This Week's News: Youth in Transition

Education

Study: Intervention in middle school helps keep kids in school
Redlands Daily Facts, California – December 3, 2011
Preventing high school students from dropping out doesn't begin in high school - it begins in middle school at successful districts, which track and engage students from an early age, according to a recently released report.

Innovative programs try to get college dropouts back into school
The Sacramento Bee, Philadelphia, PA – December 4, 2011
Like many young Americans, Julia Capece went straight from high school to college. Halfway toward her bachelor's degree, Capece decided to move out of her parents' home. She tried juggling work and school, but living on her own and keeping up with tuition and coursework proved too much.

Glenn Hills High finds success with mentoring program for at-risk students
The Augusta Chronicle, Glenn Hills, GA – December 2, 2011
Dr. Gale Levon Bell knew the name on a list of chronically absent students belonged to a junior at Glenn Hills High School who had been absent more days than she ever sat in a classroom, but the clues ended there.

Juvenile Justice

The De-Incarceration of California’s Juvenile Justice System
Juvenile Justice Information Exchange, California – November 30, 2011
The juvenile justice system in California has been evolving faster than most other parts of  the country.  While Missouri, Texas and other states have reduced their youth prison populations, California has made the most drastic reductions.

New era for Texas juvenile justice
The Houston Chronicle, Texas – November 30, 2011
Today is more than the beginning of a new month. It is the beginning of a new era for juvenile justice in Texas. The 82nd Texas Legislature passed a bill that abolished the Texas Youth Commission (TYC), the agency responsible for juvenile incarceration, and the Texas Juvenile Probation Commission, responsible for county-level probation departments.

Juvenile agency shifts its efforts
Delaware Online, Delaware – November 27, 2011
Delaware's juvenile-justice agency has begun putting more youths into community treatment programs instead of assigning them probation officers to improve their chances of staying out of trouble.


Foster Care

Law eases transition from foster care to adulthood
Battle Creek Enquirer, Michigan – November 29, 2011
Age 18 is a crucial milestone in life. Most people are finishing high school and looking ahead to college, the military or finding a job. While legally it is the threshold to adulthood, most 18-year-olds still depend heavily on their parents for support and guidance. Last week, Michigan extended a much-needed hand to teenagers who are "aging out" of the foster care system.

Nonprofit gives hope to students without families
The Marietta Daily Journal, Marietta, GA – December 4, 2011
A group of college students without families to go home to for Thanksgiving were treated to a special holiday weekend, thanks to a local nonprofit and hotel.  The Orange Duffle Bag Foundation, a Marietta-based nonprofit, partnered with Chateau Élan resort in Braselton, to provided four days of food, accommodations and other activities to 19 metro Atlanta foster youth who had no other place to go for Thanksgiving.


Santa Cruz County focusing on finding permanent homes for foster youth
Santa Cruz Sentinel, Santa Cruz, CA – December 3, 2011
Foster youth should not have to face life alone, without a family, say county social workers who see the pain and problems those children face after being removed from abusive or neglectful parents. The focus on finding permanent foster parents shifted with a $2 million grant received in 2008 that launched a program called Roots & Wings, said Melissa Delgadillo, who manages the program for the county's Human Services Agency.

Teen Pregnancy

Agencies encouraged by Ohio teen birth rate decline, but say work isn't over
Fox 19, Hamilton, OH – December 2, 2011
The state's birth rate among teens has dropped to a 21-year low. Experts say that reflects less sex and more contraceptives and health officials say declines suggest teens are responding to the fear of STD's and economic anxieties of becoming a parent.

Report: Teen births down
Times Daily, Alabama – November 28, 2011
Health officials say beefed-up education programs are producing positive results in the number of teen births, both nationally and in Alabama.  Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention National Center for Health Statistics shows the number of teens having babies declined 9 percent nationwide in 2010, compared to the previous year. The survey involves girls ages 15-19.