This Week's News: Youth in Transition

Education

Study suggests keeping students in high school longer, better 'at-risk' programs
Phys.org – February 4, 2013
An average dropout earns less money, is more likely to spend time in jail, and is less healthy, less happy and less likely to be married than a high school graduate, the paper reveals. "There appears to be a large expected return from being nudged to stay in school longer," Oreopoulos said, in an interview. "This raises the question of why we have to nudge in the first place, if the returns are so high?"

Kentucky education bills would address dropout age and college funding
The Courier-Journal, Frankfort, KY – January 31, 2013
A long-debated proposal to raise the high school dropout age in Kentucky — a priority of the Beshear administration — is returning to the General Assembly this year despite repeated failures to muster enough support in the Senate.

Arizona bill aimed at dropout rate
The Republic, Arizona – January 28, 2013
A state legislator has proposed raising the mandatory school-leaving age from 16 to 18 in a push to give parents more power over kids’ education by keeping them in school longer.  Rep. Jeff Dial, R-Chandler, also wants to force 18-year-olds who fail to complete high-school graduation requirements to get approval from a principal or head teacher before leaving school.

Juvenile Justice

Georgetown’s LEAD Conference focuses on Juvenile Justice
Juvenile Justice Information Exchange, Washington, D.C. – January 25, 2013
A conference this week at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. focused on the work of the school’s Center for Juvenile Justice Reform (CJJR).  The Leadership, Evidence, Analysis, Debate or LEAD Conference, put on by the Georgetown Public Policy Institute, brought together representatives of various stakeholder groups, including activists, judges, experts, students and researchers.

Foster Care

Foster care assistance age may increase
KLKN-TV ABC 8, Lincoln, NE – January 31, 2013
Sen. Amanda McGill plans to introduce a bill that she said will improve the outcome for young people making the transition between foster care and adulthood.  If passed, the bill would provide state-funded housing assistance, Medicaid, and a case worker for foster care youth under the age of 21. Currently, funding stops when the person turns 19.

Foster Hope opens doors of first Flint home for aged-out foster kids
MLive.com, Flint, MI – January 28, 2013
Ginelle Barry stood in the kitchen at 1419 Downey Street and talked about the number of teens who age out of the foster care system.  She said there are 450 kids in Michigan each year who turn 18 and are no longer supported by state's system.  Meanwhile, about a dozen community members were going through the renovated Skills and Housing for Youth. The SHY project is a faith-based yearlong program for men aged 18 to 21-years-old. It is designed to teach them life skills and give employment and educational support.

Teen Pregnancy

Teen Pregnancy down 27% in New York City over the last decade: report
New York Daily News, New York – February 3, 2013
Teen pregnancy in the city has plunged by 27% over the last decade, new data show.  The dip comes as the number of teens having sex has fallen, while the proportion using birth control has gone up, according to numbers to be released by the city Health Department Sunday.  “Two things are happening here — teens are using more contraceptives, and they’re also delaying sexual activity,” said Health Commissioner Tom Farley.

State officials back activists in lowering teen birth rates
Lowell Sun, Boston, MA – January 30, 2013
Senate President Therese Murray, Public Health Commissioner Lauren Smith and state Medicaid chief Julian Harris joined activists Tuesday as they called for $1.5 million in additional state spending to address unmet needs and help keep the state's teen birth rate down.