Monday, October 29, 2012

This Week's News: Youth in Transition

Eduction

Virginia’s on-time graduation rate for class of 2012 rises to 88 percent, dropout rate falls
The Washington Post, Richmond, VA – October 23, 2012
Nearly 90 percent of students in the class of 2012 graduated after four years of high school, the Virginia Department of Education said Tuesday.  The on-time graduation rate for the 97,865 public high school students who were first-time ninth-graders in 2008-09 was 88 percent, an increase of more than a percentage point from the previous year’s class, officials said.

Dropout rate falls in Greenwood
San Francisco Chronicle, Greenwood, MS – October 27, 2012
The Greenwood Public School District is crediting implementation of a plan to tackle dropout and graduation rates for major improvements in its high school completion rates between 2010 and the current academic year.

Juvenile Justice

'A door to anywhere': Juvenile Justice Center aims to get kids on the right track
The Daily Courier, Arizona – October 27, 2012
"When the juvenile court system started in Chicago 110 years ago, they realized that there's hope for children," Arizona Supreme Court Justice Robert Brutinel told an audience of 300 at a ribbon-cutting ceremony Friday for the new Yavapai County Juvenile Justice Center in Prescott.

Youth Court Program Separates Teen Defendants from Adults
DNAinfo.com, New York – October 22, 2012
On Wednesday afternoon last week, Judge Felicia Mennin quickly made her way through cases typical of Midtown Community Court — a series of petty crimes, like illegal vending, and various summonses for parking and other minor violations.  But Mennin took a moment to pause before her last case of the day, when a 16-year-old sporting purple Uggs and a pink North Face backpack appeared before her.

Kids Count Report Demonstrates New Jersey’s Successes In Juvenile Justice
NJToday.net, Trenton, NJ – October 24, 2012
Advocates for Children of New Jersey today released a special juvenile justice Kids Count report entitled, “Measuring Change in New Jersey’s Treatment of Young Offenders.” The report details the successful reforms in juvenile justice since the implementation of the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s Juvenile Justice Detention Alternatives Initiative (JDAI) in New Jersey.

Foster Care

Hearing on Aging Out of Foster Services
NBC6, Nebraska – October 28, 2012
Nebraska lawmakers have scheduled a hearing on children who "age out" of the state's foster care system.  The Legislature's Health and Human Services Committee will hear testimony Thursday about the services that are available for youths who leave the system because of their age.

Teen Pregnancy

Education, alcohol awareness keys to preventing teen pregnancy
Great Falls Tribune, Cascade County, MT – October 26, 2012
Cascade City-County Health Department Health Officer Alicia M. Thompson has data, pages and pages of it, pointing to a correlation between alcohol and unintended teen pregnancy. The challenge comes with interpreting the data and using it to educate the public.

Fathers play key role in teens’ sexual behavior, says study
The Washington Post – October 22, 2012
Fathers’ attitudes toward teen sex and the emotional closeness of their relationship with their teens have a sizable influence on their teens’ sexual behavior, separate from the influence of moms, a new review of studies suggests.

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