This Week's News: Youth In Transition

Education

Hispanics hit hard by tuition tab
Desert News
15 October 2006
While rising tuition costs affect all families, a new report by the Campaign for America's Future suggests that Hispanics are disproportionately hurt. College is simply getting priced out of reach for more and more deserving students.

Appeal planned on in-state tuition for illegal immigrants
Sacramento Bee
12 October 2006
A Yolo County judge's ruling upholding a CA law, that allows a public colleges and universities to extend resident fees to illegal immigrants will be appealed. Plantiffs claimed that giving certain undocumented immigrants lower-cost in-state tuition discriminates against U.S. residents who are charged higher tuition. Without the law, supporters say, many students would not have been able to afford college.

Juvenile Justice

States Are Growing More Lenient in Allowing Felons to Vote
New York Times
12-October 2006
Legislatures in 16 states have loosened voting restrictions on felons over the last decade, according to a new report, a trend hailed by some advocates as a step toward democratic principles and fairness, especially for black Americans. Becaused of their high incarceration rate, blacks are most affected by the voting bans that vary widely among the states, with many barring current inmates and parolees from voting until they have fulfilled their sentences, and some barring felons for life.

Justice Department report criticizes Juvenile Justice Center
The Associated Press
7 October 2006
The Baltimore Juvenile Justice Center is being run in an unconstitutional manner, causing youths to "suffer significant harm and risk of harm" because of a lack of staff and inadequate behavior management and treatment plans, the Justice Department has found. The U.S. agency began investigating the center last summer after advocates and others complained that youths were being mistreated and that the facility was unsafe and not adequately staffed.

Foster Care

Lil Kim Takes Up Foster Care Cause
11-October 2006
Lil Kim credits her 10-month stay in federal prision for giving her the clarity to pick up foster care as her new cause. She recently attended the second annual Keeping the Promise to At-Risk Youth Conferenced in Washington, DC. The one-day summit was organized to highlight issues within the foster care system and develop mentoring programs and other educational services for foster children and at-risk youth.