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Youth HomepageYouth 411: Youth in the NewsVolume I, No. 1, September 1-15, 2006 Contents STATE WATCH
LEGAL NEWS
RESEARCH
LEGISLATURES
ARTICLES
OREGON Lane County is one of four trial sites in Oregon that will share a $500,000 federal grant to help prevent suicides among young people, county officials announced. The money will be used to conduct suicide prevention training to a broad cross-section of community members and improve follow-up care to ensure that youths who have threatened suicide get help. The program is aimed at reducing suicide among people age 10 to 24. Damien Sands, the county's suicide prevention coordinator, said the money will help cash-strapped local agencies better address a problem that poses a major threat to the community's young people. Suicide "is No. 2 in the nation in terms of taking a teen's life," he said. "That's a high number and we need to do something about that." The grant is part of the Garrett Lee Smith Memorial Act, legislation championed by Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Ore., whose son, Garrett, committed suicide three years ago next week. To fund the act, Congress allocated $30 million to help states develop youth suicide prevention programs. Sands said Lane County will use its share of the grant to train more people to recognize and react when youths show signs that they are considering suicide. The goal will be to train not just professionals, but teachers, clergy and others in the community who have regular contact with young people. "What that does is allow individual lay people to recognize some of the key symptoms and be able to take the next step in intervening," Sands said. "That so often means so much to somebody who is feeling isolated and needs help." The other part of the program will link all county hospitals with the agencies that provide intervention services. That will ensure that a person who has been brought to a hospital or emergency room after an actual or threatened suicide attempt is later contacted by a counselor for follow-up help. A person who has once attempted suicide is at the greatest risk for future attempts, Sands said. But even though hospitals routinely refer those people to social services, follow-up care doesn't always happen because of gaps in communication among agencies. Sands said the program will build on the existing SAFE:TEEN suicide prevention program in area schools. Additional funding is expected next year to increase the number of programs in the state and incorporate another prevention program developed by the U.S. Air Force. Anyone who knows someone who might be contemplating suicide is urged to call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at (800) 273-TALK. Sept. 8 will mark three years since Garrett Smith's death. "It is sad that a great program can come out of somebody else's tragedy," Sands said. "But what we're hoping is that the Garrett Smith Memorial Act will indeed bring something of hope to families that otherwise might not have had that hope." CALIFORNIA One in three teens and one of six preteens are victims of “Cyber bullying” according to a recent poll conducted by national law enforcement leaders. “Cyber bullying is the use of electronic devices and information, such as e-mail, instant messaging, text messages, mobile phones, pagers and Web sites, to send or post cruel or harmful messages or images about an individual or a group,” said Michael Kharfen, communications director of Fight Crime: Invest in Kids. The poll – conducted by Opinion Research Corporation for Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, a national, nonprofit, bipartisan organization of more than 3,000 police chiefs, sheriffs, prosecutors, other law enforcement leaders and violence survivors – found that 10 percent of the teens and 4 percent of the younger children were threatened online with physical harm and 16 percent of the teens and preteens who were victims told no one about it. Preteens were as likely to receive harmful messages at school (45 percent) as at home (44 percent). Older children received 30 percent of harmful messages at school and 70 percent at home, according to the poll. “The difference between Cyber bullying and face-to-face bullying is that is can happen 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” Kharfen said. “Most harmful for kids is that they get no refuge because it invades their own home, their friends’ homes, and almost anywhere that they go.” While Mendocino Country may be a rural area, local teens are not exempt from this modern-day type of harassment. “It does happen here in Ukiah and we have had parents come in with specific concerns about the Internet,” Michell Ramsey, Mendocino Youth Project crisis worker said. Some parents have also expressed concern to administrators at the local high schools. With that said, Ukiah High School Assistant Principal Jerry Garcia said he thinks it’s a much bigger issue than what he sees. “I only hear about it when a parent comes forward about their children getting unsolicited e-mail, primarily at their residence,” Garcia said. “(When they do) we advise them to go to their provider and have them change their e-mail address, and do common sense things in regards to giving out their address, which is tough for (teens). One day someone is their friend; the next day you look at their boyfriend wrong…” he said, noting Ukiah High has rules against using MySpace at school. Pomolita Middle School hasn’t heard any complaints from students regarding harassment via the Internet, according to Principal, Meredith Rosenberg, but it has taken precautions nonetheless. “One of the things we did at our last open house in March was have a teacher prepare a power point presentation to talk about MySpace,” Rosenberg said. Pomolita seventh/eighth-grade teacher, Paul Standridge said parents need to keep a look out for things, such as issues of trust, and let children know that online friends are really strangers. Standridge said it’s also important for youth to make sure their profiles don’t include any personal information such as their name, telephone number and address. It’s also important “to look out for you friends and do something if you this they are at risk,” he said. “And tell your parents if someone makes you feel uncomfortable.” Lastly, parents need to pay attention too. “A lot of our parents think that since (their children) are at home, even though they are online they are safe, but in reality they are out in the big world of the Internet," Standridge said. While Cyber bullying can happen just about anywhere there are computers, schools can take a comprehensive approach, Kharfen said. “When schools take a comprehensive approach – that is every teacher, every student, every parent – and get engaged in changing the environment of the school so that kids feel safe in reporting bullying…then you can make a dramatic change in reducing Cyber bullying,” Kharfen said. This process includes intervention from responsible adults, appropriate law enforcement, and communication between parents and their children regarding safe behavior on the Internet, he said. “A single school assembly is not going to do it,” Kharfen said. “In the coming school year, 13 million kids will be victims of cyber bullying,” according to David Kass, Executive Director of Fight Crime: Invest in Kids. Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill) has introduced a bill – House Resolution 284 – which amends the Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act to include bullying and harassment prevention programs Fight Crime: Invest in Kids recommends the Olweus Bullying Prevention program. “It’s found to have reduced bullying by half in schools,” Kharfen said, noting it’s also fairly inexpensive. “A school district can implement this program in all of its schools for about $4,000,” he said.
VIRGINIA SPOTLIGHT: RAMON KEARNEY -- Ramon Kearney is a 14-year-old who wears a suit to school and spends his free time plotting - then acting upon - his plans to change the world. TO VIEW ARTICLE ONLINE: http://www.dailypress.com/news/local/dp-16046sy0sep04,0,5052969.story?coll=dp-news-local-final 
ILLINOIS Chris Ahnert left high school because he figured he didn't have the credits to graduate, anyway. Aziz Animashan left after he got kicked off the basketball team - the only thing keeping him there. Stacy Del Real didn't want to go back to the same environment where, she says, "there were bad things happening all around me." All three are now trying once again, at an intensive live-in program in downstate Illinois. This fall, as America's students head back to school, there's an extra push to bring back America's dropouts as well - if not to traditional public school, then to GED programs, alternative learning centers, anything that can get them moving forward again. Recent studies have shown that the nation's dropout rate, officially hovering around 10 percent, has been severely undercounted for years. The high numbers - combined with research showing dropouts are far more likely to be in prison, on public assistance, or jobless - have many educators thinking about how to keep those students from ever leaving. In addition to prevention programs, a small number of districts, counties, and organizations are reaching out to those who already have dropped out. "This is not a new issue, but it's getting a lot more attention," says Nancy Martin, a senior program associate with the American Youth Policy Forum, and coauthor of the study: "Whatever It Takes: How Twelve Communities Are Reconnecting Out-of-School Youth." "With districts feeling the heat because the sheet is getting pulled off this a bit, I think there is much more interest and willingness to say, how can we keep these kids in school, and if a huge number has left school, can we really see them as having left the district's responsibility? I hope the answer is no," she says. Dropout rates are difficult to determine, and often controversial. One recent study found that about a third of the students who started high school four years ago didn't graduate on time. Other studies have put the graduation rate around 70 percent, or as high as 80 percent. Among minorities, some studies have it around 50 percent, and some large cities graduate fewer than half of their students. Last year, the National Governors Association adopted a resolution that would set, for the first time, a common standard for tracking graduation and reporting rates - a big step forward, experts say, although it is nonbinding. Until that happens, many districts are hesitant to try more accurate methods that might show how they're failing. But if reporting the problem needs a common standard, educators are finding that dealing with the problem needs as many varieties as possible. In her study, Ms. Martin found that the ones that worked best didn't try to replicate high school but offered scheduling flexibility, connections to jobs, and structure. "A lot of this is what we need for all young people," she says. In Trenton, N.J., for instance, the Daylight/Twilight High School runs from 7:30 in the morning to 7:30 at night, and lets students attend in one of three four-hour sessions. There's no lunch or extracurriculars, and students get their elective credits through community service or apprenticeships. Teachers don't discipline - if a student is acting up, they'll motion to the door while continuing to teach, and the student will leave, knowing they'll be heard by the principal or a group of peers later - yet the school had no suspensions or serious incidents last year. For the past three years, the school has graduated more than 500 students a year, who meet all the traditional state standards. "We do everything we can to be user-friendly," says William Tracy, the school's principal, noting that the school's seven sites include some in apartment buildings. "Now we don't have to recruit, we just keep opening sites." Another program was spearheaded by a county - not typically a player in education policy. Deborah Feldman, the county administrator for Montgomery County in Ohio, says she realized several years ago that half of their budget was going toward criminal justice and human services, but they were doing nothing to keep people from entering those systems. "There was no place for a second chance," she says. "We needed to institutionalize the issue." Ms. Feldman helped create and fund a county "Fast Forward Center" that reaches out to dropouts and refers them to a variety of second-chance programs, depending on their needs. It's helped 1,000 dropouts graduate, and she says that in the five years since they started, the 16 school districts in the county lowered their dropout rate from a combined 25 percent average to about 12 percent. In Rantoul, Ill., meanwhile, Chris, Aziz, and Stacy, have entered Lincoln ChalleNGe Academy, one of 30 programs around the country run by the National Guard. For five and a half months, students, or cadets as they're called at Lincoln, live in a structured, quasi-military environment in which they work toward their GED and develop personal goals and a plan that includes college, a career, or the military. Once they leave, trained mentors will continue to meet with them regularly and report back to the school. "A lot of our cadets are first generational completers of anything," says Hattie LeNoir-Price, the recruitment, placement, and mentors coordinator. "Their parents can't answer their questions." Cadets wake up at 5:15 a.m., do PT (physical training), and address adults as "sir" or "ma'am." But it's voluntary, and administrators emphasize that it's not a boot camp or funnel to the military. Besides the structure, they say, what's crucial is believing in the students. "A lot of kids have been told they're stupid, and that's an illegal word here," says Col. Richard Norris, the lead instructor. In an environment that recognizes kids' different learning styles, he says he can see kids jump up three or four grade levels in just five months. "The biggest thing is being able to show these kids open doors, and keep them open.... When they realize you're not going to give up on them, that's when they start to come around. It's a trust issue." Nationally, there are 30 Youth ChalleNGe programs, which are funded through a combination of federal and state dollars, and five more are starting this year. Of the 67,000 kids they've graduated, 96 percent have either gone to college, the military, or started career-track jobs, says Greg Sharp, president of the National Guard Youth Foundation. About three-quarters get either a GED or a high school diploma. "We have all these programs after a kid gets in trouble, but very few prevention programs," he says. "We can't solve the whole problem, but we can make a huge dent."
KANSAS A coalition that has been brainstorming ways to reduce gang violence in the Wichita area on Tuesday released a comprehensive plan to reduce youth violence. During the gathering at the Believers Tabernacle at Mount Vernon and Hillside, about 50 people listened to Scott Dryden explain the plan. He urged those in attendance to reach out to help current and future gang members. "If we show them we care, we can make a change," he told the group, which included concerned residents, members of neighborhood associations and those who work with troubled youth. "Wouldn't it be cool if the Crips and Bloods and all these other guys sat down for Thanksgiving dinner?" he asked the group. "Wouldn't that be the coolest thing? That can happen. I believe it." Dryden, who is a pastor at the tabernacle, said the group's plan included five components:
Although Wichita police last week said that a spate of shootings was forcing them to crack down on gangs, Dryden said the gang coalition began working on the issue long before the police crackdown began. He told those in attendance not to expect a quick reduction in gang-related violence. "This is a long-term approach," he said. "This is a marathon. This is not a sprint."
CALIFORNIA It was only the second meeting of a summer class, yet Berry was scheduled to record his own commentary about plastic surgery, on air — live — at 7:30 that evening. Did he know a lot about cosmetic surgery? No. Did he know anybody who had a facelift? No. Was he nervous? "A little bit," he confessed. That's the way things work at Youth Radio, the award-winning media organization that features youth perspective on everything from fashion, dating and music to the immigration debate and the Bush administration's handling of the war in Iraq. Youth Radio produces 300 broadcasts a year and has news bureaus in Los Angeles, Atlanta and Washington, D.C. Commentary and stories air on radio stations and Web sites around the world, including iTunes and the media organization's own youthradio.org. "There is value in young persons' stories," said Patrick Johnson, 26, a 1998 Youth Radio graduate who returned to the station as producer and executive associate after earning a bachelor's degree in broadcasting at Howard University. "Immigration, HIV, violence, sometimes we underestimate young people's abilities to (grasp) these concepts." Early next year, Youth Radio's crowded but cohesive operations will relocate to a larger space in downtown Oakland, just a block away from BART. The nonprofit purchased a 20,000-square-foot former bank building at 1701 Broadway and is transforming it into a digital media center and community hub with an on-air studio visible to passersby. The new building has three floors — room enough for administrative offices, sound booths, radio, video, Web production studios and everything else now crammed into a storefront on University Avenue. In addition to classes in broadcast journalism, radio, and web production and engineering, the new center will feature a technical vocational institute, a journalism institute and a mind and body health center. Youth Radio already has received a grant from the city of Oakland to expand its outreach programs to serve youth on probation or those in danger of dropping out of school. And the larger space will allow twice as many students to enroll in free classes after school, said Kareem Chadly, 25, the organization's internship coordinator who can still remember the fear and pride of going on-air the first time. Humble beginnings Youth Radio has come a long way since president and executive producer Ellin O'Leary, a veteran public radio journalist and mother of three young children, started it with a group of high school students in 1992. That was the year Oakland logged a record 175 homicides, with 17 percent of the victims 14 to 19 years old and most African American. "It was a hard time for young people," said Jacinda Abcarian, Youth Radio's managing director. "She saw (economically disadvantaged) youth were marginalized and she wanted to bring their perspective to the media." Youth Radio has stayed true to that early mission: Teach young people how to critically view media — newspapers, radio, Web or television — and "move them from being consumers to producers of media," Abcarian said. The teenagers produce, record and engineer all the programming. Many graduates have gone on to careers in journalism, and several have helped launch multicultural media programs around the country. Abcarian, 31, was in the second class of students to join, in 1993. Three years later she served as a peer teacher for the class that included Nishat Kurwa, now Youth Radio's news director and weekend news producer at KCBS Radio in San Francisco. Abcarian was a reporter with WRFG-FM in Atlanta before returning to the Bay Area. Both women are award-winning journalists. "That's what makes it more exciting, teenagers teaching teenagers, and role models that are close in age," she said. "That's really powerful." More than half the paid staff are former Youth Radio students, and at least 70 percent of the students are from Oakland. More than radio Core classes, offered to youth ages 14 to 18, expose students to different media genres, including broadcast journalism, music recording and engineering, video and film production, graphic design and web production. From there, graduates can select a specific area for continued training. After that, students gain practical experience through internships at Youth Radio or "externships" at other media and community organizations. But radio and video production aren't the only topics on the agenda when the students stream through the door at 3 p.m. If they are struggling in school, they get help with academic tutoring and SAT preparation. They get advice and help on college admissions, financial aid and career counseling. Students can receive college credit for media training at Youth Radio, and they have discovered those skills look good on college applications and job resumes. "After kids go through our program there's a next step," Chadly said. "We don't want Youth Radio to be the last step." Denise Tejada, 17, has been spending most of her free time at Youth Radio the past 21/2 years, starting as a student in broadcasting before switching to video. She's the host of two two-hour weekly music shows broadcast on the Web called "La Chica de la Bahia" on Tuesdays and "DJ Danaytious" on Thursdays. Her commentary on border crossings and other topics have aired around the world via National Public Radio and the Web. Tejada said her brother joined Youth Radio first and she followed as a sophomore. She graduated in June from Berkeley High and is heading to Menlo College this fall. "College never even entered my head. I was pretty much like, go home, watch TV," she said. "Youth Radio helped me with my SATs and with my college application. Now I want to major in business." National recognition Of the 300 or so broadcasts that air every year, a few stand out, such as a piece on immigration by Genysys Sanchez, whose mother came to the United States illegally, or another by Brandon McFarland, who reflects on the fashion trend of wearing one's jeans below the hips and his ultimate decision to hike em up. But it all starts with the basics, as Rynesha Snowden, 16, and Ge'Quez Edmondson, 15, both of Richmond, found out this summer in their second day of classes. They were ushered into a small sound booth to record a public service announcement about testing and counseling for pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. "They told us, and I was like, 'Already?'" Snowden said. "I was excited," Edmondson said. "Felt like it was more this or nothing." They sat on opposite sides of the table, headsets on, big flat circular microphones stuck in their faces, the control room visible through a large glass window. Five minutes for practice, the producer told them. Add more feeling, she stressed before closing the door. Over and over they read the lines, getting more comfortable, adding more inflection, sounding more like a natural conversation between two young people, or as natural as a conversation about the pressures to have sex can be between two relative strangers at an awkward age. "What's up Toya, what's up with that thing we talked about earlier?" Edmondson asked. "What thing ... oh, you mean that talk we had about sex?" Snowden responded. "I've been thinkin', I really don't know yet." "What you mean, you don't know yet?" "I'm not trying to rush you, you feel me?" "No I don't feel you, but I'm trying to feel you." "OK, what about STDs and a baby, are you ready for that?" Snowden, a junior at El Cerrito High School, heard about Youth Radio from her cousin. She's into music, "beats and stuff." Edmondson, a sophomore at Vista High, an alternative school in San Pablo, said he told a teacher he was interested in filmmaking, and she referred him to Youth Radio. He admits it's keeping him out of trouble this summer. "I see this as a stepping stone for my future," he said. "I'm going to be a filmmaker, a producer. I'm going to be the next Steven Spielberg."
NEW YORK Westchester County officials Tuesday announced a new youth violence initiative to help in the war against gang violence in the county. The Power of Peace program will be an interactive program between teachers, students, and parents in the county that will help children become more introspective, learn more about themselves and their surroundings, and learn how to change their habits to become healthier and more productive citizens, regardless of their age. Guidance Center Youth Development Director Michael Arterberry, organizer for the program which first started its pilot last year at New Rochelle High School, said that the program is all about helping kids to show their true colors, and become more confident they can be good people and “still be cool” without joining a gang. “I think that with young people growing up and the violence becoming a problem, if you have younger kids that are looking up to kids who are role models, you can catch them early,” said Arterberry. “So rather than maybe the affiliation with a gang, not be corny and say that the Power of Peace Kids is something I want to be part of, but if that group is out there and in the forefront, then kids may be attracted to them.” Daniel Bonnet, a former New Rochelle High School student involved in the Power of Peace program, said that he benefited from it greatly in high school, and that his motivation now is helping others to “take off their masks.” “Things can change and if you’re there for someone and the community is there for you there can be a difference. It made me open my eyes and realize that I should drop that mask and be who I really am.” County Executive Andrew Spano said that this program is a great supplement to many existing youth violence initiatives in the county. “Every area in the United States has gang problems, and we have them here. We want kids to know that we are concerned about them and that we care about them. We don’t want this to get out of hand. We want them to lead productive lives. That’s why we’re doing it.” The Power of Peace program was developed by Arterberry and inmates from the Green Haven Correctional Facility in Dutchess County as part of the prison’s anti-violence project. The pilot program has been in service at New Rochelle High School since last year; Arterberry said he hopes to see it eventually spread throughout the entire county in the next few years.
CALIFORNIA Armed with nearly $5 million in grants, seven local community coalitions are enlisting teens to help answer that question. The Sierra Health Foundation, a Sacramento-based private philanthropy, awarded the grants Wednesday as part of an $8 million effort to boost local resources for youth ages 10 to 15. The foundation's REACH program, which issued the grants, focuses broadly on health among young adolescents. That means engaging them and giving them opportunities to grow, said Katy Pasini, communications associate for the foundation. "That age range is a really critical time for young people to be supported," she said. The seven community groups -- in El Dorado Hills, Galt, Woodland, Rancho Cordova, Meadowview, and south and West Sacramento -- will use a first installment of $75,000 each to plan projects to help young people. Once the plans are complete next spring, each group will be eligible for $600,000 over three years to turn its ideas into reality. The projects probably won't look much alike. The Woodland Youth Coalition, for instance, might zero in on a lack of recreational activities for low-income teens in a fast-growing city, said community resource coordinator Marci Marin. Meanwhile, youth violence will likely surface as a major focus in Meadowview, said Austin Aslan, an organizer for the faith-based community group Sacramento Area Congregations Together. But all the groups have one thing in common: They'll make youth an important part of the planning process. "Sometimes young people are seen as kind of scary, and there's a communication disconnect between young people and adults," Pasini said. "But they have a lot to contribute." Austin Aslan, an organizer for Sacramento ACT, said adults and teens often approach problems differently. When ACT polled Meadowview residents last year about youth violence, adults stressed that law enforcement was the solution, he said. Meanwhile, young people said they simply needed more jobs. "We have two populations looking at the problem in two different ways," he said. "It's just a no-brainer. If you're going to address a problem, you should have the people most affected by the problem as a partner in answering your question." On top of the $4.7 million it's giving to the seven community coalitions, the REACH program has pledged to distribute more than $3 million in smaller grants for other local groups that work with youth.
VIRGINIA Pop quizzes, spelling tests and book reports are in store for thousands of Virginia children as they head back to school this fall. Unfortunately, many kids are also likely to encounter a bully. That's why the Virginia Department of Health has teamed up with Virginia Commonwealth University and local schools across the state to implement a bullying prevention program beginning in September. "Bullying has the potential to develop into very serious violent behavior including partner abuse, child maltreatment, suicide, sexual abuse and youth violence," said State Health Commissioner Robert B. Stroube, M.D., M.P.H. "This program directly addresses the behavioral tendencies that lead to becoming a bully or a victim and works to prevent all forms of violence directed by or at children and adolescents." The project is funded by a grant of $290,615 from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for each of three years, 2006-2009. Virginia will use the Olweus Bully Prevention Program, first implemented throughout Norway. It addresses individual behaviors, bystander behavior, promotes social skills that affect the interaction between bully and victim, and promotes parent and community education and collaboration. The U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration found that the Olweus program reduced student reports of being bullied and bullying others by 30 percent to 70 percent. It also significantly reduced students' reports of general antisocial behavior, such as vandalism, fighting and theft, and significantly improved classroom order and discipline and fostered a more positive attitude toward schoolwork and school. Bullying is all too common in Virginia. During the 2003-2004 school year, the Virginia Department of Education reported 12,709 incidents of crime and violence against public school students. These events included physical assault with and without weapons, threats, bullying and one attempted rape. Another 89 incidents involving firearms occurred on school property. There were 21,128 incidents of fighting with no or minor injuries and 1,336 incidents of fighting that resulted in serious injury. Is your child a bully? Bullying occurs when one or more students repeatedly and over time subject other students to negative actions that include intentional physical attacks such as hitting. Other forms of bullying include obscene gestures or exclusion from a group, and verbal attacks such as threatening, malicious teasing and spreading rumors. Characteristics of bullies include:
If you think your child may be involved in bullying or is being subjected to bullying, alert school officials and teachers and work with them to resolve the problem. Information for schools that want to implement the Olweus program and more on the effects of bullying in Virginia can be found at http://www.vahealth.org/civp.
PENNSLYVANIA A multi-level alcohol and drug-prevention program that brings together representatives from Penn State Cooperative Extension, local school districts and community service agencies with parents, youth and other community members has been cited as a Program of Distinction by the National 4-H Headquarters.
CALIFORNIA The traditional rite of passage repeated annually by college students everywhere was slightly different for Seyoum, however. She was leaving temporary summer housing arranged especially for university students like her — emancipated former foster youth who otherwise might not have anywhere else to go when schools close for the summer. Seyoum, 20, and two other former foster youths were the first participants in a pilot program designed to help bridge the summer gap for college students. They got to stay rent-free in a semi-furnished apartment, received a $300 monthly stipend and food vouchers, and received weekly sessions on study techniques, job-hunting tips and advice on life skills. In return, they had to complete a project to address a need in the community. Seyoum and her friends decided to focus on youngsters like themselves and created a Web presentation featuring interviews with successful former foster children. They hope the project will help counter the negative stereotypes and low self-esteem that plague many youths in foster care. Special issues Were foster youth. We have special issues, said Seyoum, a native of Asmara, Eritrea, who immigrated to California at age 15 and was placed into foster care soon after. She spent her teenage years in foster homes in Oakland and Hayward. Seyoum said she was glad for the opportunity to participate in the program, called the Summer Leadership Academy. The program is sponsored by First Place Fund for Youth in Oakland and the Alameda County Independent Living Skills Program, both of which help youngsters transition from foster care into adulthood. Seyoum said she was inspired by the opportunity to help those with a similar background. I felt so proud, said Seyoum, a sophomore studying child development. What we did is not a big thing. Its not going to change billions of lives. But it really could change one persons perception of life. A lot of people don’t understand the challenges that come with being a foster child, Seyoum said, and she hears complaints from other students who think she has it easy because she gets financial help with tuition and books. If we had parents that could do that for us, we wouldn’t be in that situation, Seyoum said. Shira Andron, who manages the leadership academy for First Place Fund, said the program fills a growing need. Without family to fall back on, foster children who emancipate out of the system at age 18 are at high risk for homelessness. Foster youth who go to college are not immune. Booted out of the dorms for the summer, many spend their break sofa surfing at friends homes, or drop out entirely so they can get a full-time job to support themselves. They don't really have homes to go back to, Andron said. The program is open to former foster children attending four-year colleges that have secure housing over the academic year, but do not have summer lodging. Program participant Joanna Le was glad for the opportunity when she found herself between apartment leases after California State University, East Bay in Hayward let out for the summer. Le, 22, a junior, had lined up a new apartment with friends for the fall quarter, but didnt know quite where shed stay during the intervening months. A short stay with family was not an option. I have to work, she said. I take care of myself. Besides the lodging, Le said she benefited from the weekly seminars, which offered tips on budgeting, career planning and other skills. Once I got to college, I was so busy with school I didn’t think about the basic things, she said. Like Seyoum, Le said she hopes the Web project inspires other foster youth to succeed. A lot of them have low self-esteem because they feel like being a foster youth is terrible and there are a lot of negative portrayals in the media, Le said. We did the project to show that there are successful foster youth and they’ll be able to go out and make successes of themselves.
AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION This may be all the more true for those children who are dealing with difficult issues — such as abuse and neglect, homelessness and disability — that can lead a child to begin skipping school. Truancy is often an early indicator risk for other problems down the road. According to statistics from the National Center for School Engagement, truants are two to eight times more likely to become adjudicated delinquents. It is critical to intervene early in the lives of those children who are at the greatest risk of falling through the cracks. Although so much of their lives are centered on school, schools and teachers are not solely responsible for the welfare and well-being of these young people. Children need their schools, parents, youth organizations, courts, social services and other government organizations to all work together to develop programs and establish services that will help them stay in, and stay involved, in school. Youth at risk is a primary focus of the American Bar Association this year. Lawyers have a unique vantage point as we intersect with the most at-risk youth, and we can help shape law to better assist children. Lawyers can help connect the dots between the people that need to be involved in the lives of our youth as well as the programs that serve them in dealing with the complex problems they face. Already, I have seen and heard about some wonderful examples of how communities have come together to change for the better the course and direction of so many of our youth. Ramsey County (Minn.) Attorney Susan Gaertner told a panel program about her county's Truancy Intervention Program. The program consists of three steps of intervention. They begin when a child has three unexcused absences from school. One of the parts of the program includes school personnel, social services representatives, members of the county attorney's office and a probation officer coming together with the student and his or her parents to draft a contract on educational goals, including attendance. This truancy intervention program has served 28,000 students since its implementation in 1995, and has resulted in improved attendance figures and high school graduation rates. Another example is the truancy intervention project taking place in Atlanta. The Fulton County Juvenile Court is working with the Atlanta Bar Association to recruit volunteer lawyers through local bar associations and law firms, train them, and then connect them to children's cases. The volunteer lawyer maintains contact with the student, parent and appropriate school personnel to monitor attendance after the case is heard in juvenile court. And we need to do more than just get kids back in their seats, says Dr. Kenneth Seeley, president of the National Center for School Engagement in Denver. Our youth need to feel a sense of attachment to their schools and communities, and a sense of achievement, in order to stay motivated.
NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON DRUG ABUSE New research supported in part by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), National Institutes of Health, shows that prevention programs conducted in middle school can reduce methamphetamine abuse among rural adolescents years later. Because methamphetamine addiction leads to problems with social interactions and a wide range of medical conditions, research into early interventions such as this is critical to protecting the Nation's youth. The paper is published in the September issue of Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine. "We now have evidence that prevention programs can be important tools to protect adolescents from the devastating effects of methamphetamine use, and we will continue to explore the effectiveness of other drug abuse prevention programs," says Dr. Elias A. Zerhouni, director of the National Institutes of Health. "These findings are part of our ongoing effort to support scientific research that can have practical applications in community settings." "Previous preventive interventions have shown effects in reducing adolescents' abuse of alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana, but this is the first study to examine the effects of a preventive intervention on methamphetamine abuse among youth," says NIDA Director Dr. Nora D. Volkow. "The results of this research indicate the effectiveness of prevention programs on lifetime or annual methamphetamine abuse." The research assessed the effects of two randomized, controlled, prevention trials on methamphetamine abuse among middle and high school students. In the first study, 667 families of rural Iowa 6th-graders were randomly assigned to participate in one of two family-focused interventions, the Iowa Strengthening Families Project (ISFP) or the Preparing for the Drug Free Years (PDFY) program, or act as controls. A total of 457 families participated in the 12th-grade follow-up. In the second study, 679 families of rural Iowa 7th-graders were randomly recruited for the Life Skills Training (LST) program (a school-based intervention) combined with the Strengthening Family Program for Parents and Youth (SFP 10-14, modified from the ISFP), the LST program only, or a minimal-contact control group. A total of 588 families participated in the 11th-grade follow-up and 597 families participated in the 12th-grade follow-up. In the first study, none of the ISFP 12th-graders had abused methamphetamine in the past year compared to 3.6 percent of the PDFY 12th-graders and 3.2 percent of the controls. In the second study, the combined SFP 10-14 + LST intervention showed significant effects on both lifetime and past year methamphetamine abuse. Only 0.5 percent of this group had abused methamphetamine during the past year, compared with 2.5 percent for LST-alone and 4.2 percent of the controls. At the 12th-grade follow-up, lifetime abuse of the drug was significantly lower in both the SFP 10-14 + LST and the LST-alone groups (2.4-2.6 percent) versus the control group (7.6 percent). "Adolescents who participated in both programs showed a relative reduction in lifetime methamphetamine abuse of 65 percent compared with the controls," says Dr. Richard Spoth, of Iowa State University and lead author of the study. "This means that for every 100 adolescents in the general population who reported methamphetamine abuse, there would be only 35 in the intervention population reporting abuse during the same period." The Iowa Strengthening Families Project and Strengthening Family Program for Parents and Youth target the enhancement of family protective factors and the reduction of family risk processes. The Preparing for the Drug Free Years program is designed to enhance parent–child interactions and to reduce children's risk for early substance abuse. The Life Skills Training program is a school-based intervention designed to foster general life skills as well as teach students tactics for resisting pressure to use drugs. "While some of these results are very promising, further research needs to be done to investigate the applicability of these particular programs to nonrural populations, rural populations in other parts of the country, and populations with different ethnic compositions," says Dr. Spoth. "It is important to note that methamphetamine abuse is also linked to risky sexual behaviors, which increase the risk for transmission of infectious diseases, including HIV," Dr. Volkow adds. "It is increasingly important that young people "learn the link" between drug abuse and HIV/AIDS." Learn the Link is the focus of NIDA's current public service campaign, designed especially for young people. Hispanic versions of the public service announcement will be available in October.
UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON Children who were exposed to violence in the home engaged in higher levels of physical bullying than youngsters who were not witnesses to such behavior, according to a study by researchers from the University of Washington and Indiana University. The study is one of the first in the United States to specifically examine the association between child exposure to intimate partner violence and involvement in bullying. It also is one of the first to break down bullying into physical aggression (hitting, pushing and other forms outward aggression) and relational aggression (teasing, being mean and ostracizing peers). Overall, 34 percent of the children studied engaged in bullying and 73 percent reported being the victim of some form of bullying in the previous year. Almost all of the bullies, 97 percent, said they were also victims of bullying. “Children learn from seeing what their primary caregivers do. They are very attuned and very observant about what goes on in a household,” said Dr. Nerissa Bauer, lead author of the study and a former UW pediatrician who is now an assistant professor of pediatrics at Indian and Riley Children’s Hospital. “Parents are very powerful role models and children will mimic the behavior of parents, wanting to be like them. They may believe violence is OK and they can use it with peers. After all, they may think, ‘If Daddy can do this, perhaps I can hit this kid to get my way.’ When parents engage in violence, children may assume violence is the right way to do things,” she said. “This study supports the idea that parental violence can lead to violence between children and their peers,” added Todd Herrenkohl, a UW associate professor of social work and co-author of the paper published in the current issue of the journal Pediatrics. “Children develop a mindset when they see how parents deal with problems. It is a script based on early observations in the home.” Data for the study were drawn from the ongoing Seattle Social Development Project and the Intergenerational Projects, which are tracing youth development and social and antisocial behavior. Participants in these long-term studies were recruited from Seattle elementary schools, and 808 students (generation 2), their parents (generation 1) and their children (generation 3) have been followed since 1985. The bullying study looked at the behavior of 112 children from generation 3 who were 6 to 13 years old, an age group not normally examined in bullying research. Most previous bullying studies have focused on middle school-age children. The study focused on intimate partner violence, a somewhat broader term than domestic violence, for physical, emotional or sexual acts of violence. It includes couples who may not be married or living together. A 2000 federal study estimated that between 3.3 and 10 million children are exposed to intimate partner violence annually. Overall, 51 percent of the households in the Seattle study reported intimate partner violence during either or both of two specified times over a five-year period. It also found that:
Bauer said the study of bullying is relatively new and issues such as domestic violence and intimate partner violence traditionally have been sticky subjects for pediatricians to talk about. “Physicians may have been afraid of the answers they might get and may not know of community resources that are available. In the not so recent past, intimate partner violence was something physicians typically did not ask about. Today, it is recognized that family violence is common, with about 40 percent of women reporting they have been victims of it sometime in their lifetime,” she said. “Physicians and teachers should be sensitive that when children display behavior issues that the possibility of domestic violence in the family exists. Not all children exposed to violence will respond in the same way, but there are many indirect effects and problems that you can see, such as engaging in bullying, not being able to make friends, not eating or those with extended school absences. But not all bullies come from violent families,” she said. Herrenkohl said the study illustrates the importance of looking at how family events affect children over time and the power of the intergenerational transmission of violence. “We know that bullying leads to further antisocial behavior and this study shows how family violence leads to bullying. When intimate partner violence happens we can work with parents to show them how it can impact their children,” he said. “A key is early identification of this kind of problem, but it is never too late to intervene to break the cycle of violence.” The research was funded by the National Institute of Drug Abuse and a National Research Service Award Primary Care Research Fellowship. Co-authors of the paper, all at the UW, are Drs. Paula Lozano and Frederick Rivara, associate professor and professor of pediatrics; Karl Hill, research associate professor in the Social Development Research Group; and J. David Hawkins, professor of social work and former director of the Social Development Research Group.
TENNESSEE Regional and national surveys, including one tracking Knoxville students, differ on whether the federal anti-drug ad campaign over several years helped reduce illegal drug use among youths. A recent analysis by the U.S. Government Accountability Office looked at a national survey by a contractor, Westat Inc., and concluded that there was "credible evidence" that a national TV, radio and print campaign "was not effective in reducing youth drug use" from 1998 to 2004. About $1.2 billion was spent during those years, GAO found. By contrast, a four-year regional survey of Knoxville and Lexington, Ky., students in grades four to 12 found that the ad campaign targeting marijuana use in portions of 2002 and 2003 had a significant effect on youths. In that period, the percent of frequent substance abusers reporting marijuana use in the past 30 days dropped from about 18 percent to 13 percent, the study found. The latter study, conducted by faculty at the University of Kentucky, Texas A&M and Duke, did random, confidential surveys each month with 100 Knoxville students and 100 Lexington students, according to Philip Palmgreen, a researcher at UK's communications department. The study ran from April 1999 through March 2003, involving nearly 10,000 students, and located cooperative students by telephone who later completed a confidential survey at their homes on a laptop computer. "The great majority of students remembered seeing the anti-drug public service announcements frequently throughout the campaign," Palmgreen said in an interview. GAO recommended that Congress cut funding on the ad campaign, which is costing about $100 million this year, until the White House drug control office can prove it is effective in reducing drug abuse. Two U.S. House members from East Tennessee supported part or all of the ad campaign's work. Knoxville Rep. John J. Duncan Jr. said anti-drug TV and radio advertising "if aimed at the right groups, could be very effective and very helpful. I'm sure in favor of spending whatever we need to spend to fight the drug problem based on what I've seen." Duncan is a former Knox County Criminal Court judge who said many young people came before him charged with drug violations or other crimes. Often the young people came from a fatherless home, he said. Both Duncan and U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp, a Chattanooga Republican, praised the part of the campaign that urges parents to communicate regularly with their children on reasons for not abusing drugs. Both are parents. "Parents have a very important role," Duncan said. Wamp said he and one of his sons have watched some anti-drug commercials and did not think they were very effective. He said he would like more study on whether they are achieving the desired results. The investment in the ad campaigns is very important, he said, whether it is about alcohol abuse or other drug abuse. At this point, however, "I'm not sure that the money is well spent." Some commercials "make drugs look mysterious or interesting or even cool. I think they have to be careful in these ads of being too cool or too cute with the kids." Wamp favorably recalled Nancy Reagan's "Just Say No" campaign. "It made its way to a slogan at the dinner table. Everybody knew what it was. I don't think that these (current) ads permeate our culture." The White House's drug czar, John Walters, said the national survey by Westat had multiple flaws, is two years old, and does not include improvements in recent ad campaigns. Other national surveys have found significant reductions in drug abuse, Walters said in a written response to the GAO study. One study documented a 19 percent decline in illegal drug use among eighth-, 10th- and 12th-graders during the last four years, he said. Cutting the budget of the national anti-drug ad campaign "could have far-reaching and unfavorable consequences," Walters warned. Mass media and popular culture with a pro-drug message need a counter message, he said. In grades K-12 in Knox County schools, officials still are processing a drug survey of students from last year, said Marty Iroff, an administrator of student services that include drug and violence prevention. Schools, parents and the federal government have roles in helping youths avoid drugs, he said. An ad campaign can help in the combined effort, he said. "I'm scared for the drug prevention world if the federal government starts to cut back on their monies," Iroff said. "That's a major concern. "As soon as you turn your back on it, it tends to blow up again. I definitely think that adults, parents for sure, need to be more involved with youth at all levels."
CALIFORNIA The final hours of the session saw final passage of AB 2987, “The Digital Infrastructure and Video Competition Act of 2006,” by the Speaker and Assemblymember Lloyd Levine by a vote of 64 to 5. This is a complex 45 page bill that had hundreds of amendments made in the last week of the session and will have phone companies compete with cable companies in providing television and internet services to consumers. It was the last blockbuster bill to receive final approval. While the Governor now has hundreds of bills to comb through and sign or veto, here is a partial list of some of the legislature’s achievements, based on information supplied by the office of the Speaker of the Assembly: Education
FLORIDA "The bottom line is that we can't leave our corrections deputies at risk," said Dave Bristow, spokesman for the Manatee County Sheriff's Office. Bristow said the department was not willing to give up using pepper spray as a way to control inmates. Omega, which was established in 1995, is a "level-10" facility, designed to house 50 of Florida's most violent youth offenders. However, recent legislation, which prohibits corrections officers at youth boot camps from using physical discipline, as well as chemical agents or Tasers, left the sheriff's office with concerns for its officers' safety. Effective Oct. 7, the sheriff's office is terminating its contract with the Department of Juvenile Justice, which sponsors the facility. "These kids are murderers, rapists and robbers," said Bristow. "I hate to put it like this but, they're bad kids." "With our other boot camps it was our hope to turn kids around. But in Omega, a lot of these kids are beyond that. We still put a lot of emphasis on education, but it is basically housing, like a youth prison." The new legislation, the "Martin Lee Anderson Act", is named after a 14-year-old boy who died on Jan. 6, one day after being beaten by guards at a youth boot camp in Panama City. Still, Bristow questioned the overall effect of the new laws, and said pepper spray is a useful alternative to using lethal force. "On the street, if we needed to use pepper spray on a juvenile we could and would use it," said Bristow. "It doesn't make sense." Earlier this year, the Department of Juvenile Justice instituted partial funding for a new training program known as "STAR". The sheriff's office declined to participate in the Sheriffs' Training and Respect program, saying that the new program would burden local taxpayers with a hefty tab of $1.5 million a year. The STAR program does away with physical intimidation, and seeks to focus on education, job training, community service and counseling. According to Herald archives, only one police agency in the state, the Polk County Sheriff's Office, agreed to proceed with the new training. As of today, the fate of the boys, ages 14-21, who remain in the Omega program is uncertain. According to Juvenile Justice spokeswoman Tara Collins, there are three other maximum risk facilities boys in the state that can house the offenders. "A transition plan is being used to re-assess the individual needs of the remaining boys in this program," said Collins. "Their placement will be based upon each youth's assessed needs and where beds are available in other facilities throughout the state." Bristow said that Omega's closing won't have any adverse effects for the sheriff's office. "There won't be any layoffs," Bristow said. "We have a lot of open corrections positions. "The officers working there can easily be adsorbed into the rest of the department."
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