Child Welfare
Child welfare advocates in Massachusetts are trying to get reinstatement of $100 million in budget cuts to the child welfare system made over the past four years and are protesting proposed funding cuts, according to Masslive.com.
CNSNews.com’s Penny Starr reports on an HHS official promoting the Obama administration’s LBGT policies, including encouraging same-sex couples to adopt.
Patricia Callahan of the Chicago Tribune warns of drain covers used in pools that could lead to serious injury or death.
Education/Jobs
John Podesta, head of the Center for American Progress, and former Sen. Bill Frist, now the head of the State Collaborative on Reforming Education, joined in writing an opinion piece for Politico that calls for Democrats and Republicans to work together to pass a new Elementary and Secondary Education Act to eliminate the outdated measures in the No Child Left Behind verion.
Education Week’s Sarah D. Sparks writes the Education Department will release its first in-depth report this spring on turn-around schools.
A survey of community college students show they prioritize fast internet connection over access to advisers and relationships with professors in order to succeed in college. The report is by the Washington Post’s Daniel de Vise.
Casey B. Mulligan in the Wall Street Pit breaks down the latest market trends impacting summer youth employment.
Both the Washington Post and the New York Times include features today on how the failed DREAM Act is affecting undocumented youth. The Post’s Kevin Sieff looks at JROTC high school students and the Times’ Julia Preston writes about immigrant college students who revealed their undocumented status during the campaign for the DREAM Act and who now are vulnerable to legal action.
Juvenile Justice
The National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges blog weighs in against scared straight programs pointing out that “the plural of anecdote is not evidence.” The council accuses producers of the current A&E cable series of confusing the two.
The New York Times’ Don Hurdle and Sabrina Tavernise are covering the trial of former Luzerne, Pa., judge Mark Ciavarella in Scranton. Ciavarella is charged in the “kids for cash” scheme that sent hundreds of juveniles to detention without having a lawyer to advise them – allegedly in exchange for money from the developer of a private juvenile prison. In a column from AllVoices’ Darlena Bonds speculates on what Ciavarella’s sentence should be if he is convicted.
