This Week's News: Youth in Transition

Education

State’s high school on-time graduation rates on the rise
The Washington Post, Virginia – October 31, 2012
Virginia education officials say on-time high school graduation increased under the Class of 2012.  According to Virginia Department of Education data released Oct. 23, 88 percent (85,359 of 97,023) of state public school students who entered ninth grade in fall 2008 got a diploma within four years.

Moss Point schools roll out plan to reduce dropout rate
WLOX Channel 13, Moss Point, MS – November 2, 2012
t is one of the top five priorities for the Moss Point School District this year--reduce the dropout rate. A new initiative launched Thursday aims to do just that.

Meeting focuses on future of Graduation Matters Missoula
Missoulian, Missoula, MT – November 1, 2012
When Missoula County Public Schools administrators talk about Graduation Matters Missoula, they don’t just talk about how to get more diplomas in the hands of students.

Juvenile Justice

Holistic reform takes root in Mississippi
The Chicago Reporter, Mississippi – November 1, 2012
For a few years now, Mississippi’s juvenile justice system and the U.S. Department of Justice have been close acquaintances for all the wrong reasons.  One key ingredient in this effort is an amendment to a state law that gives 17-year-olds charged with felonies a second chance at rehabilitating their lives.

King County's new approach tries to steer kids away from trouble
The Seattle Times, Seattle, WA – October 28, 2012
A few days ago I watched a young woman named Morgan regain custody of her two young children.  She and her family are among the many beneficiaries of a better way of dealing with juvenile-justice and family-court issues.

Foster Care

Youth Villages seeks enough funding to help all TN foster kids who age out
The Tennessean, Tennessee – November 4, 2012
Tennessee tries to take care of former foster youth in ways that few other states do, yet only half of teens who age out of custody have access to services.  Now, the state’s largest provider of transitional living assistance — Memphis-based non-profit Youth Villages — says it has a way to reach everyone.

Funding fuels project for at-risk youth in Olmsted County
The Post-Bulletin, Rochester, MN – October 30, 2012
Workers in Olmsted County's Child & Family Services division are about to embark upon a three-year project to expand and enhance the way the county helps kids who are in foster care or at risk of being placed outside their homes.

Teen pregnancy

Poor Reading Skills Linked to Teen Pregnancy Risk
U.S. News – October 31, 2012
Preteen girls' reading skills can strongly predict whether they'll get pregnant when they're teens, a new study suggests.  University of Pennsylvania researchers looked at the reading skills of more than 12,000 girls when they were in grade 7 (average age 11.9 years) in Philadelphia public schools and then checked to see how many of them gave birth when they were teens.