Child Welfare
Rep. Jose Serrano blasted ICE over the report released yesterday showing 5,100 kids in foster care because of their parents’ deportation or deportation proceeding, reports Jorge Rivas of Color Lines.
Dr. Aref Assaf, president of the American Arab Forum, writes in New Jersey’s Daily Record that foster and adoptive families should not be allowed to convert children to a new religion, even if the birth parents have their rights terminated.
Education/Jobs
Leslie Reed of the Omaha World-Herald produced a nice little FAFSA guide here for parents and students, including a list of common misperceptions about the aid process and a checklist for preparing the FAFSA forms.
And Danielle Wright from BET.com provides this rundown of who qualifies for reduced monthly payments under Obama’s sped-up changes to rules on federal student loans.
Juvenile Justice
Florida State Sen. Mike Bennett (R) spoke passionately to his colleagues in support of a bill that would allow judges to reduce sentences for juveniles sentenced to more than 10 years, reports Bill Kaczor of the Miami Herald. Bennett was once given a second chance by a juvenile judge: join the military or else.
Miscellaneous
Rahim Kanani interviews Paul Carttar, director of the Social Innovation Fund at the Corporation for National and Community Service (presumably over e-mail, since there are bullet points in Carttar’s responses).
