Child Welfare
Wall Street Journal’s Tamara Audi reports on the potential “crisis” level in Los Angeles County’s child welfare system. Meanwhile, Richard Wexler of the National Coalition for Child Protection Reform criticizes the L.A. Times’ coverage of the system, in particular the waiver Los Angeles received to spend more federal money on family preservation efforts.
Connecticut’s Department of Children and Families has some explaining to do after a recent audit found questionable spending out of the agency’s discretionary account, reports the Journal-Inquirer’s Jacqueline Rabe. (Subscription required to read full article).
Education/Jobs
Erica Green was the lead reporter on this story in Saturday’s Baltimore Sun, which says a close partnership between city and state agencies has reaped massive gains in dropout prevention.
Mark Conway, board chairman for the Workforce Alliance of South Central Kansas, wrote an editorial in Sunday’s Wichita Eagle asking Congress to set aside the partisan politics and reauthorize the Workforce Investment Act.
The Los Angeles Times called out Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger for nixing federal funds that would help complete a statewide student database.
Juvenile Justice
Freeman Klopott of the Washington Examiner reports that parents in Washington, D.C. are not allowed to access most of the juvenile justice records for their own children. A new city law made it easier for government agencies to share juvenile records, but that also did not increase the rights of parents on the matter.
If Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour has his way, Mississippi will not have a state-run secure facility for juveniles, reports Jennifer Edwards of the Natchez Democrat. Edwards talks to one judge who believes closure of the Oakley Training School could seriously disrupt the rest of the juvenile justice system.
Miscellaneous
The Every Child Matters Education Fund is looking for conference-holders or advocacy groups who might want to take remaining copies of Homeland Insecurity, a 32-page publication from 2009 that looks at federal spending and social indicators for major youth issues such as after-school programs and child poverty. Click here to read the publication, and here to place an order.
