This Week's News: Youth in Tranasition

Education

Whatcom County program that works to curb school drop-out rates facing budget cuts
The Bellingham Herald, Whatcom County, WA – March 23, 2009
A statewide program that helps at-risk Whatcom County students stay in school by stabilizing their lives outside of school is facing cuts as Washington legislators grapple with a projected state budget deficit of nearly $9 billion. The Whatcom County Readiness to Learn Consortium, like others across the state, aims to curb drop-out rates by connecting students and their families to existing social services, including for health care, homelessness and domestic violence.

Bredesen urges renewed work on school dropouts
MSNBC, Chattanooga, TN – March 18, 2009
Gov. Phil Bredesen said Wednesday he is proud of the progress Tennessee has made in improving school graduation rates, but he cautioned the work will become more difficult. "It's going to get harder as we move forward because we have increased the (graduation) standards, and it's one of the things we're going to have to deal with," Gov. Bredesen said.

Juvenile Justice

Seminar to examine juvenile justice
2TheAdvocate.com, Lafayette, LA – March 17, 2009
The League of Women Voters of Louisiana will present an educational seminar that focuses on juvenile justice and opportunities for intervention, education and prevention. The seminar, “Too Much, Too Many at Risk,” features keynote speaker Rob Reardon, director of the Lafayette Parish Correctional Center, which coordinates prevention programs for at-risk youth.

Foster Care

Foster care alumni find 2nd chance in a duplex in Braddock
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Pittsburgh, PA – March 23, 2009
Like a lot of teenagers, Richard Taylor and Davaughn Howard yearned for their independence but underestimated the challenges of living on their own when they turned 18. But as foster care alumni who left the umbrella of the system, there was no going back to the security of guaranteed housing, clothing and food that remaining wards of the state would have provided. Last week, the two 19-year-olds moved into their own refurbished duplex on the edge of Braddock, where they've been given a temporary reprieve from some of the challenges of the real world.

New plan keeps young adults in the foster system
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Pittsburgh, PA – March 23, 2009
Latoya Steadman was only 2 when the Allegheny County Office of Children, Youth and Families removed her from her parents' care because of their constant drug use and child neglect. "That might be the best thing that happened to me," said Ms. Steadman, 19, who after years of being shuffled between placements in the foster care system -- moving from family settings to group homes -- is now on her own in college.

Virginia to receive $3.4 million for adoption and foster care programs
MSNBC, Roanoke, VA – March 16, 2009
The Department of Health and Human Services today announced the release of $3.4 million authorized by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to support foster care and adoption assistance programs in Virginia. Nearly $1 million will support adoption assistance programs, while more than $2.4 million will go to foster care programs.