Child Welfare
Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman, pushing for tax cut, is asking for a $19 million bump in child welfare funding to help with the bumpy experiment with privatization, reports Martha Stoddard of the Omaha World-Herald. Meanwhile, Stoddard reports in another story, the state is handing over all of its cases in the Omaha area to its one remaining contractor, Nebraska Families Collaborative.
Utah’s House has passed a law that would examine, among other things, giving parents the right to a jury trial when facing the potential loss of their children, reports Dennis Romboy of the Deseret News.
Education/Jobs
The U.S. Department of Labor Employment Training Administration selected a California county’s youth employment program to participate in a study of youth training innovators, reports the Fontana Herald News.
A proposal to raise the mandatory age for school attendance from 16 to 18 in Nebraska ran into a wall of opposition Wednesday from some state lawmakers, reports Paul Hammel of the Omaha World-Herald. The opponents bave questioned whether that change would reduce the dropout rate and increase graduations.
Pretty cool idea: Goodwill Industries of Colorado Springs is using a $1 million grant from the Daniels Fund to create a faux town center to help teach disabled people how to navigate the world, reports Barbara Cotter of the Gazette.
Jake Wiens, and investigator for the Project on Government Oversight, reports on the dwindling funds for the Inspector General’s office at the Corporation for National and Community Service.
Juvenile Justice
Local officials say the proposed overhaul of juvenile justice in Georgia will not work if it is paid for on the cheap, reports Jim Walls of Juvenile Justice Information Exchange.
