Child Welfare
Pat Phillips of Illinois’ News-Gazette reports on efforts to reconstruct the final weeks of Travis Messenger, a 12-year-old boy who died after stealing a car in an apparent attempt to run away from his foster care placement.
Education/Jobs
Americans for Prosperity Vice President Phil Kerpen, writing for The National Review, pushes the idea of exempting teenagers from minimum wage standards, making them more attractive to employers looking to hire for the summer.
Texas Governor and potential presidential candidate Rick Perry continues to stand in support of the DREAM Act, which the vast majority of Republicans oppose, reports Mallie Jane Kim of U.S. News and World Report.
Click here for “Schools Out: America’s Dropout Crisis,” a seven-part series on NPR’s website which looks at some overarching issues with the dropout crisis and profiles individuals who have struggled after dropping out of school.
Juvenile Justice
The Texas Youth Commission has begun closure of a large juvenile facility in Beaumont, reports KIIItv.com, part of its effort to close a $117 million shortfall it is facing over the next two years. The closure will result in the loss of 230 jobs; 23 workers will transfer to other facilities.
A fund set up by the Pennsylvania state legislature will pay out $500,000 to more than 100 people who were victimized by juveniles involved in the Luzerne County juvenile court scandal, reports Dave Bohman of WNEP.com. When authorities wiped the slate of the juvenile detention scandal juveniles clean, the victims of their crimes technically could were not entitled to compensation.
