Child Welfare
Richard Wexler opines in Florida’s News-Press about the process of evaluation-by-horror-story, which he believes the News-Press and other Florida news sources have helped fuel with the media coverage that followed the death of an adopted child earlier this year.
Meagan Robertsion of Canada’s Squamish Chief reports on a drop-in center for families aimed at preventing the sort of stressors that in some cases lead to deeper involvement in British Columbia’s child welfare system.
Education/Jobs
Schools that serve homeless students have seen an increase in enrollment in the years since the recession hit, according to Michelle Anderson with the Huffington Post. The principal of one such school in San Diego, Monarch School, noted an increase in students from families who’ve lost their homes to foreclosure, a population they didn’t see in the past.
For-profit colleges took another hit this week as congressional supporters were unable to block further regulation of the industry with the budget deal struck by Congress last Friday, Bloomberg’s John Lauerman reports. For-profit supporters were hoping an amendment that would’ve terminated gainful employment regulations would find its way into the budget but the measure did not make it to the final version.
Juvenile Justice
Jeff Kunerth of the Orlando Sentinel reports on the legislation that would bring Florida into compliance with the Supreme Court’s ban on life without parole sentences for juveniles convicted of non-homicides. The bill faces an uphill battle, says Kunerth, because there are legislators who think it’s too punitive and others who think it is too soft.
In Mississippi, WLBT.com reports, an agreement reached in U.S. District Court will allow a nonprofit group for disabled people access to the Forrest County juvenile facility. The hope is that the presence of the organization will prevent abuse of detainees; video of juveniles being abused prompted a lawsuit by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Miscellaneous
The deal to fund federal agencies through 2011 is far from done, with both parties’ leaders uncertain of head counts leading into tomorrow’s vote, reports Jennifer Steinhauer of The New York Times.
