This Week's News: Youth in Transition

Education

Texas' high school graduation rate reaches record high
Houston Chronicle, Texas – August 3, 2012
Graduation rates for Texas' black and Hispanic students topped 80 percent for the first time in state history in 2011, but they still lagged behind the record-setting overall graduation rate of 86 percent, the Texas Education Agency reported Friday.

Grad rates up in CMS, N.C.
Charlotte Observer, Charlotte, NC – August 3, 2012
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools’ graduation rate rose to 75 percent in 2012, while the state’s rate hit 80 percent for the first time ever, according to a state report released Thursday.  The CMS increase, from 73.5 percent in 2011, means 319 more students earned on-time diplomas this year, with the biggest gains among the African-American, Hispanic and low-income students who have traditionally been less likely to graduate.

Charter Schools Promises To Lower Rockford High School Dropout Rate
MyStateline.com, Rockford, IL – August 3, 2012
A charter school is exactly what District 205 needs to bring high school dropouts back to the classroom; at least that's what GreenTek Career Academy is saying.

Juvenile Justice

Ohio Delegation Visits NJ To Study Juvenile Detention Reform Efforts
JNToday.net, Trenton, NJ – August 2, 2012
A delegation from the state of Ohio including judges, court administrators, representative from the Ohio Department of Youth Services, and other stakeholders, are in New Jersey to attend a two-day working session designed to help Ohio replicate New Jersey’s success in juvenile detention reform.

Lake juvenile work program becoming a model for other communities
Orlando Sentinel, Taveres, FL – August 5, 2012
A Lake County program in which young offenders work on community projects as an alternative to having arrest records is becoming a model for other counties.

Foster Care

Utah foster kids learn how to live after ‘aging out’
The Salt Lake Tribune, Utah – August 2, 2012
For Courtney Bown, life after foster care looks overwhelming.  "I’m really nervous," she said. "I’m not ready for the world."  Taken out of an abusive home at about 10, she lived with two different foster families and credits the system with steering her away from drugs and even helping her mother and father become better parents. But foster care ended last month for Bown when she turned 18.

Rhode Island Foster Youth at First Star URI Academy Complete Inaugural Summer
Virtual-Strategy Magazine, Kingston, RI – August 3, 2012
ess than 3 percent of America’s foster youth earn four year degrees compared to 30 percent of the general population*. Today, for the 20 foster youth who completed their inaugural summer at the First Star URI Academy, there is hope that those numbers will change. Thanks in large part to the founding support of Hasbro, Inc. (NASDAQ: HAS), as well as the support of IDentity Theft 911, Adoption RI and the state Department of Children, Youth & Families (DCYF), Rhode Island has become the second state to host this innovative Academy.

Teen Pregnancy

Mississippi Sex Education: Majority Of School Districts Choose Abstinence-Only Curriculum
Huffington Post, Mississippi – July 30, 2012
With the highest teen pregnancy rate in the country, a majority of Mississippi's school districts have chosen to teach an abstinence-only sex education curriculum this year.