This Week's News: Youth in Transition

Education

Public high school graduation rates rise
Wisconsin Rapids Tribune, Wisconsin – May 18, 2012
Wisconsin's public high school graduation rate has improved, newly released state numbers show.  Figures released by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction on Thursday show a graduation rate of 87 percent in 2011.

Project 10% aims to reduce high school dropout rates
ABC30, Fresno, CA – May 19, 2012
Merced County is launching a first of its kind program to cut crime, by reducing high school drop out rates.  The district attorney and local education leaders announced the initiative on Friday. It's called Project 10%, and the goal is to reduce high school drop-out rates in the county by 10 percent.

Program gives school dropouts H.O.P.E.
Bastrop Enterprise, Bastrop, LA – May 18, 2012
The Northeast Louisiana Workforce Centers Inc. began a new program in Morehouse, Union and West Carroll parishes this month that can aid high school drop-outs in entering the work force.

Juvenile Justice

New rules to protect youths in adult jails
Independent Mail, Washington, D.C. – May 18, 2012
The thousands of juveniles held at any time in adult U.S. jails and prisons will receive new safeguards to protect them from rape and other physical abuses by older inmates, under rules unveiled Thursday.  The department's directive represents the first-ever federal effort to protect inmates, including juveniles, from sexual abuse at national, state and local levels.

Foster Care

Aging Out Of Foster Care Gets Easier In Ohio
NBC4i, Columbus, OH – May 14, 2012
Every year, more than 1,000 kids age out of (or grow too old for) Ohio's foster care system and are left to fend for themselves in the adult world.  NBC4 talked to a former foster child who is trying to make a difference in Central Ohio.

Casey Family Programs host job fair helps D.C. foster care youths
The Washington Post, Washington, D.C. – May 17, 2012
Casey Family Programs hosted a job fair at the CFSA Youth Empowerment Center called the ‘JumpStart Fair’ on May 17. The fair was for young people who will soon age out of foster care with resources they need to live on their own. Trainers from Wells Fargo and recruiters from local businesses such as Copper Canyon Grill attended, as did D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray. More than 130 youths participated.

Program helps teens in foster care find self-sufficiency
The News & Advance, Lynchburg, VA - May 14, 2012
There’s a tricky balance in helping teens make the connection between freedom and responsibility.  Yet Terrick Moyer does it each day as program manager for Step Forward Transitional Services, a program created to help young adults successfully transition from foster care to self-sufficiency.

Teen Pregnancy

Engaging teens in pregnancy prevention may be paying off
Minnesota Public Radio, St. Paul, MN – May 16, 2012
Amid the lunchroom hubbub at South High School in Minneapolis, a group of students wearing matching black sweatshirts strikes up a conversation about teen pregnancy with a group of eight boys.  Jasmine Powell, a confident 11th grader, leads the discussion, asking if the teens have thought about how to prevent a pregnancy.

Sex prevention talk with teens
Fox23.com – May 17, 2012
Teens are being targeted through their cell phones. And some say it's for their own good.  The program is called act now. The goal is to use texting to help girls avoid getting pregnant. It’s a way to get girls some answers to questions they might otherwise never ask.