Education
Low Graduation Rate Draws Florida Lawsuit
The Christian Science Monitor – March 26, 2008
Amid mounting national frustration over high school graduation rates, the School District of Palm Beach County in Florida has been thrust onto center stage. In a class-action lawsuit, the American Civil Liberties Union is demanding that the district boost its graduation rates and reduce the gaps in those rates between racial and socioeconomic groups. The lawsuit is the first in the United States to make such demands of a school district, the ACLU and other sources say. Lawyers from the national ACLU and its Florida chapter filed the suit in state court on March 18. Specifically, the ACLU is asking the court to require the district to improve its graduation rates by a certain percentage each year – overall and for subgroups. It also wants the court to determine a more accurate way of calculating graduation rates – a complex issue nationwide.
House OKs bill to quit No Child Left Behind Act
The Arizona Republic – March 27, 2008
The Arizona House of Representatives is on the verge of opting out of the controversial No Child Left Behind Act, President Bush’s premier educational accomplishment. On a voice vote Wednesday, the House approved a bill sponsored by state Rep. David Schapira, D-Tempe, that would make Arizona the first state in the nation to leave behind the act and its education mandates. It would take effect on July 1, 2010. But it would leave the state with $600 million hole in its schools budget, as it would lose federal education dollars by opting out of the program. “The problem is, we would lose over a half-billion dollars a year,” he said. “And it would go to the schools that need it the most: the low-income schools.”
Juvenile Justice
Youth Advocates Call on NY to Close Empty Juvenile Jails
WAMC – March 26, 2008
Community Organizations, advocates and lawmakers gathered in Albany for an event focusing on the juvenile detention facilities that the Office of Children and Family Services is trying to close. Back in January the OCFS announced plans to close six underutilized facilities in the juvenile justice system. The annual cost to taxpayers to keep such facilities open is around 200-thousand dollars a year per child. The advocates say those facilities are failing to rehabilitate young offenders. They’re calling for the development of preventive programs as alternatives to incarceration and urging that existing programs be utilized… most of these programs cost, at the highest level, 15 thousand dollars a year per child. The coalition is urging the state to use the cost savings from facility closures to boost these alternative programs. They’ve got a fight on their hands: On March 12th, the New York State Senate introduced a budget resolution to keep three facilities open, even though the facilities are either mostly or completely empty. It would also prohibit the transfer of any staff member or residents to alternate facilities.
Juvenile justice system’s problems require more aid, state panel finds
Sun-Sentinel – March 28, 2008
At a time when Florida legislators slash away at the state budget, members of a Blueprint Commission that studied ways to improve juvenile justice say it’s time to invest in the system, not make cuts. Meeting Thursday at the Palm Beach County Governmental Center before a mix of school, law enforcement and court officials, local representatives of the statewide commission outlined their recently released recommendations to “get smart” about juvenile justice. Among their findings: More girls are committing crimes, too many children who don’t need to be locked up are sent to secure detention facilities, and there is a disproportionate presence of children from minority backgrounds in the system. Department of Juvenile Justice employees are underpaid, more community-based programs are needed and public schools systems are overusing zero-tolerance policies, the commission also concluded. The commission, led by Florida Atlantic University President Frank Brogan, identified 52 recommendations for change over the next few years.
Foster Care
Courts lose some say on kids in state’s care
IndyStar.com – March 24, 2008
Tucked into the 600 pages of tax-reform legislation signed into law last week by Gov. Mitch Daniels are several provisions that will mean judges might no longer get the last word in deciding what’s best for abused children in the state’s care. The coming changes have already made judges and others apprehensive, though advocates say they will deliver millions in savings to taxpayers while expanding the state’s ability to collect federal reimbursements. The new policies and procedures outlined in House Enrolled Act 1001 are part of a shift that makes the state, rather than countries, responsible for the $440 million annual cost of providing services to abused and neglected children and their families as well as youths in the juvenile justice system. While the primary reason for the changes is to improve service, Payne said containing program costs was a major consideration when legislators agreed to assume the costs of child welfare.
First-ever pact with county excludes financial assistance
The Union-Tribune – March 25, 2008
County foster children are moving to the top of the admissions list at Cal State San Marcos under what officials are calling a historic agreement. The university – which rejected almost 2,600 applicants last year – is guaranteeing enrollment to any foster youth who meets its admissions standards in a deal between the school and San Diego County, which has about 6,000 children in its foster system. About 200 turn 18 years old each year. No financial assistance is included with the guarantee, although the university has a program to help foster youths make the transition to college and apply for financial aid. Supporters say the agreement gives students a goal to strive for, knowing that if they keep their grades up, they will be able to go to college.
Lives rebuilt, a page at a time
Chicago Tribune – March 29, 2008
In almost three years since her arrival, Clarissa has received quite a lot from her foster family. But when it came to filling in the blanks of her past, everyone came up empty. The artifacts of childhood – report cards, photos, drawings, sports and academic awards – vanished in the countless moves from one new home to another. Now, child-welfare professionals have figured out a way to preserve personal histories for this transient group: a powerful new tool called a Lifebook. Part photo album, part journal, the resource is designed to include not just happy, soft-focus memories, but the hard truths that often accompany chaotic lives. By giving children a place to record complicated facts and feelings, experts believe a Lifebook is a way to build a bridge to the past and promote healing in the future. The details not only help youths keep track of their own personal narratives, but can also provide a road map for the social worker, foster parent and other adults who may play key roles in dealing with trauma and loss.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Monday, March 24, 2008
This Week's News: Youth in Transition
Education
Schools to catch a break on No Child standards
Chicago Tribune – March 19, 2008
Under a plan unveiled by U.S. Sec. of Education Margaret Spellings, states would be allowed to differentiate how they label – and punish – schools, based on the degree to which a given school fails to meet No Child Left Behind standards. A school that missed only one achievement target, for example, could get a more favorable label and less severe sanctions than a school that missed several achievement goals. “This will not change the guts of No Child Left Behind accountability,” Spellings said. “However, it gives states the opportunity to describe the range of schools that meet and do not meet in different ways.”Some educators and policymakers praised Spellings’ proposal. But Michael Petrilli, who served in the Education Department during President George Bush’s first term and now works for the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, likened it to a “suburban schools relief act.” “This proposal creates a real risk that we could step back from the pressure currently on suburban schools to close the achievement gap and get all students up to proficiency,” said Petrilli. “Depending on how it’s implemented, you can imagine suburban schools that are not making the grade for African-American or poor students, for example, will no longer feel the pressure under NCLB to address these problems.”
States’ Data Obscure How Few Finish High School
The New York Times – March 20, 2008
Many states use an inflated graduation rate for federal reporting requirements under No Child Left Behind law and a different one at home. As a result, researchers say, federal figures obscure a dropout epidemic so serve that only about 70 percent of the one million American students who start ninth grade each year graduate four years later. California, for example, sends to Washington an official graduation rate of 83 percent but reports an estimated 67 percent on a state web site. Delaware reported 84 percent to the federal government but publicized four lower rates at home. The multiple rates have many causes. Some states have long obscured their real numbers to avoid embarrassment. Others have only recently developed data-tracking systems that allow them to follow dropouts accurately. The No Child law is also at fault. The law set ambitious goals, enforced through sanctions, to make every student proficient in math and reading. But it established no national school completion goals.
Reports says high school dropouts cost states millions
Axcess News – March 23, 2008
The Alliance for Excellent Education last week released its 2008 state reports, which included dollar amounts states could save by increasing their graduation rates. “There is a direct dollar and cents reason to improve education, especially middle and high school. If you don’t these are the costs taxpayers will be paying,” said Bob Wise, president of the alliance and former governor of West Virginia. The reports are meant to show the link between education and the economy. Wise said dropouts are more costly health care consumers and more likely to use government paid health care such as Medicaid. The report also revealed that raising the graduation rate by 5 percent for male students would save South Carolina $151 million in criminal justice spending and additional tax revenues each year. Teaching a child is less expensive than incarcerating a child.
Juvenile Justice
Sins against kids
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution – March 20, 2008
JUSTGeorgia – a coalition of Voices for Georgia’s Children, the Georgia Appleseed Center for Law and Justice, and Emory’s Barton Child Law & Policy Clinic – is offering up a new code. Among the controversial changes is raising the age of minors from 17 to 18 in the eyes of the law. In the proposed code, a 17- year-old would be defined as a child. That doesn’t mean that a 17-year-old would never be treated as an adult, but the case would begin in juvenile court. The new code also repeals the “seven deadly sins” law, giving discretion back to judges as to which young offenders ought to be transferred to adult court. The new code also mandates that 13-year-olds – regardless of the crime – cannot be tried as an adult. The proposed changes to the code will not only help teens themselves. They will also make the community safer. In a review published in the fall, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that teens handled in the adult court system were 34 percent more likely to be rearrested than their peers who went through the juvenile justice system, concluding, “Available evidence indicates that transfer to the adult criminal justice system typically increases rather than decreases rates of violence among transferred youth.”
Agencies Partner To Keep Youths Away From Jail
The Washington Post – March 20, 2008
Alarmed by the percentage of young, black males incarcerated in Prince George’s County, several county agencies are teaming up o try to reduce the numbers and prevent others from getting into trouble. The new Disproportionate Minority Contact Council is made up of representatives from the Commission for Children, Youth and Families in the county’s family services division, the Community-Public Awareness Council and the county police’s Youth and Family Services Division. The council will examine what happens to juveniles from intake to detainment and look into diversionary and intervention programs to keep youths out of the system. For instance, the Community-Awareness Council runs an invention program in cooperation with the county. Juveniles charged with misdemeanors, such as shoplifting and loitering, sit before panel of peers and adults who decide how the youth can make up for their behavior in the community without getting the juvenile justice system involved, director Phil Lee said.
Foster Care
“Overstressed” Dependency Courts Need Help, Commission Says
Metropolitan News-Enterprise – March 17, 2008
California’s dependency court system is in crisis, forced to get by with too few judicial officers, too few lawyers, and a lack of other resources needed to achieve its goal of reunifying families where possible and finding permanent placements otherwise, a state commission has preliminarily concluded. The “system is overstressed and underresourced,” the California Blue Ribbon Commission on Children in Foster Care said. The commission, appointed by Chief Justice Ronald M. George, Friday submitted its draft recommendations for public comment, which is due by May 13. “Far too many of our state’s children find themselves in a “foster care limbo,” shuffled from place to place, separated from their siblings, friends and schools. There are nearly 80,000 children in foster care in California, which is more than any other state in the country, the commission reported. Half of them have been in foster care for more than two years, and 17 percent have been in foster in excess of three years. “The commission has kept the focus on children,” Moreno said, “We drafted a set of comprehensive and strategic recommendations that we believe will improve the judicial system and how we work with our partners.”
Schools to catch a break on No Child standards
Chicago Tribune – March 19, 2008
Under a plan unveiled by U.S. Sec. of Education Margaret Spellings, states would be allowed to differentiate how they label – and punish – schools, based on the degree to which a given school fails to meet No Child Left Behind standards. A school that missed only one achievement target, for example, could get a more favorable label and less severe sanctions than a school that missed several achievement goals. “This will not change the guts of No Child Left Behind accountability,” Spellings said. “However, it gives states the opportunity to describe the range of schools that meet and do not meet in different ways.”Some educators and policymakers praised Spellings’ proposal. But Michael Petrilli, who served in the Education Department during President George Bush’s first term and now works for the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, likened it to a “suburban schools relief act.” “This proposal creates a real risk that we could step back from the pressure currently on suburban schools to close the achievement gap and get all students up to proficiency,” said Petrilli. “Depending on how it’s implemented, you can imagine suburban schools that are not making the grade for African-American or poor students, for example, will no longer feel the pressure under NCLB to address these problems.”
States’ Data Obscure How Few Finish High School
The New York Times – March 20, 2008
Many states use an inflated graduation rate for federal reporting requirements under No Child Left Behind law and a different one at home. As a result, researchers say, federal figures obscure a dropout epidemic so serve that only about 70 percent of the one million American students who start ninth grade each year graduate four years later. California, for example, sends to Washington an official graduation rate of 83 percent but reports an estimated 67 percent on a state web site. Delaware reported 84 percent to the federal government but publicized four lower rates at home. The multiple rates have many causes. Some states have long obscured their real numbers to avoid embarrassment. Others have only recently developed data-tracking systems that allow them to follow dropouts accurately. The No Child law is also at fault. The law set ambitious goals, enforced through sanctions, to make every student proficient in math and reading. But it established no national school completion goals.
Reports says high school dropouts cost states millions
Axcess News – March 23, 2008
The Alliance for Excellent Education last week released its 2008 state reports, which included dollar amounts states could save by increasing their graduation rates. “There is a direct dollar and cents reason to improve education, especially middle and high school. If you don’t these are the costs taxpayers will be paying,” said Bob Wise, president of the alliance and former governor of West Virginia. The reports are meant to show the link between education and the economy. Wise said dropouts are more costly health care consumers and more likely to use government paid health care such as Medicaid. The report also revealed that raising the graduation rate by 5 percent for male students would save South Carolina $151 million in criminal justice spending and additional tax revenues each year. Teaching a child is less expensive than incarcerating a child.
Juvenile Justice
Sins against kids
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution – March 20, 2008
JUSTGeorgia – a coalition of Voices for Georgia’s Children, the Georgia Appleseed Center for Law and Justice, and Emory’s Barton Child Law & Policy Clinic – is offering up a new code. Among the controversial changes is raising the age of minors from 17 to 18 in the eyes of the law. In the proposed code, a 17- year-old would be defined as a child. That doesn’t mean that a 17-year-old would never be treated as an adult, but the case would begin in juvenile court. The new code also repeals the “seven deadly sins” law, giving discretion back to judges as to which young offenders ought to be transferred to adult court. The new code also mandates that 13-year-olds – regardless of the crime – cannot be tried as an adult. The proposed changes to the code will not only help teens themselves. They will also make the community safer. In a review published in the fall, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that teens handled in the adult court system were 34 percent more likely to be rearrested than their peers who went through the juvenile justice system, concluding, “Available evidence indicates that transfer to the adult criminal justice system typically increases rather than decreases rates of violence among transferred youth.”
Agencies Partner To Keep Youths Away From Jail
The Washington Post – March 20, 2008
Alarmed by the percentage of young, black males incarcerated in Prince George’s County, several county agencies are teaming up o try to reduce the numbers and prevent others from getting into trouble. The new Disproportionate Minority Contact Council is made up of representatives from the Commission for Children, Youth and Families in the county’s family services division, the Community-Public Awareness Council and the county police’s Youth and Family Services Division. The council will examine what happens to juveniles from intake to detainment and look into diversionary and intervention programs to keep youths out of the system. For instance, the Community-Awareness Council runs an invention program in cooperation with the county. Juveniles charged with misdemeanors, such as shoplifting and loitering, sit before panel of peers and adults who decide how the youth can make up for their behavior in the community without getting the juvenile justice system involved, director Phil Lee said.
Foster Care
“Overstressed” Dependency Courts Need Help, Commission Says
Metropolitan News-Enterprise – March 17, 2008
California’s dependency court system is in crisis, forced to get by with too few judicial officers, too few lawyers, and a lack of other resources needed to achieve its goal of reunifying families where possible and finding permanent placements otherwise, a state commission has preliminarily concluded. The “system is overstressed and underresourced,” the California Blue Ribbon Commission on Children in Foster Care said. The commission, appointed by Chief Justice Ronald M. George, Friday submitted its draft recommendations for public comment, which is due by May 13. “Far too many of our state’s children find themselves in a “foster care limbo,” shuffled from place to place, separated from their siblings, friends and schools. There are nearly 80,000 children in foster care in California, which is more than any other state in the country, the commission reported. Half of them have been in foster care for more than two years, and 17 percent have been in foster in excess of three years. “The commission has kept the focus on children,” Moreno said, “We drafted a set of comprehensive and strategic recommendations that we believe will improve the judicial system and how we work with our partners.”
Sunday, March 16, 2008
This Week's News: Youth in Transition
Education
Texas panel nixes talk of school vouchers for dropouts
The Dallas Morning News – March 12, 2008
A special state committee on high school dropouts on Tuesday appeared to nix the idea of a private school voucher program for those students, but left open the possibility of the state contracting with private firms to help dropouts complete their education. Key members of the High School Completion and Success Initiative Council said they don’t believe a traditional school voucher program could be launched without approval of the Legislature. Under a voucher program, students can attend any school their parents choose – private or public – at state expense. Other members said that private, nonprofits groups could be part of the solution if they are given contracts by the state to enroll students who have dropped out of regular schools.
Schools don’t do enough to help kids get into 4-year colleges, study says
Chicago Tribune – March 12, 2008
A large number of Chicago public high school students “sell themselves short” by attending two-year colleges, a new report says. The study, “From High School to the Future: Potholes on the Road to College,” released Wednesday, found that many study simply gave up trying to go to four-year-colleges, discouraged or intimidated by the application and financial-aid processes. The three-year study by the Consortium on Chicago School Research at the University of Chicago found that Latino students were least likely to apply to four-year schools. Among the key findings, researchers found that teachers and school culture had more influence than parents did on whether students went on to four-year colleges. As a result, the authors concluded, school must do more to help students work through the often grueling process of getting to college. Some programs include teaming up students with “coaches” who focus on getting them through the application process, easing financial-aid application hurdles, and offering visits to four-year colleges in Illinois and across the country.
Colorado School District Drops Grade System
My Fox Colorado - March 12, 2008
Adams County – One Colorado school district is going to shake things up by getting rid of grades. The move includes traditional letter grades and grade levels. The new system lets students progress at their own pace. Students will need to master 20 skill levels to graduate. They could end up graduating earlier, or later than fellow classmates. It just depends upon how long they need in order to master the skills. District administrators say the new system will focus on student’s competence, rather than achievement for grades. The district plans to start the new system for kindergarten through eighth students in 2009 and high school students in 2010.
Street violence “part of achievement gap” in urban schools
St. Louis Post-Dispatch – March 9, 2008
The toll that fear exacts on youth is becoming increasingly evidence as researchers draw a line between classroom performance and the trauma and violence encountered by urban students. It’s a correlation, the experts are discovering, that leads to under-achievement if not outright academic failure in places such as St. Louis. Preliminary research from the University of Missouri-St. Louis, for example, suggests that more than two-thirds of the city’s public school students may be suffering symptoms of trauma tied to violence. Cleveland, in fact, is among the cities seizing the initiative. Its “Children Who Witness Violence” program has been seeking to counter the effect violence has on urban youth. Los Angeles has similar project, teaming schools and social services agencies.
Juvenile Justice
States Reconsider Life Behind Bars for Youth
The Christian Science Monitor – March 12, 2008
How should a society treat its youngest criminal offenders? And the families of victims of those offenders? Half a dozen states are now weighing these questions anew, as they consider whether to ban life sentences for juveniles that don’t include a option for parole – and whether those now serving such sentences should have a retroactive shot at parole. Advocates of legislation, both in Illinois and elsewhere, note that US is the only country in the world with anyone – nearly 2,400 across the nation – serving such a serve sentence for a crime committed as a juvenile. They criticize the fact that the sentence is often mandatory, part of a system devoid of leniency for a teenager’s lack of judgment, or hope that you can be reformed. Colorado outlawed juvenile life without parole in 2006, and legislation is pending in Michigan, Florida, Nebraska, and California, while a few others states are experiencing grass-roots efforts.
Juvenile Probation Department has plan to focus on at-risk kids
Idaho Mountain Express and Guide – March 12, 2008
The Blaine County Probation Department is working with five other counties in southern Idaho to implement a plan to get low-risk kids out of the system and focus department resources on the kids who need them most. Positive Achievement Change Tool (PACT) interview techniques help identify juvenile offenders at low risk for continued trouble with the law. “Studies have shown that offenders at low risk for recidivism can actually be harmed it they remain in the system,” Espedal said. Using in-depth interview techniques, PACT-trained juvenile justice personnel measure a juvenile’s risk of re-offending base on 12 parameters: criminal history, school, use of free time, employment, relationships, family, living arrangements, alcohol and drugs, mental health, attitudes/behaviors, aggression and skills. “Our goal is to use community-based resources than detention whenever possible.”
Foster Care
Georgetown University and Casey Family Programs Partner To Help At-Risk Youth
PRNEwswire – March 13, 2008
Two of the nation’s leading organizations helping young people in the foster care and juvenile justice systems have joined forces to improve the lives of at-risk youth. The Georgetown University Center for Juvenile Justice Reform (CJJR) and Casey Family Programs have formed a three-year partnership to test innovative ideas that can improve and reform America’ child welfare and juvenile justice systems. As the partnership launches, CJJR will host the symposium “The Overrepresentation of Children of Color in America’s Juvenile Justice and Child Welfare Systems” on March 14, 2008 in Washington, D.C. In May, CJJR and Casey Family Programs will jointly produce a research paper and sponsor a conference with the American Public Human Service Association and The Johnson Foundation. The paper and conference will discuss multi-systems approaches in child welfare and juvenile justice.
Texas panel nixes talk of school vouchers for dropouts
The Dallas Morning News – March 12, 2008
A special state committee on high school dropouts on Tuesday appeared to nix the idea of a private school voucher program for those students, but left open the possibility of the state contracting with private firms to help dropouts complete their education. Key members of the High School Completion and Success Initiative Council said they don’t believe a traditional school voucher program could be launched without approval of the Legislature. Under a voucher program, students can attend any school their parents choose – private or public – at state expense. Other members said that private, nonprofits groups could be part of the solution if they are given contracts by the state to enroll students who have dropped out of regular schools.
Schools don’t do enough to help kids get into 4-year colleges, study says
Chicago Tribune – March 12, 2008
A large number of Chicago public high school students “sell themselves short” by attending two-year colleges, a new report says. The study, “From High School to the Future: Potholes on the Road to College,” released Wednesday, found that many study simply gave up trying to go to four-year-colleges, discouraged or intimidated by the application and financial-aid processes. The three-year study by the Consortium on Chicago School Research at the University of Chicago found that Latino students were least likely to apply to four-year schools. Among the key findings, researchers found that teachers and school culture had more influence than parents did on whether students went on to four-year colleges. As a result, the authors concluded, school must do more to help students work through the often grueling process of getting to college. Some programs include teaming up students with “coaches” who focus on getting them through the application process, easing financial-aid application hurdles, and offering visits to four-year colleges in Illinois and across the country.
Colorado School District Drops Grade System
My Fox Colorado - March 12, 2008
Adams County – One Colorado school district is going to shake things up by getting rid of grades. The move includes traditional letter grades and grade levels. The new system lets students progress at their own pace. Students will need to master 20 skill levels to graduate. They could end up graduating earlier, or later than fellow classmates. It just depends upon how long they need in order to master the skills. District administrators say the new system will focus on student’s competence, rather than achievement for grades. The district plans to start the new system for kindergarten through eighth students in 2009 and high school students in 2010.
Street violence “part of achievement gap” in urban schools
St. Louis Post-Dispatch – March 9, 2008
The toll that fear exacts on youth is becoming increasingly evidence as researchers draw a line between classroom performance and the trauma and violence encountered by urban students. It’s a correlation, the experts are discovering, that leads to under-achievement if not outright academic failure in places such as St. Louis. Preliminary research from the University of Missouri-St. Louis, for example, suggests that more than two-thirds of the city’s public school students may be suffering symptoms of trauma tied to violence. Cleveland, in fact, is among the cities seizing the initiative. Its “Children Who Witness Violence” program has been seeking to counter the effect violence has on urban youth. Los Angeles has similar project, teaming schools and social services agencies.
Juvenile Justice
States Reconsider Life Behind Bars for Youth
The Christian Science Monitor – March 12, 2008
How should a society treat its youngest criminal offenders? And the families of victims of those offenders? Half a dozen states are now weighing these questions anew, as they consider whether to ban life sentences for juveniles that don’t include a option for parole – and whether those now serving such sentences should have a retroactive shot at parole. Advocates of legislation, both in Illinois and elsewhere, note that US is the only country in the world with anyone – nearly 2,400 across the nation – serving such a serve sentence for a crime committed as a juvenile. They criticize the fact that the sentence is often mandatory, part of a system devoid of leniency for a teenager’s lack of judgment, or hope that you can be reformed. Colorado outlawed juvenile life without parole in 2006, and legislation is pending in Michigan, Florida, Nebraska, and California, while a few others states are experiencing grass-roots efforts.
Juvenile Probation Department has plan to focus on at-risk kids
Idaho Mountain Express and Guide – March 12, 2008
The Blaine County Probation Department is working with five other counties in southern Idaho to implement a plan to get low-risk kids out of the system and focus department resources on the kids who need them most. Positive Achievement Change Tool (PACT) interview techniques help identify juvenile offenders at low risk for continued trouble with the law. “Studies have shown that offenders at low risk for recidivism can actually be harmed it they remain in the system,” Espedal said. Using in-depth interview techniques, PACT-trained juvenile justice personnel measure a juvenile’s risk of re-offending base on 12 parameters: criminal history, school, use of free time, employment, relationships, family, living arrangements, alcohol and drugs, mental health, attitudes/behaviors, aggression and skills. “Our goal is to use community-based resources than detention whenever possible.”
Foster Care
Georgetown University and Casey Family Programs Partner To Help At-Risk Youth
PRNEwswire – March 13, 2008
Two of the nation’s leading organizations helping young people in the foster care and juvenile justice systems have joined forces to improve the lives of at-risk youth. The Georgetown University Center for Juvenile Justice Reform (CJJR) and Casey Family Programs have formed a three-year partnership to test innovative ideas that can improve and reform America’ child welfare and juvenile justice systems. As the partnership launches, CJJR will host the symposium “The Overrepresentation of Children of Color in America’s Juvenile Justice and Child Welfare Systems” on March 14, 2008 in Washington, D.C. In May, CJJR and Casey Family Programs will jointly produce a research paper and sponsor a conference with the American Public Human Service Association and The Johnson Foundation. The paper and conference will discuss multi-systems approaches in child welfare and juvenile justice.
Sunday, March 09, 2008
This Week's News: Youth in Transition
Education
Report: Homeless teens need more help to graduate high school
The Boston Globe – March 4, 2008
They’re called “unaccompanied youth” –homeless teens ages 16 through 18 who are on their own – and a new report says the state isn’t going enough to help get them the two things they need most, a safe place to sleep and the chance to earn a high school diploma. A report obtained by The Associated Press, set to be released Thursday by the Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless, details the number of older homeless teens attending high school across the state – and draws a link between homelessness and poor performance on the state MCAS exams. Among the challenges facing homeless teens is the MCAS exams. Passing the test is a requirement for graduation, and homeless students have a much higher failure rate compared with all students. According to the report, homeless teens taking the 10th grade MCAS exams have a failure rate of 24 percent on the reading test and 35.7 percent on the math test. Despite the difficulties, most of the homeless teens want to stay in school, advocates say. “School is one of the safest places for these kids, “Frost said. “It’s eight to ten hours where they have a safe place to be. They aren’t dropping out. They want to finish.”
Online diploma program a success for dropouts
Granite City Press-Record – March 5, 2008
An online alternative to earning a high school diploma has proven successful in some communities of Madison County and is continuing to recruit students. The Madison County E-Learning Program is geared primarily high school dropouts ages 17-21 whose class has already graduated. With the use of current technology, this program provides students with a less stressful and a more accessible educational delivery system. By using computers with the internet, the E-Learning Program will allow youth to work at their own pace with completing accredited course chosen to meet diploma requirements. Upon completion of their educational plan, they will receive a fully accredited diploma that can be used to gain employment, enter college, or go to technical school. Staff will work closely with each student to ensure that each one receives academic as well as job preparation, job placement, job retention and an earnings gain to a living wage.
Left behind after LEAP
The Daily Advertiser – March 9, 2008
In 2007, nearly a quarter of Louisiana eighth-graders didn’t pass the Louisiana Educational Assessment Program test that decides whether they can move on to high school. That leaves students stacking up in school systems, and no one is quite sure what to do with them. “We are struggling to find that answer. Retaining them in the eighth grade isn’t working very well, passing them along to high school isn’t working very well,” said Leslie Jacobs, a former BESE board member, who was key in establishing the state’s testing and accountability programs. She said the key is finding a way to give the retained eighth-graders a different experience. In Lafayette, that program is Project Opportunity. It allows students who haven’t made it past the eighth grade by 16 years of age to go to a high school campus with peers their age while providing instruction at their level. But, there are only so many spots in the program and some kids have to stay on their middle school campuses. There is no state mandate for how to help eighth-graders who have failed to make it to high school.
Juvenile Justice
Teen offenders: Work camp offers fresh start
The Salt Lake Tribune – March 3, 2008
The Genesis Youth Center aims to reach the state’s youngest offenders who haven’t found success in other programs geared toward rehabilitation. There, they can make money to pay court-ordered restitution, complete community service hours and enroll in an education program. Work ranges from hard physical labor – such as light construction, painting, mowing lawns, building fences and snow removal – to community service with the elderly and disabled schoolchildren. “They learn team-building and they learn pride in themselves,” said Annette Adams, associate program director. “A lot of these kids don’t know what it’s like to have a healthy relationship.” Third District Juvenile Court Judge Andrew Valdez said the work camp provides the chance to change the belief systems of children who often go without supervision. “Work camps remove them from the community for public protections purposes and get them away from the negative influences of their friends,” Valdez said. “It gives them some time to reflect.”
States adopt Missouri youth justice model
Stateline.org – March 7, 2008
As states grapple with spiraling prison costs and reports of abuse in juvenile lock-ups, many are trying to recreate a successful Missouri program that boasts one of the lowest repeat-offender rates in the country. It took a crisis, but the Show Me State in the early 1980s abandoned its embattled youth corrections facility, which housed 650 juveniles, and switched to smaller regional treatment centers that provide education, job training and 24-hour counseling. Missouri’s approach – originally pioneered in Massachusetts – aimed at creating a safe, non-punitive environment, where counselors help troubled kids turn around their lives. Missouri’s intensive counseling program is not necessarily cheaper than traditional lock-up programs, but with fewer than 8 percent of its graduates returning to the system, the state saves money in the long run, Decker said. “You’re not treating the same kids over and over,” he said. The success of the so-called Missouri model also can be measured by its participants’ higher-than-average number of job placements and high education levels and low incidence of violence at the facilities.
Foster Care
Youth with Disabilities in the Foster Care System: Barriers to Success and Proposed Policy Solutions
National Council on Disability – February 26, 2008
The American Youth Policy Forum (AYPF) conducted the research for this report that examines this uniquely situated population in terms of the issues that affect them and the policy solutions that can be implemented to improve their outcomes. The purpose of this report is to provide policymakers, primarily at the federal and state levels, with information about youth with disabilities in foster care, so that policymakers can begin to understand the characteristics of this population; the challenges they face; how they fare with regard to safety, permanency, self-determination and self-sufficiency, enhanced quality of life, and community integration; and how the complex array of existing programs and services could be better designed to improve these outcomes.
Bill would strengthen kids’ voices in foster care court
The Mercury News – March 7, 2008
An influential California lawmaker has introduced legislation to bring more children into the court hearings that decided their fates after allegations of abuse and neglect – a bill proposed in response to systemic failures revealed by the Mercury News last month. “This bill sends a strong message that kids need to be a more integral part of the system.” Said Dave Jones, a Sacramento Democrat who chairs the Assembly Judiciary Committee. Jones said the bill is designed to address one of the key findings of the series “Broken Families, Broken Courts” – that throughout California, hearings in the courts that oversee the foster care system are often held without the child present. Jones’ bill, AB 3051, would require all California judicial officers to postpone hearings if children 10 and older have not been properly notified and offered a chance to attend.
Report: Homeless teens need more help to graduate high school
The Boston Globe – March 4, 2008
They’re called “unaccompanied youth” –homeless teens ages 16 through 18 who are on their own – and a new report says the state isn’t going enough to help get them the two things they need most, a safe place to sleep and the chance to earn a high school diploma. A report obtained by The Associated Press, set to be released Thursday by the Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless, details the number of older homeless teens attending high school across the state – and draws a link between homelessness and poor performance on the state MCAS exams. Among the challenges facing homeless teens is the MCAS exams. Passing the test is a requirement for graduation, and homeless students have a much higher failure rate compared with all students. According to the report, homeless teens taking the 10th grade MCAS exams have a failure rate of 24 percent on the reading test and 35.7 percent on the math test. Despite the difficulties, most of the homeless teens want to stay in school, advocates say. “School is one of the safest places for these kids, “Frost said. “It’s eight to ten hours where they have a safe place to be. They aren’t dropping out. They want to finish.”
Online diploma program a success for dropouts
Granite City Press-Record – March 5, 2008
An online alternative to earning a high school diploma has proven successful in some communities of Madison County and is continuing to recruit students. The Madison County E-Learning Program is geared primarily high school dropouts ages 17-21 whose class has already graduated. With the use of current technology, this program provides students with a less stressful and a more accessible educational delivery system. By using computers with the internet, the E-Learning Program will allow youth to work at their own pace with completing accredited course chosen to meet diploma requirements. Upon completion of their educational plan, they will receive a fully accredited diploma that can be used to gain employment, enter college, or go to technical school. Staff will work closely with each student to ensure that each one receives academic as well as job preparation, job placement, job retention and an earnings gain to a living wage.
Left behind after LEAP
The Daily Advertiser – March 9, 2008
In 2007, nearly a quarter of Louisiana eighth-graders didn’t pass the Louisiana Educational Assessment Program test that decides whether they can move on to high school. That leaves students stacking up in school systems, and no one is quite sure what to do with them. “We are struggling to find that answer. Retaining them in the eighth grade isn’t working very well, passing them along to high school isn’t working very well,” said Leslie Jacobs, a former BESE board member, who was key in establishing the state’s testing and accountability programs. She said the key is finding a way to give the retained eighth-graders a different experience. In Lafayette, that program is Project Opportunity. It allows students who haven’t made it past the eighth grade by 16 years of age to go to a high school campus with peers their age while providing instruction at their level. But, there are only so many spots in the program and some kids have to stay on their middle school campuses. There is no state mandate for how to help eighth-graders who have failed to make it to high school.
Juvenile Justice
Teen offenders: Work camp offers fresh start
The Salt Lake Tribune – March 3, 2008
The Genesis Youth Center aims to reach the state’s youngest offenders who haven’t found success in other programs geared toward rehabilitation. There, they can make money to pay court-ordered restitution, complete community service hours and enroll in an education program. Work ranges from hard physical labor – such as light construction, painting, mowing lawns, building fences and snow removal – to community service with the elderly and disabled schoolchildren. “They learn team-building and they learn pride in themselves,” said Annette Adams, associate program director. “A lot of these kids don’t know what it’s like to have a healthy relationship.” Third District Juvenile Court Judge Andrew Valdez said the work camp provides the chance to change the belief systems of children who often go without supervision. “Work camps remove them from the community for public protections purposes and get them away from the negative influences of their friends,” Valdez said. “It gives them some time to reflect.”
States adopt Missouri youth justice model
Stateline.org – March 7, 2008
As states grapple with spiraling prison costs and reports of abuse in juvenile lock-ups, many are trying to recreate a successful Missouri program that boasts one of the lowest repeat-offender rates in the country. It took a crisis, but the Show Me State in the early 1980s abandoned its embattled youth corrections facility, which housed 650 juveniles, and switched to smaller regional treatment centers that provide education, job training and 24-hour counseling. Missouri’s approach – originally pioneered in Massachusetts – aimed at creating a safe, non-punitive environment, where counselors help troubled kids turn around their lives. Missouri’s intensive counseling program is not necessarily cheaper than traditional lock-up programs, but with fewer than 8 percent of its graduates returning to the system, the state saves money in the long run, Decker said. “You’re not treating the same kids over and over,” he said. The success of the so-called Missouri model also can be measured by its participants’ higher-than-average number of job placements and high education levels and low incidence of violence at the facilities.
Foster Care
Youth with Disabilities in the Foster Care System: Barriers to Success and Proposed Policy Solutions
National Council on Disability – February 26, 2008
The American Youth Policy Forum (AYPF) conducted the research for this report that examines this uniquely situated population in terms of the issues that affect them and the policy solutions that can be implemented to improve their outcomes. The purpose of this report is to provide policymakers, primarily at the federal and state levels, with information about youth with disabilities in foster care, so that policymakers can begin to understand the characteristics of this population; the challenges they face; how they fare with regard to safety, permanency, self-determination and self-sufficiency, enhanced quality of life, and community integration; and how the complex array of existing programs and services could be better designed to improve these outcomes.
Bill would strengthen kids’ voices in foster care court
The Mercury News – March 7, 2008
An influential California lawmaker has introduced legislation to bring more children into the court hearings that decided their fates after allegations of abuse and neglect – a bill proposed in response to systemic failures revealed by the Mercury News last month. “This bill sends a strong message that kids need to be a more integral part of the system.” Said Dave Jones, a Sacramento Democrat who chairs the Assembly Judiciary Committee. Jones said the bill is designed to address one of the key findings of the series “Broken Families, Broken Courts” – that throughout California, hearings in the courts that oversee the foster care system are often held without the child present. Jones’ bill, AB 3051, would require all California judicial officers to postpone hearings if children 10 and older have not been properly notified and offered a chance to attend.
Tuesday, March 04, 2008
Education
Virginia considers leaving federal education act behind
The Virginian – Pilot – February 25, 2008
The General Assembly is flirting with abandoning a landmark federal law that governs schools in the United States. The decision could make Virginia the first state to set a deadline – summer 2009 – for planning a pullout from the No Child Left Behind Act, which ties billions of dollars to federally mandated testing standards in public schools. State politicians have balked at some of those standards in the past few years. Gov. Timothy M. Kaine has signed bills asking the U.S. Department of Education to waive parts of the federal law. Most of those exemptions were granted, but the notable ones that have not been approved frustrate educators and annoy legislators. Some of Virginia’s issues with NCLB are tied to testing of subgroups, educational jargon for small populations of students. NCLB holds the small groups to the same benchmarks as the total population so deficiencies in smaller samples aren’t masked by a school’s overall success.
Voucher study finds parity
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel – February 25, 2008
The first full-force examination since 1995 of Milwaukee’s groundbreaking school voucher program has found that students attending private schools through the program aren’t doing much better or worse than students in Milwaukee Public Schools. The study, released Monday in Madison, is the first from a five-year project aimed at providing a comprehensive evaluation of the voucher program, which this year is allowing more than 18,000 Milwaukee children from low-income families to attend private schools, 80% of them religious schools. The authors caution repeatedly that stronger conclusions will come only when trends over several years can be examined, and not much should be read into this year’s results. But the early findings, based on examining standardized test results for voucher students and comparing them to those of a matched set of MPS students, are unlikely to be seen as good news by advocates of the program that was launched in 1990 with hopes of being a powerful step to increase educational success among the city’s children.
Real World connects with students
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle – March 4, 2008
The Real World Skills and Connection Program is what educational officials are calling a new weapon in the fight to keep kids from dropping out. The program prepares high school teens to go directly into the work force after graduation. It could also be called the second-chance club, for students whose life circumstances or self-sabotaging behavior have put their high school careers in peril. The program’s $250,000 overall cost has created some hesitation among west-side school districts that haven’t enrolled their students. The pilot program started in September and has only seven students. Officials said a thorough evaluation of the program in the remaining four months will determine its status for next fall. Educators and students say the program is a success so far, but only three districts enrolled students in the program. Educators cite the high cost of dropping out to justify the program’s expense. Dropouts cost the nation more than $260 billion in lost wages, lost tax revenue and lost productivity, according to an American Youth Policy Forum. And according to a 2006 study by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, a dropout is more than eight times as likely to go to jail as a graduate.
Juvenile Justice
Group tries to help jailed youths
The Mercury News – February 25, 2008
Most incarcerated youths have never committed a violent act, and most suffer from mental illnesses and learning disabilities, says an interfaith group calling for greater awareness of what it terms a crisis. Congregations in the Bay Area, Los Angeles and New York drew attention to the problem as part of Juvenile Justice Sabbath during the weekend. In 2005, some 223,000 juveniles were arrested in California – 75 percent for minor offenses such as truancy, curfew violations, and petty theft. Three-quarters of all incarcerated youth suffer from learning disabilities, but few receive services, Blalock said. Confined youths have higher rates of untreated mental illness, and are more likely to have been subjected to sexual abuse and domestic violence than their peers, Blalock said. The group is hoping the event spurs discussion and motivates congregants to reach out to young people in the detention system, said a youth minister and theological student who preached about the subject Sunday.
Murphy Takes Page From Juvenile Law
Courant.com – March 4, 2008
U.S. Rep. Chris Murphy is introducing legislation in Congress today that would take Connecticut’s leadership in reforming juvenile justice programs and turn it into a national model. Murphy’s “Juvenile Justice Improvement Act” would bar states from locking up so-called “status offenders” – kids who wind up in juvenile detention not for committing any crime, but for repeatedly skipping school, running away or disobeying their parents at home. Connecticut was one of the first states in the country to ban the incarceration of status offenders when a new law took effect last October. Murphy’s bill also seeks to prevent juveniles from being incarcerated in adult jails – even those charged with murder or rape – and offers financial incentives to states that use alternatives to incarceration for kids charged with less violent offenses. Under the bill, states would be required to treat juveniles in programs that have been proven to work, rather than just sound good – something Connecticut has been focusing on for the past several years.
Foster Care
Bill Would Limit School Changes for Foster Children
Courant.com - February 29, 2008
A bill aired before the legislature’s Select Committee on Children Thursday would require the state Department of Children and Families to keep foster children in the school they attended prior to being moved into foster care or to a new foster home. Studies show that foster children perform significantly worse in school then children in the general population and frequent school changes increase the risks for failing grades, behavior problems and students dropping out, according to Stacey Violante Cote, a teen legal advocate with the Center for Children’s Advocacy at the University of Connecticut School of Law. Research shows it takes a child approximately four to six months to recover academically from a school transfer, Violante Cote said. “The educational cost of multiple transfers is potentially devastating,” she said.
Former foster kids losing N.C. benefits
Asheville Citizens-Times – February 28, 2008
Each year, more than 20,000 teens who turn 18 while in foster care in the United States can opt to remain in state custody and receive benefits such as tuition waivers, housing and training in life skills to help them succeed. But teens who are not in state custody when they turn 18 are not eligible for these services, even if the Department of Social Services is involved with the family. As child-protections agencies across the country work harder to keep children with their families and out of foster care, more teenagers will fall into that gap. “Kids aren’t ready to be on their own at 18,” Bradsheer said. “ And they shouldn’t have to be in foster care to get services they need.” “A kid doesn’t know what he or she wants at 18,” he said. Lautervach believes the state should maintain custody of youths until age 21. “You don’t make wise decisions. Most 18-year-olds just want out of the system. They don’t know what’s out there until it’s too late to go back.”
Virginia considers leaving federal education act behind
The Virginian – Pilot – February 25, 2008
The General Assembly is flirting with abandoning a landmark federal law that governs schools in the United States. The decision could make Virginia the first state to set a deadline – summer 2009 – for planning a pullout from the No Child Left Behind Act, which ties billions of dollars to federally mandated testing standards in public schools. State politicians have balked at some of those standards in the past few years. Gov. Timothy M. Kaine has signed bills asking the U.S. Department of Education to waive parts of the federal law. Most of those exemptions were granted, but the notable ones that have not been approved frustrate educators and annoy legislators. Some of Virginia’s issues with NCLB are tied to testing of subgroups, educational jargon for small populations of students. NCLB holds the small groups to the same benchmarks as the total population so deficiencies in smaller samples aren’t masked by a school’s overall success.
Voucher study finds parity
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel – February 25, 2008
The first full-force examination since 1995 of Milwaukee’s groundbreaking school voucher program has found that students attending private schools through the program aren’t doing much better or worse than students in Milwaukee Public Schools. The study, released Monday in Madison, is the first from a five-year project aimed at providing a comprehensive evaluation of the voucher program, which this year is allowing more than 18,000 Milwaukee children from low-income families to attend private schools, 80% of them religious schools. The authors caution repeatedly that stronger conclusions will come only when trends over several years can be examined, and not much should be read into this year’s results. But the early findings, based on examining standardized test results for voucher students and comparing them to those of a matched set of MPS students, are unlikely to be seen as good news by advocates of the program that was launched in 1990 with hopes of being a powerful step to increase educational success among the city’s children.
Real World connects with students
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle – March 4, 2008
The Real World Skills and Connection Program is what educational officials are calling a new weapon in the fight to keep kids from dropping out. The program prepares high school teens to go directly into the work force after graduation. It could also be called the second-chance club, for students whose life circumstances or self-sabotaging behavior have put their high school careers in peril. The program’s $250,000 overall cost has created some hesitation among west-side school districts that haven’t enrolled their students. The pilot program started in September and has only seven students. Officials said a thorough evaluation of the program in the remaining four months will determine its status for next fall. Educators and students say the program is a success so far, but only three districts enrolled students in the program. Educators cite the high cost of dropping out to justify the program’s expense. Dropouts cost the nation more than $260 billion in lost wages, lost tax revenue and lost productivity, according to an American Youth Policy Forum. And according to a 2006 study by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, a dropout is more than eight times as likely to go to jail as a graduate.
Juvenile Justice
Group tries to help jailed youths
The Mercury News – February 25, 2008
Most incarcerated youths have never committed a violent act, and most suffer from mental illnesses and learning disabilities, says an interfaith group calling for greater awareness of what it terms a crisis. Congregations in the Bay Area, Los Angeles and New York drew attention to the problem as part of Juvenile Justice Sabbath during the weekend. In 2005, some 223,000 juveniles were arrested in California – 75 percent for minor offenses such as truancy, curfew violations, and petty theft. Three-quarters of all incarcerated youth suffer from learning disabilities, but few receive services, Blalock said. Confined youths have higher rates of untreated mental illness, and are more likely to have been subjected to sexual abuse and domestic violence than their peers, Blalock said. The group is hoping the event spurs discussion and motivates congregants to reach out to young people in the detention system, said a youth minister and theological student who preached about the subject Sunday.
Murphy Takes Page From Juvenile Law
Courant.com – March 4, 2008
U.S. Rep. Chris Murphy is introducing legislation in Congress today that would take Connecticut’s leadership in reforming juvenile justice programs and turn it into a national model. Murphy’s “Juvenile Justice Improvement Act” would bar states from locking up so-called “status offenders” – kids who wind up in juvenile detention not for committing any crime, but for repeatedly skipping school, running away or disobeying their parents at home. Connecticut was one of the first states in the country to ban the incarceration of status offenders when a new law took effect last October. Murphy’s bill also seeks to prevent juveniles from being incarcerated in adult jails – even those charged with murder or rape – and offers financial incentives to states that use alternatives to incarceration for kids charged with less violent offenses. Under the bill, states would be required to treat juveniles in programs that have been proven to work, rather than just sound good – something Connecticut has been focusing on for the past several years.
Foster Care
Bill Would Limit School Changes for Foster Children
Courant.com - February 29, 2008
A bill aired before the legislature’s Select Committee on Children Thursday would require the state Department of Children and Families to keep foster children in the school they attended prior to being moved into foster care or to a new foster home. Studies show that foster children perform significantly worse in school then children in the general population and frequent school changes increase the risks for failing grades, behavior problems and students dropping out, according to Stacey Violante Cote, a teen legal advocate with the Center for Children’s Advocacy at the University of Connecticut School of Law. Research shows it takes a child approximately four to six months to recover academically from a school transfer, Violante Cote said. “The educational cost of multiple transfers is potentially devastating,” she said.
Former foster kids losing N.C. benefits
Asheville Citizens-Times – February 28, 2008
Each year, more than 20,000 teens who turn 18 while in foster care in the United States can opt to remain in state custody and receive benefits such as tuition waivers, housing and training in life skills to help them succeed. But teens who are not in state custody when they turn 18 are not eligible for these services, even if the Department of Social Services is involved with the family. As child-protections agencies across the country work harder to keep children with their families and out of foster care, more teenagers will fall into that gap. “Kids aren’t ready to be on their own at 18,” Bradsheer said. “ And they shouldn’t have to be in foster care to get services they need.” “A kid doesn’t know what he or she wants at 18,” he said. Lautervach believes the state should maintain custody of youths until age 21. “You don’t make wise decisions. Most 18-year-olds just want out of the system. They don’t know what’s out there until it’s too late to go back.”
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