2006
State Disproportionate Minority Confinement Task Force coordinator Ron King hopes Clarksville will be a cornerstone program in the bid to make Tennessee an example site for reforming the juvenile justice system.

When Kids Commit Crimes
Justice Talking March 15, 2006
There are thousands of juveniles, some as young as 12, serving life sentences with no hope of parole. Others are serving longer sentences in adult facilities or are warehoused in juvenile detention centers with few educational or health care services.

Study: Courts failing poor youths: inadequate counsel seen as Indiana’s key flaw
The Indianapolis Star, IN – April 12, 2006
Poor children in Indiana’s juvenile courts don’t get adequate legal representation and are more likely to be incarcerated than wealthier peers, according to a report commissioned by the Indiana Juvenile Justice Task Force.

Growing Up Behind Bars
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, WA – April 13, 2006
…Recent research on the developing brains of young people has led some legal experts to question the tough stand taken toward children such as Jimerson during the 1990s, when conscienceless youth seemed to be killing just for the thrill of it. But cases like his continue to crop up on court dockets…

Growing up behind bars
Boulder Weekly, CO – April 6, 2006
…At an age when kids are figuring out where to go to college, Joel was trying to guess what prison he would be assigned to. While other high schoolers worried about fitting in and hanging with the right crowd, Joel was learning to walk a certain way so he wouldn't get his ass kicked—or taken…

New-Mom Prison Program at Risk
The Baltimore Sun, MD – April 12, 2006
Public safety officials have decided to end a popular alternative-to-prison program for pregnant women and new mothers called Tamar's Children, saying yesterday that they will not renew a contract that expires April 21.


Education

High-Performing Kipp School Featured On Oprah
The Denver Channel, CO - April 11, 2006
DENVER -- Oprah on Tuesday focused on the issue of public education and the problem of high school dropouts. On Wednesday, she'll look at solutions -- success stories -- such as the high-performing KIPP Schools, including the one in Denver.

NorthGate Church to offer adult high school program
Salisbury Post, NC - April 11, 2006
A local church is making it possible for high school dropouts to get their diplomas through an accredited, individualized program.

Looking at dropouts
WTHR Indianapolis, IN - April 11, 2006
Time Magazine and Oprah's look at a nation of high school dropouts took them to Shelbyville, where school officials opened their doors.

A Conversation with David Driscoll
WBUR Boston, MA - April 13, 2006
Massachusetts educators say family troubles and academic problems are driving an increase in the number of high-school dropouts.

Boston Stands Up for Excellent High Schools for All Students; JFF Helps Lead National Effort to Address High School
US Newswire via Yahoo! News - April 11, 2006
Boston-based Jobs for the Future today announced its participation in a national campaign to address America's education crisis. STAND UP is a community- based coalition of more than 50 organizations, districts, and schools around the country, calling on all Americans to demand excellent high schools that prepare every student for college, work, and citizenship.


Foster Care

Adoption Display Shows Kids in Need
R News NY - Apr 12, 2006
A traveling exhibit calls attention to the vast number of kids awaiting adoption. The Heart Gallery is a display of the faces of children who have been in the foster care system for most of their lives.

‘Ziggy’ to serve as national spokes-character
Union Recorder, GA - Apr 05 , 2006
GIG HARBOR, Wash. — Cartoon character Ziggy is teaming up with the National Foster Parent Association to serve as official “spokes-character” for National Foster Care Month in May.

Foster care change OK'd
Detroit Free Press, United States, MI - Apr 11, 2006
... Michigan and four other states to use money earmarked for foster children from ... from the Title IV-E program, which traditionally pays for the care of children ...

Former Foster Kids May Get Options
Orlando Sentinel, FL – April, 9, 2006
The state is considering giving foster kids who reach age 18 without being adopted more choices about their future -- but not necessarily more money.

Group Homes Get Stiffer Rules
The Charlotte Observer, NC – April 11, 2006
Some of North Carolina's most vulnerable children will receive safer homes and better mental health treatment, thanks to the correction of a nearly five-year-old mistake that placed them at risk and cost the state millions.

Measure Targets Group Homes
The Baltimore Sun, MD – April, 11, 2006
Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. is expected to sign into law a measure that would strengthen oversight of some 500 group homes caring for 2,700 troubled foster children across Maryland and reduce the heavy concentration of the privately run facilities in northwestern Baltimore County, state officials said yesterday.