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Youth 411: Youth in the NewsVolume 1, Number 3, October 1-15, 2006 Contents
RESEARCH
GOVERNMENT
ARTICLES ARKANSAS Camp Joseph T. Robinson, North Little Rock, AR—"I'm really proud of these boys." These are the words spoken by one, but thought by well over 200 in attendance Oct. 6, at the end of a graduation ceremony for the Arkansas National Guard's Civilian Student Training Program (CSTP).
OHIO Student leaders nominated by area high schools came together at Camp Kern for two days of learning, collaborating and planning. At the 16th annual Northeast Community Challenge Student Leadership Conference, more than 60 dedicated teens had the opportunity to discuss some of the major health issues facing adolescents: stress, underage drinking, drug use, bullying, etc. The conference, created by youth for youth, was organized by high school and college students from the Northeast Community Challenge Youth Coalition. The event aimed to promote positive youth development and build leadership/character skills. From leadership trainings, to communication exercises and outdoor ropes-courses, the conference was a memorable learning experience. Seven interactive student-developed workshops taught delegates skills including problem solving, team-building, respect, conflict management and goal setting. Among the invited speakers, Police Officer Paul Payne delivered a presentation about the dangers of MySpace/Facebook Internet predators. Afterwards, the delegates had a chance to discuss this, as well as other teen issues, with a panel of professionals with expertise in adolescent medicine, psychology, college-preparation, law enforcement and community health education. The conference culminated in a strategic planning session, in which the students created a preliminary design for a Student Resource Web site. The site, they hope, will give young people in our community an updated, engaging, accessible guide to teen health issues, useful web-links, local internships, resources for college preparation, volunteer opportunities, and recreational activities in our community. Ultimately, this site can equip local youth with the skills and knowledge to live healthy lifestyles. "The conference was such a success," says Sasha Appatova, the Coalition's student intern. "Local teens need to work together, to teach each other, to learn from what each has to offer. The delegates came to the conference to become better leaders; now they can do great things for their schools and communities."
Joseph A. Frick challenged business leaders yesterday to play a leading role in reducing youth violence as he assumed the chairmanship of the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce. "We cannot stand by... . Let's make a profound impact on the issue of youth violence... by providing an alternative to life on the street," said Frick, president and chief executive office of Independence Blue Cross. Last year, Frick said, local companies provided summer internships to 440 at-risk youth, but more than 400 were still on the waiting list when all positions were filled. "Our goal is to provide jobs to all who qualify, to make sure there isn't a waiting list," Frick said in an interview after his remarks at the chamber's 206th annual meeting, held at the Convention Center. About 1,000 people from among the chamber's 5,000 member businesses attended. Frick's chairmanship will be for two years. All companies that provided internships last year have agreed to participate again, Frick said, and the chamber is forming partnerships with other groups to expand the number reached by the program and set the slate for year-round initiatives. Stan Sloan, executive vice president of Lockheed Martin Corp., which employs 11,000 in the region, joined Frick in the appeal. He said his company now had 30 full-time employees who began as summer interns in the program, and 55 interns currently in it. "We in the business community need to provide more opportunities for kids who otherwise wouldn't have any," Sloan said. Lockheed Martin is expanding its program, which began here, to other regions, Sloan said. Those who complete the internships are given financial help for continuing their education, he said. As chamber chairman, Frick succeeds Stephen D. Steinour, president of Citizens Financial Group Inc., parent of Citizens Bank. Sizing up his two-year tenure, Steinour said the chamber had more fully recognized that small business is "the backbone of the chamber and of business in this region." Under a new initiative, 190 small companies have graduated from a chamber program that teaches them how to become suppliers of goods and services to large companies. Under the leadership of president Mark Schweiker, the former Pennsylvania governor, Steinour said, the chamber "has been able to bring a regional component to our thinking." The chamber has helped the region make progress, Steinour said, in expanding the Convention Center, improving the airport, building support for mass transit, and reducing taxes that hurt the economy. Over the last two years, Steinour said, the chamber has seen its board of directors become more diverse. He said half the 36 new board members have been minorities or women.
CALIFORNIA The Center on Culture, Immigration, and Youth Violence Prevention is launching its first year of research projects with the help of federal grant money. A year after the center received grant money from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the UC Berkeley-based coalition will begin research on violence prevention methods that are based in school programs. The center, which is a collaborative research organization, is operated by the Institute for the Study of Social Change at UC Berkeley, the National Council on Crime and Delinquency, UC San Francisco, and UC Berkeley School of Law. The organization focuses on examining and researching youth violence in Asian Pacific Islander and Latino populations in the Oakland area. After being awarded $4.2 million in federal grant money last year to pursue research for the prevention of youth violence, the center is set to begin its first projects using the funds, said Deborah Lustig, the research associate and training coordinator for the center. The CDC will fund numerous programs through the center, including the research projects of three graduate students and two larger research endeavors, said law professor Rachel Moran, director of the center. One main project will study the effectiveness of the Roosevelt Village Center, an after-school program at Roosevelt Middle School in Oakland that is centered around promoting multicultural interaction among students, said Thao Le, the lead researcher for the project and an assistant professor of human development and family studies at Colorado State University. "We're ready to go," Le said. "All we're waiting for is the final okay from the CDC." The other big project the center is focusing on will examine the transformation of research findings into practical violence-prevention methods, Moran said. Emily Ozer, a UC Berkeley assistant professor at the School of Public Health, will lead the project. "She's enlisting youth in schools as partners rather than using them as objects of research," Moran said. In addition to the research project, the center will be holding a speaker series aimed at bringing together people of diverse backgrounds to discuss youth violence, Lustig said. The series will kick off on Oct.5 with Ayodele Nzinga, a director at Sister Thea Bowman Memorial Theater in Oakland. "One of our chief goals is to build an intellectual community at UC Berkeley of people who are interested in youth violence," Lustig said.
TENNESSEE
A recent spike in juvenile crime has helped qualify Nashville for grant money aimed at reducing youth violence.
SAN FRANCISCO
The need for real, comprehensive violence prevention is drastic, and the only good solutions are those that begin and end with community involvement, and where law enforcement is a mere tool when needed rather than the centerpiece. The City must open its ears to the voices of what is so often called this City’s future—our young people.
FLORIDA Florida Constitutional Amendment No. 4 is the only proposal put on the November ballot by citizen petition instead of the state Legislature.
MINNESOTA The loosie's goose is cooked. The St. Paul City Council voted to ban the sale of single — or loose — cigarettes Wednesday, citing a lack of health warning labels and saying the cheap price makes them an attractive option for minors and the poor. "I think it's taking advantage of people," Council President Kathy Lantry said. "It really is a way that kids start smoking." Lantry proposed the ordinance after complaints from neighbors about the sale of loosies, usually found at neighborhood convenience stores, gas stations and liquor stores. Lantry said she thought selling loosies was illegal, but the city's licensing department couldn't find anything to prevent the practice. St. Paul is not the first Minnesota city to ban it. Cities such as Brainerd, Mankato and Coon Rapids do, as well as several counties, including Hennepin County. Public health experts said the sale of single cigarettes to minors is a big concern. "I was really shocked that the state didn't already do this," said Dr. Jean Forster, a community health education faculty member at the University of Minnesota's School of Public Health. "Young people are extremely price-sensitive … especially with the price of cigarettes going up because of taxes and such." In 1995, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, as part of a broader effort to deter youth smoking, proposed a federal ban on the sale of loosies. The World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control also suggests countries ban the sale of single cigarettes, and a 1994 article published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that youths were more likely than adults to purchase loosies. According to research gathered by the William Mitchell College of Law's Tobacco Law Center, the sale of loosies dates to the Depression-era 1930s, when down-on-their luck men and women often couldn't afford a full pack. Jeanne Weigum, an anti-smoking advocate who serves as president of the Association for Nonsmokers-Minnesota, said there are several other reasons to ban the practice. No. 1 is that buyers need to know that cigarettes are dangerous, she said. "That's federal law. Cigarettes that are sold have to have a warning label," Weigum said. She said the cigarettes often sell for much more than they're worth in a pack of 20 and called the practice "predatory." And furthermore, she said, it's unsanitary. But Weigum doesn't believe many retailers are selling loosies. "We suspect it's not very widespread," she said. The City Council vote was 6-0, with Council Member Jay Benanav absent.
CONGRESS On Tuesday, Sept 26, Out-of-School youth from several states dropped in on the Senate to send a clear message - We will not be left behind! Organizer, Edward DeJesus, President of the Youth Development and Research Fund stated: "while politicians travel the country touting "Leave No Child Behind," they are forgetting one very important fact. This country only provides alternative educational and employment services for 3% of the eligible out-of-school youth population. There are 5.4 million out-of-school youth for 250,000 federally funded training and education seats across the U.S. - somebody is going to be left behind." Out-of-school youth are defined as youth who never graduate from high school and those who graduate but are unable to secure employment or entry into post secondary education. And, by conservative estimates, it is a national epidemic.
The purpose of the demonstration was to educate policy makers and the public about the out-of-school youth who have been undervalued and overlooked, and who have the potential to become America's best resource or worst liability. The young people called their demonstration, Hug-A-Thug. Javier Starks, a young person who joined the rally stated, "the reality is that when the majority of Americans see us on the street, they cross to the other side or grab their purse or bag a little tighter. They think we are 'social predators', active 'gang bangers', and or irresponsible citizens. As a result, they invest little or no money in programs to help us improve our situation. They don't realize we vote, we want opportunity, and we give back to our communities." Javier is right. According to the National Youth Employment Coalition, investments in out-of-school youth have declined by more than two-thirds. In 1979, the Department of Labor spent $6 billion for employment training for youth. Today, that investment is $2.6 billion. Javier and the other young adults who took part in this campaign want to transform the images from that of "unreachable, criminal thug" to that of young people who need our support and investment. Javier and his team gave away more than 175 hugs to people that day including two U.S. Senators. The youth realize the solution is not in the hug itself, but in what the hug does. For them, the hug opens up a relationship that previously was closed. Where there was once no room for dialogue, a conversation can begin. Where there was no willingness to listen, now they hope people will be able to hear. Hugging them will transform views so that they will no longer be a 'thug,' but a young person people want to see be successful. A Hug is the first step of a commitment of support and encouragement. Hopefully, this commitment will turn into favorable social policy and funding. And, just to make sure, the YDRF youth advocates plan to be back. Javier and other youth are forming a national advocacy group of young people speaking out on the issues of out-of-school youth. "This is just the beginning," Javier stated. "We will not be left behind."
JOB CORPS While policymakers land on opposite sides of issues during the height of the mid-term elections, bipartisan support for Job Corps remains strong. As America's largest and most successful residential education and job training program, Job Corps serves approximately 70,000 at-risk youth annually - more than 2 million youth since its inception in 1964. In the 40-year history of the program, Job Corps has consistently expanded its services to youth - proof of the program's unrivaled performance and accountability. Job Corps Delivers Results Leading the support for the program are longtime Job Corps advocates Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA), Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Congressman Ralph Regula (R-OH), and Congressman David Obey (D-WI), who are proud to point to the program's results:
National statistics show that nearly 1 in 3 public high school students will not graduate, and nearly half of all dropouts ages 16 to 24 are unemployed. A recent poll by Oprah Winfrey shows that 88 percent of respondents believe high school students should have the option to take vocational training to prepare for jobs instead of college. "Job Corps has a track record of working successfully with students who do not thrive in the traditional educational setting," said Richard Schubert, chair of the National Job Corps Association. Organizational Changes Reward Job Corps and Focus on the Future Through the continued efforts of Specter, Harkin, Regula and Obey, Job Corps was recently transferred from the Employment and Training Administration, an agency that focuses primarily on unemployment insurance and adult programs, to an office reporting directly to the U.S. Secretary of Labor. The potential this move offers Job Corps is substantial.
"We applaud the vision of Senators Specter and Harkin and Representatives Obey and Regula," said Schubert. "Their enduring commitment to our youth through wise federal funding and innovative recommendations to ensure streamlined services to Job Corps students, shows that their actions are for the long-term benefit of saving those numerous young people dropping out of high school." Job Corps Must Expand to Meet Rising Needs of Employers and Youth With 122 centers nationwide, Job Corps focuses on youth ages 16 to 24. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the percentage of workers in this age range is expected to grow more rapidly than the overall labor force for the first time in 25 years. The number of at-risk, underemployed, or unemployed youth is estimated to be 5 million. An increasing number of Job Corps' trade offerings are focused on high-growth industries such as health care and homeland security, which are facing exponential growth and critical workforce shortages. While Job Corps continues to enjoy strong support from lawmakers, more is needed to address growing demands in the program - specifically, escalating operational costs, basic maintenance of its 2,200 buildings and the construction of new facilities to help serve more youth.
MICHIGAN Children who grow up in, then outgrow state care face poverty, homelessness, unemployment, and sometimes jail. But if the Legislature adopts new recommendations, they might finally get some help to get off to a better start. Foster youth would leave state care at 21 -- and would:
A task force led by state Supreme Court Justice Maura Corrigan and Department of Human Services Director Marianne Udow submitted the 21 recommendations as a way to help the 450 youths who age out of the Michigan system every year. Nationally, 16,000 young people age out of state systems. "This is probably the most comprehensive look we have ever taken at what we do and what we can do better for our older children in foster care," Udow said. The recommendations "cover everything from basic information to how we better prepare to help our children with education, housing, jobs, health care, summer employment. We cover the gamut." Among the most exciting is a plan for a Detroit-based Housing Resource Center, which came from a suggestion I made last June. The state will put money toward the resource center that will teach youth how to look for and rent housing. "Take credit for it," Udow told me. "Your advocacy helped us down the path and spurred us to focus on housing." The task force report also seeks improved mentoring, so that every foster youth has a permanent connection with at least one caring adult before he or she leaves care. It also would improve young people's access to their birth and court records -- something that would make job searches and college applications easier. Most important: All the recommendations come with a time line for completion. When legislators return to session, their first task should be to embrace this report. Their second? To fund DHS at the level it needs to save children. The department, which has lost 4,000 employees since 1997, has 725 foster care workers. When I look at the report, I think of Chilton Brown, who aged out two years ago and is living at Covenant House because he doesn't have a home, and Jonnie Hill, who had a toothache for months because she couldn't find a dentist who accepted Medicaid. And I think of the children I haven't met yet who struggle from day to day, trying to live on their own before they're ready. When legislators study the task force report, they must not lose sight of how important it is. It was mandated as a part of the DHS budget. It should serve as a blueprint, not as an excuse for not doing more. Among the task force’s most important recommendations:
Source: “Interdepartmental Task Force on Service to At-Risk Youth Transitioning to Adulthood: A report to the Legislature” By The Numbers: A national profile four years after youth age out of foster care:
Source: Michigan Department of Human Services
MAINE "It's a misnomer to think we're going to evacuate a building just for a fire," said principal Marc Gousse. Instead, schools now practice lockdowns, where students and staff remain behind locked classroom doors, or bomb threat evacuations to secure off-campus sites. The shooting deaths of five girls at an Amish schoolhouse in Pennsylvania this week, on the heels of school shootings in Wisconsin and Colorado, has reinforced the need for crisis planning in schools even if the chance of such a violent outburst is remote. Education Commissioner Susan Gendron this week issued a letter to all Maine school administrators that included an outline of requirements, recommendations and resources for schools to use in preparing emergency plans. The information is not new to administrators but re-emphasizes the need to keep plans valid. "We've gotten kind of complacent, saying kids can come and go and we're all set, but these kinds of things make you think," said Deb McAfee, principal at Windham High School. They underscore the need to practice safety drills, she said. "You can't process and think in those situations. It should be rote." The number of school homicides has dropped sharply since 1993, according to an analysis by the University of Virginia's Youth Violence Project. Citing figures from the National School Safety Center, the project found that student-perpetrated homicides went from a high of 42 in fiscal year 1993 to 13 last year. Federal statistics show that the frequency of serious school violence dropped from a high of 13 incidents per 1,000 students in 1994 to less than half that last year. Still, media coverage and the cumulative effect of several high-profile shootings over the years makes the problem seem worse, said Tammie Breen, president of the Maine PTA and the mother of two boys in middle school. "Because media is so accessible now, we hear it more, so it sounds worse," she said. "If it happens to such a small school in Pennsylvania, it could happen to any of our small schools here." School officials and many parents have made school safety a priority since two students killed 13 people at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo., in 1999. Windham was designing its new high school at the time and was the first in the state to have its plans revised by a security planner, McAfee said. Doors were designed to lock from the inside, shrubs were moved away from ground-level windows, exterior lighting was added and the number of entrances was reduced. Windham High School teachers and staff will participate in training with the town's police and fire departments on a revised crisis plan next month, McAfee said. In many cases, high school students say they don't worry about school shootings in other parts of the country. "I don't really think about it. We live in Maine and go to a small school," said Isabel Parkinson, a sophomore at Waynflete School in Portland. Some do find the recent incidents unsettling, however. "It does scare me kind of," said Stephanie Dowling of Portland High School. The odds against a student dying in a school shooting are remote -- some estimates put it at a million-to-1. A school-age person is 10 times more likely to die of flu or pneumonia and 100 times more likely to die of cancer, according to 1999 data from the National Center of Vital Statistics. "It should be a serious concern but not a hysterical or frightening concern," said William Shelley Pollack, a Harvard Medical School professor who has studied school shootings. "Schools are some of the safest places in the country today." Common-sense security, such as monitoring school access, is a good precaution, he said, but one of the most important steps is promoting trusting relationships with students. Federal studies have found they are the first to become aware of a planned violent outburst and should be encouraged to alert an adult, Pollack said.
OHIO While school shootings in Colorado, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania in recent weeks were scary, youth violence experts caution that schools remain among the safest place for kids. "In many cases, schools are safer than being on the street, even with all these events occurring," said Jane Grady, assistant director of the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Extras "I don't know how comforting that is." The good news is that since the 1999 Columbine High School massacre in Colorado, most schools have created safety plans for these sorts of threats. But like other accessible public buildings, a determined person can make bad things happen quickly. In Ohio, every school is required to have safety plans for emergencies. And just last week, a new law sponsored by Rep. Jim Hughes, R-Columbus, went into effect requiring at least one "safety drill" per year on top of any tornado and fire drills. Grady, whose group worked with districts in Colorado after Columbine to create effective emergency plans, said the key to prevention is communication. "It is really important that parents and schools and community resources get together to discuss this issue," Grady said. "We often found the school had never talked to the fire department or police department." Communication also means vigilance — when students, teachers and parents know each other, those relationships help people recognize when something is wrong or someone is out of place. But schools can only do so much. "There are things you can do, but you can't preclude everything from happening," she said. In Ohio, where billions of dollars are being spent on new schools, updated buildings offer some added protections. For instance, new schools often require scramble cards to enter any door and main entrances ferry visitors to the office, blocking access until staff members approve entry. Visitors to a new building housing grades K to 8 in the Miami East school district near Troy must buzz through the main office door under surveillance cameras. Students and parents also are encouraged to tell security anything suspicious they may have heard. "We are not naive enough to believe just because we are a rural district we don't have to worry about the same things you are seeing on the news," said Superintendent Todd Rappold.
NEW JERSEY Authorities in South Jersey are taking a pro-active stance against street gangs, a growing menace that has spread from urban areas and now threatens rural and suburban communities.
As gang membership continues to climb, authorities are linking gangs to more murders, robberies and outright intimidation. Authorities have discovered that high-ranking gang members have given orders from behind bars.
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