Child Welfare
Russia and the United States are close to a new agreement on adoption policies, reports the Tennessean’s Chris Echegaray. A new deal became necessary this year after a Tennessee mother sent a Russian boy she adopted back to his country after discovering, in her opinion, that he was violent and mentally unstable.
Surprising there are only 42 comments under this instead of 4,200: Salon.com’s Tracy Clark-Flory reports on a University of Hawaii reporter who is convinced that simulating child porn could help reduce actual instances of child sexual abuse
Beatriz Castaneda of the UTEP Prospector reports on Jessica Archuleta, a UTEP student who aged out of foster care, and her experience with higher learning. .
Education/Jobs
Jessica Beym from the Gloucester County Times in New Jersey writes about new federal legislation proposed by Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) that would increase the transparency of the student loan process.
Siemens President Peter Löscher, as a guest blogger on CNBC.com, is the latest business executive to express a dire need for businesses to focus on youth employment initiatives.
The Chronicle of Higher Education’s Beckie Supiano analyzes a new report from the U.S. Department of Education that looks at students who started college in 2003-2004 and where they are six years later.
Juvenile Justice
Lots of accusations are flying in Oklahoma over the state’s award of a $10 million contract to Nevada-based Rite of Passage, who will build and operate a new 144-bed facility in the state if the contract survives Tulsa World reporters Ann Kelley, John Estus and Barbara Hoberock identify two points of suspicion among a union and some local officials in Oklahoma: that a state senator may be having an affair with a lobbyist for Rite of Passage, and that Oklahoma’s current juvenile justice director Gene Christian may be gunning for a job with the company.
Sonia Kumar of the Maryland chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union wrote a column for the Baltimore Sun on how the state juvenile justice system is failing girls.
