This Week's News: Youth in Transition

Education

Luna stresses education
Idaho Press-Tribune, Nampa, ID – January 31, 2009
Education is more important then ever in a bad economy, Idaho Superintendent of Schools Tom Luna told a gathering of about 400 people, Friday at Idaho's Summit on Dropout Prevention. Alternative schools, flexible learning and Internet classes are some of the keys to keeping students from dropping out of school, educators told participants at Idaho's Summit on Dropout Prevention Friday.

Summit seeks to stop high school drop outs
KPLC, Lake Charles, LA – February 2, 2009
In rural Beauregard Parish they graduate 88 per cent of their high school seniors. That's number one in the state. Superintendent Wayne Savoy says fighting truancy is a major part of their success in keeping kids from dropping out in Calcasieu. Dale Bayard who serves on the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education says another key part of the solution is programs that address workforce needs.

NISD encouraging dropouts to return
The Daily Sentinel, Nacogdoches, TX – January 28, 2009
Representatives from the Nacogdoches ISD will host a meeting tonight to encourage students who have recently dropped out to return to school and complete their education. The question-and-answer session will be the first of its kind for NISD in that it is specifically seeking to hear directly from both students and parents as to why children drop out of school. Hutto said that he wants to find out if the district is inclusive enough for students, adding that further training for faculty might help to address student needs in the future.

Juvenile Justice

Act aims to reform juvenile justice laws
Tuscaloosa News, Tuscaloosa, AL – January 31, 2009
During his 30 years representing children charged with crimes, Gary Blume has just about seen it all. Children as young as 10 charged with sex offenses. An 11-year-old who fired gunshots at a bus filled with elementary schoolchildren. The two 10-year-olds who joined forces to steal cars — one sat in the floor and operated the brake and gas pedals while the other steered. These kids weren’t hardened criminals who needed to be locked up in a prison. They needed guidance and diversion to prevent them from becoming too far entrenched in the juvenile justice system.

Advocates push to raise juvenile age in court
The Telegraph, Macon, GA – January 28, 2009
Seventeen-year-old lawbreakers in Georgia would be treated as juveniles instead of adults under a proposal being pushed by a coalition of children’s advocates. The change would mean that fewer teens would be prosecuted as adults. It faces an uphill fight in the Republican-led state Legislature, which has moved in recent years to toughen criminal penalties.

Foster Care

Sisters Making Changes to Foster System
OzarksFirst.com, Springfield, MO, January 30, 2009
Some of Missouri's foster care policies recently changed, and it’s thanks in part to some former foster children we introduced you to in October, 2007. You may remember Lacy and April Kendrick, sisters placed in separate foster homes ten years ago. The difference in their care had a direct impact on where they ended up when they aged out of the system.

More housing for female teens leaving foster care
Camarillo Acorn, Camarillo, CA – January 30, 2009
Six young women set to leave Ventura County's foster care system this year will have a place to call home because of a $30,000 grant from the United Women's Leadership Council. The council, a volunteer humanitarian group formed two years ago, earlier this month awarded a one-year grant for housing and support services to PathPoint, a Santa-Barbara based nonprofit that also runs Ventura County's Independent Living Program.

Cottages for Foster Kids Open in Escondido
The CW, San Diego, CA – January 27, 2009
Officials Tuesday marked the opening of six residential cottages at the San Pasqual Academy for foster children in Escondido. The 23,856-square-foot cottages, which each sleep up to eight, will allow for an additional 48 teens to live on the campus, which now houses 136 foster youth, according to the county.