This Week's News: Youth in Transition

Education

Dropout Rates Decline for Berkeley County High Schools
Goose Creek Patch, Berkeley, SC – July 31, 2013
Fewer high schoolers dropped out in the 2011-2012 school year than the previous year in Berkeley County — following the statewide trend.  State Superintendent of Education Mick Zais said reducing dropoutrates are a critical step toward improved on-time high school graduation rates, which he views as a key measurement of success for the entire K-12 system.

One More Reason To Stay In School: Dropouts More Likely To Lead Lives Punctuated By Crime, Substance Abuse
Medical Daily – July 30, 2013
School  attendance at a young age is crucial for an individual's social and emotional development. It allows children to be around peers, form friendships and connections, and work toward their future.   In a new study of 1,300 teens in 7th through 11th grade, researchers found that those who disengaged from school were more likely to lead lives punctuated by substance abuse and crime.

New alternative program C3 aims to reduce drop-out rate
IndependentMail.com, Pickens County, SC – July 31, 2013
Beginning in the 2013-2014 school year, the School District of Pickens County will begin C3, a new drop-out prevention program for 8th-12th grade students.  The goal of C3 is to offer a safe, engaging learning environment to students who need an instructional approach that is different from traditional high school programs.

Juvenile Justice

Calls For Juvenile Justice Reform Grow In Florida
WJCT News, Florida – July 29, 2013
The calls for juvenile justice reform in Florida are  growing, as advocates turn to research to prove that more robust juvenile diversion programs for first-time offenders can prevent kids from dropping out of school.  The local interfaith coalition ICARE is one of the local advocates pushing diversion, not jail, for juvenile first-time offenders.

N.J. Distinguishing Itself as it Reforms Juvenile Justice System
NewsRoomJersey.com, Trenton, NJ – August 2, 2013
A fourteen-person delegation from the state of Washington including a Supreme Court Justice, Superior Court Judges, three State Legislators, Juvenile Court Administrators and leaders from Washington State’s Office of Juvenile Justice, Administrative Office of the Courts, Prosecutors Association and the Sheriffs and Police Chiefs Association are in New Jersey to attend a two-day working session focusing on statewide implementation of the Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative (JDAI).

Foster Care

Ohio program prepares foster children to live independently after they age out of the system
Daily Journal, Akron, OH – August 3, 2013
To try to improve the oftentimes bumpy transition, the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, Big Brothers Big Sisters and eight counties, including Summit, have launched a pilot program called "Connecting the Dots from Foster Care to Employment and Independent Living."

Twenty-Something ... and Ready to be Adopted
City Limits, New York – July 31, 2013
When Denise Royal met her adoptive 23-year old son, Elijah, two years ago, he had recently aged out of the foster care system. His life was falling apart.  After his release Elijah had nowhere to go. Desperate, he reached out to a friend who had recently been placed with a representative for You Gotta Believe, the only adoption agency that finds permanent homes for young adults aging out of foster care.

Foster youth band together for change
Orland Press Register, California – July 30, 2013
No child chooses to be taken from their home, separated from their siblings or ask to become of victim of their unwanted circumstances.  But the once-silent and nameless youth who are in — or recently aged out of — foster care are finding their voices and the power they've never had before by uniting as a group to transform the California foster-care system through policy and legislative change.

Teen Pregnancy

ISU teen pregnancy prevention program wins award
Ames Tribune, Ames, IA – August 1, 2013
An Iowa State University sex education program with a unique approach to preventing teen pregnancy is getting some national recognition.  The Virginia-based National Child Support Enforcement Association is awarding the project, called Parenting: It’s a Life, the organization’s 2013 excellence award for program awareness. The group plans to acknowledge the program at its annual conference held Aug. 5 in Baltimore.

Teen Pregnancy Task Force Gets Results
NBC 6, Council Bluffs, IA – July 30, 2013
A Teen Pregnancy Task Force, created in 2009, is seeing great success in Council Bluffs.  "Well, it's no longer just about me," said Jordan DeSantiago. Her entire world changed her senior year of high school . She found out she was pregnant.