Child Welfare
The Oklahoma Commission for Human Services voted 6-3 late Tuesday to settle a federal class-action lawsuit over the state’s foster care system, reports Ginnie Graham of the Tulsa World.
Nice roundup piece here from NPR’s Joseph Shapiro on legislative and political reactions to the Penn State child sex abuse scandal. According to Shapiro, state legislators are seeking to expand the list of mandated reporters in California, New York, Virginia, Georgia, Connecticut and Maryland. In Missouri and Pennsylvania, he reports, legislation has been introduced to effectively make all adults mandated reporters.
In Connecticut, reports the Associated Press, the University of Connecticut is not waiting for legislation to require its employees to report any allegation of sexual abuse to school ofiicials.
Education/Jobs
Taking lead on the push for a federal DREAM Act could help carry Obama to another term, reports Carter Eskew, an Election 2012 blogger for the Washington Post.
Diane Rado of the Chicago Tribune reports on how a lack of teacher sponsors for the Riverside Brookfield High School opened up a can of worms in the community.
End-of-year competency tests for Oklahoma’s high school seniors is almost certainly going to drive up the dropout rate, reports Richard Palazzo of the Tulsa World.
Juvenile Justice
In Merced County, Calif., the chief probation officer expects a rate hike to place juvenile offenders in state facilities to hit the county’s budget hard, reports Mike North of the Merced Sun Star.
