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29 AUGUST 2008

Foster parents in short supply across Alberta
Linda Stewart and her husband have taken between 140 and 150 babies into their home over the past 33 years. Unfortunately, families like the Stewarts are in increasingly short supply across the province. More and more children need foster care, but according to Trelaine Robanske of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Calgary, “families aren’t taking in foster children the way they used to.” There are many reasons for this. “There are more two-career parents and families that are functioning well and don’t see a need to foster,” says Robanske. And, just as baby boomers are retiring from the workforce, foster parents are retiring, too, with few to take their places. The Boys and Girls Club currently has 28 children on their roster in the care of 12 families, but still needs at least seven foster homes. Other agencies in the city that provide foster services — including Aspen; McMan Youth, Family and Community Services; Hull Child and Family Services; and Closer to Home Community Services — need about five to seven foster families each. With the dearth of foster families, agencies are willing to try anything — word of mouth, newspaper ads, presentations at community centres — to get the word out and recruit potential foster parents.
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Israel: Police options on preventing child abuse limited
The police have limited tools at their disposal when it comes to preventing minors from becoming victims of serious physical abuse, a veteran police youth officer said on Wednesday, as news of the alleged murder of four-year-old Rose Pizem at the hands of her grandfather continued to dominate the headlines. "According to the law, preventing serious harm to minors is the responsibility of social welfare services," the officer explained. "Police can launch investigations, initiate judicial processes and arrest suspects. But preventing helpless minors from being abused is a welfare services task, not the police's," she added. The police cannot take children into protective care or get testimonies out of them, the officer added, saying that a specially designated child investigator, sent directly by the Ministry of Welfare, is in charge of communications with minors when suspicions of abuse arise.
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Edinburgh: 'Broken' social work department accused of failing city children
Education leader Marilyne MacLaren has branded the council's social work department "broken" amid fresh evidence of it failing dozens of vulnerable children in the city. Nearly 180 youngsters in care have not been allocated a social worker, which is one of the council's statutory responsibilities. The department is now undergoing a "radical review" to address these major problems, with changes set to be introduced by the end of October. Councillor MacLaren told the education, children and families committee that the city's vulnerable children must come first and the "sad history of mismanagement" must be reversed. She said: "We have a system that is broken and it has been broken for a long while."
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Canada: Burnaby to fight plans for new jail
Burnaby Mayor Derek Corrigan says he will fight plans for a new jail in the heart of the city. Corrigan said businesses will be "apoplectic" over the prospect of detainees spilling on to streets from the projected remand centre near Willingdon Avenue. "People will be let out the door into the middle of Burnaby with nowhere to go," he said. The B.C. government, which owns 16 hectares from the 3400-block to the 3700-block Willingdon Avenue, doesn't need Burnaby's approval for the remand centre because the site is already zoned institutional. But Corrigan said the site's value is being "thrown away" because the facility would be incompatible with other uses.
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New Haven: 8 Kids Sent To Camp, Not Court
Eight city teens who would normally have ended up before a judge for getting into minor trouble with the law ended up in the woods instead, learning leadership skills from community leaders rather than outlaw skills from felons. The eight were among more than two dozen New Haven boys and five adults just returned from a three-day camping trip to Sessions Woods Wilderness Management Area in Burlington, Connecticut. The trip was planned and executed by city cop Shafiq Abdussabur, who several years ago founded CTRibat. The name stands for Children and Teens’ Retreat; “ribat” means “retreat” in Arabic. Abdussabur said the program is a getaway for kids in mind, body and spirit. (Click http://www.newhavenindependent.org/archives/2006/10/it_worked.php for a background story.) The eight were sent by the Juvenile Review Board, an experimental new program to keep kids out of the criminal justice system.
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Kent: Violence among youngsters on the up
Kent is becoming a more hot-headed society - with children as young as 10 caught up in today's violent culture. Violent crime among Kent's youths has increased by nearly a fifth over the last five years, figures released exclusively to KentOnline reveal. The statistics paint a worrying picture of crime committed among the youth in the county. Violence against the person was the biggest offence for 10 to 17-year-olds, up by 19 per cent from 4,508 to 5,354 between 2003 and 2007. The number of sex offences nearly doubled from 179 to 312 and criminal damage incidents jumped from 3,364 to 3,423 for the same period (up 1.8 per cent). Alison Byrne, a social worker in Maidstone who is also a parent coach to families across Kent, said: “These statistics are quite shocking when you look at the age of the children in Kent committing violent crime as young as 10. “I think it’s quite scary that violence against the person is becoming a prominent offence and it is one of the biggest crimes that young people are committing.
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27 AUGUST 2008

NY: Audit critical of prison oversight commission
The New York Commission of Correction is not meeting its responsibilities for overseeing prisons and jails and handling inmates' grievances, according to an audit released Monday by the state comptroller. "In our opinion, as a result of this lack of oversight, any unsafe or inappropriate practices at state correctional facilities are less likely to be detected and corrected," state auditors wrote. The commission defended its actions and oversight process, citing staffing reductions in the early 1990s that reduced its ability to inspect facilities. The agency had 66 employees in 1990-91 and 35 in 2006-07, the report said.
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New Zealand: Labour’s Crime Reduction Strategy a sham
The Labour Government’s so-called Crime Reduction Strategy has been a total waste of time, says National’s Justice & Corrections spokesman, Simon Power. “It’s time to end the pretence – this strategy is a sham. “It’s been a total waste of time because Labour has not put it into action. “It was meant to act as an umbrella strategy for seven priority areas, including family violence and youth offending, but though Labour said they were working on it, they weren’t.”
A report into the strategy by an independent consultant from the UK, Dr Sohail Husain, finds that: The concept of the strategy providing an overarching framework ‘was never properly developed’. Governance arrangements based on Ministerial and senior officials’ groups lapsed in 2003. A work programme ‘was never defined’. Targets and accountabilities ‘were never agreed’.
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UK: Child protection database 'will be used to prosecute young people'
ContactPoint will include the names, ages and addresses of all 11 million under-18s in England as well as information on their parents, GPs, schools and support services such as social workers. The £224 million computer system was announced in the wake of the death of Victoria Climbié, who was abused and then murdered after a string of missed opportunities to intervene by the authorities, as a way to connect the different services dealing with children. It has always been portrayed as a way for professionals to find out which other agencies are working with a particular child, to make their work easier and provide a better service for young people. However, it has now emerged that police officers, council staff, head teachers, doctors and care workers will use the records to search for evidence of criminality and wrongdoing to help them launch prosecutions against those on the database - even long after they have reached adulthood. It comes amid growing concern about the increasing criminalisation of Britain's youth and the extent of the country's surveillance society.
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Australia: 11-year-olds locked up in detention
CHILDREN as young as 11 have been locked up in juvenile detention centres around Australia as the number of young people being sent to "prison" rises. While most of the 12,765 young people who were on juvenile justice orders in 2006-07 were under community-based supervision, an increasing number were sent to detention centres. According to figures from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, there were 5190 young people in detention in 2003-04. By 2006-07, this had risen to 5487. University of Tasmania criminologist Rob White said the figures were deeply worrying. He cited the New South Wales data, which showed the biggest and most consistent increase in young people detained, from 1902 in 2003-04 to 2317 in 2006-07. While NSW had the largest number of young people in detention, the Northern Territory and Western Australia had higher rates of detention on population size.
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UK: Manchester is European self-harm capital
Manchester has the highest rate of self-harm in Europe, according to a study released today. Researchers from the Network for International Collaboration on Evidence in Suicide Prevention compared hospital admissions for self-harm from eight European countries between 1989 and 2003. It found an average of 540 out of every 100,000 women in Manchester self-harmed each year. This was followed by Oxford, with 416 women per 100,000. The corresponding figures for men was 422 per 100,000 in Manchester and 416 per 100,000 in Oxford. These compare with 72 per 100,000 women and 64 per 100,000 men in Ljubljana, Slovenia, the country with the lowest rate. Other research being discussed at the conference includes a Stirling University-led study in which 700 teenagers aged 15 and 16 in central Scotland were questioned about self-harm. Around 14% of those reported they had self-harmed. About 20% of the sample group who reported self-harm were female and 7% were male. In a follow-up study, 500 of those who took part were re-questioned six months later.
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25 AUGUST 2008

Pennsylvania; State bans sometimes deadly practice
An angry Jason Tallman was kicking, screaming, scratching and giving KidsPeace counselors in North Whitehall everything his 85-pound frame could muster, so they did what counselors of troubled youths are trained to do. They held him facedown and immobilized him until he was still. The 12-year-old from Barnegat, N.J., never woke up. That was 1993, and since then more than 70 children have died in residential care nationwide while being restrained by people charged with their care. Pennsylvania has decided there can be no more in this state. A year after the state Department of Public Welfare halted new admissions at KidsPeace because seven children had suffered broken bones while being restrained, it is banning statewide all prone restraints on children in residential treatment programs. With at least 180 people dying after being restrained by various methods in the past 20 years, that may sound like a measure that's long overdue. But counselors say the state's well-intended new policies will leave workers in 922 rehabilitation, treatment and juvenile detention facilities defenseless against violent youths.
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NZ's shocking child sexual abuse statistics under scrutiny
A visiting American child sexual abuse specialist says victims and their families need a highly co-ordinated service when they report sexual assault, because abuse is a complex problem that has long term consequences. When it comes to child sexual abuse, New Zealand has a shocking statistic. "If you interview women in Auckland and Waikato, somewhere between 17% and 25% will say they were sexually abused in childhood," says Dr Patrick Kelly. That figure includes all types of sexual abuse, "from someone exhibiting themselves, to touching and rape". The world-renowned Christchurch Child Development study shows results similar to other OECD countries. "If you looked at sexual abuse involving genital contact," says Dr Kelly, "that was more than 12% of the females, and the ratio in boys was about a quarter of that." Associate professor Lori Frasier says New Zealand provides a high standard of care for children who have been sexually abused.
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UK: Armed attacks on children 96 times a day
More than 35,000 children were attacked or threatened with a weapon last year, according to figures from the police. Shotguns, handguns, knives, knuckledusters, nunchucks, axes, meat hooks and even bombs were used to attack or intimidate 96 children every day in England and Wales. The sombre statistics –obtained by The Sunday Telegraph under freedom of information legislation – highlight the true impact of street gang culture on society. Opposition MPs described the figures as "alarming" and demanded action from the Government. Last week, the number of teenagers who have died this year as a result of violent attacks passed 50, after two boys were stabbed in London and Manchester.
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22 AUGUST 2008

NB: Mental illness review paper released
New Brunswick must stamp out the stigma that shrouds mental illness and leads to discrimination against the mentally ill, says the head of the government's mental health review in a discussion paper. The paper, intended to spark debate on how to improve care for the mentally ill, states that one in five people will suffer from mental illness at some point in their life. But, it notes, two-thirds of those people will not seek treatment. "Why would that be? The answer is not difficult," states the report, penned by provincial court Judge Michael McKee. "Is it because the myth persists that somehow it is OK to have a broken leg, but not OK if the mind or spirit is broken? We know the broken leg will heal "¦ As a society we are not as clear that the same holds true with mental illness." Concludes the 12-page document: "Negative attitudes towards mental illness remain widespread throughout society."
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California: Verda's House in crisis
While the State of California enters the eleventh week of this year's budget crisis, the repercussions of a state trying to operate without funding have begun to hit home here in Turlock. Verda's House, a Children's Crisis Center of Stanislaus County emergency shelter for at-risk youth from birth to age 17 located in Turlock, was forced to close its doors earlier this month without the funding to keep it afloat. "This has everything to do with the state budget impasse," said Colleen Garcia, Executive Director of Children's Crisis Center of Stanislaus County. "If not for (the impasse) we would be open and fully operational." A state contract accounts for approximately 60 percent of the CCC's income, while the remaining 40 percent is made up of charitable giving. The CCC contract with the state is not slated for any reductions or cuts in the proposed budget, but until a budget is passed all state funds have been frozen.
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New Zealand: Awareness boosts abuse reporting
Growing public awareness and less tolerance of child abuse have resulted in a surge in the reporting of abuse to Child Youth and Family. The most recent statistics available, those covering the financial year to May, show 8629 care and protection notifications have been received in the Waikato, with 3308 of those requiring further action. The notifications are up from 5973 in 2006/07, but those requiring further action have fallen significantly from 3729 that same year. A spokesperson for Child Youth and Family (Cyf) said the numbers of notifications had increased significantly. "This is symptomatic of an increase in public awareness and growing intolerance of child abuse in NZ society." But the falling number of notifications requiring follow-up action was the positive sign
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After lawsuit, assaults drop at Oklahoma juvenile jail
Changes in policies and programs at the state's juvenile detention facility have drastically reduced the number of assaults at the L.E. Rader Center, according to figures released by the Office of Juvenile Affairs. From July 2007 to June 2008, the number of assaults at Rader dropped by 286, according to the figures. During that time, a total of 65 assaults were reported. Juvenile assaults on staff members accounted for more than half of those assaults. The report also showed that there were 27 juvenile assaults on juvenile and one sexual assault by a staff member on juvenile. Figures from this past fiscal year are in sharp contrast to numbers from the previous two years.
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County adopts truancy resolution
The Oneida County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday delivered a mixed verdict on a pair of resolutions related to law, justice and juveniles. A resolution that will allow the county to fine people age 17 and over who contribute to the truancy of a minor received enthusiastic support while a resolution authorizing further study of the teen court concept was received with skepticism and sent back to committee. Oneida County Social Services Director Paul Spencer said the county has for years been able to cite children between 12 and 17 for truancy (last year 39 young people went through truancy court) but has not been able to fine parents who do not send their children to grade school or older youth who encourage high school students to skip school. For example, the county wants to be able to fine the parents of a first grader who misses 60 days of school or a 19-year-old who helps a 16-year-old skip school. The fine is $249 for a first offense and $375 for a second or subsequent offense.
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UK: Young offenders have tripled in one decade
The number of persistent young offenders in Northamptonshire has more than tripled in the past decade, but police have insisted youths in the county are not being criminalised. During 1997, there were 102 children aged between 10 and 17 who were classed as persistent offenders after being convicted in court three times within three years. But by 2007, that figure rose to almost 340, a rise Supt Pete Glover, of the Northamptonshire West criminal justice unit, put down to huge growth in the county over the past decade. He said:"There has been a rise in the number of persistent young offenders in the county in the last 10 years, partly due to demographics. "We are one of the only places in the country that has an increasing number of young people and this can only continue with the planned expansion of the county.
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Scotland: Criminals' cash funds basketball
Young people in five cities across Scotland will receive extra basketball coaching, paid for using money seized from criminals. Almost £1.8m will be invested in the sport in Dundee, Stirling, Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Inverness. Sessions will be held on Friday and Saturday nights - with the aim of getting participants fit and keeping them off the streets. The money will also be used to improve basketball provision in schools. About 12,000 youngsters are expected to be involved.
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20 AUGUST 2008

Virginia: Cuts in state aid turn up the pressure on Suffolk, others
Just as the governor is considering new state budget cuts, a deadline is looming for localities to answer how they plan to deal with $50 million in reduced aid. The General Assembly approved the reduction in aid in the spring as part of the 2008 Appropriation Act, and the state last month gave localities a list of programs from which to cut their shares. Localities are permitted to reimburse the state if they choose not to cut any programs. Like many cities, Suffolk didn't like the choice. "It puts us in a very compromised position," said Anne Seward, the city's budget officer. The state provided a list of areas for potential cuts. They included courts, community corrections, child and youth services, and social services. The list did not include K-12 education.
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Georgia: Refugees are being supported by SOS Children's Villages
For a few days now, SOS Children's Villages has been caring for refugee families in the capital Tbilisi. SOS Children's Villages is also looking after families from the crisis area Abkhazia in Kutaisi. The conflict between Russia and Georgia over the provinces of South Ossetia and Abkhazia is hitting civilians hard. People are fleeing conflict areas both within Ossetia and Abkhazia, as well as elsewhere in Georgia. Refugees within Georgia have been assured that they will be able to find shelter in kindergartens and schools, which is being coordinated by the Ministry of Refugees and Displacement. Russian troops are still present in Georgian towns, such as Gori, Poti, Zugdidi and Maltakva. For a few days now, around 60 refugees from South Ossetia - mainly families with children - have been staying at the SOS Kindergarten and in a state secondary school that is supported by SOS Children's Villages and is attended by many of the children from the SOS Children's Village. SOS Children's Villages is providing them with the essentials (food, clothing, etc.). Representatives of the Ministry have informed SOS Children's Villages that more refugees are expected. The director of the school says that the school can take in up to 350 people. Families with lots of children will be the main ones targeted in SOS Children's Villages' emergency relief measures.
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Scotland: New figures on drink problem
The statistics on alcohol abuse in Aberdeenshire are startling, but are probably a mirror reflecting the scale of the problem throughout Scotland. It would be difficult not to assume that the picture is much the same elsewhere, but the affluence of the north-east is an aggravating factor. The figures are clear enough, but reasons why things appear to be so bad and how we should tackle them are far from clear. Cheap alcohol sales in the shops are now held up as the real demons, yet the situation is muddled by cultural misuse of alcohol passed down the generations long before “two for one” deals arrived on our shelves.
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Australia: Tales of horror from 500 abused children
Angela Sdrinis has heard more tales of horror than most people could bear. The Melbourne lawyer has become one of the leading advocates for people who were abused in state care as children. She is currently acting for about 500 former wards of the state. About 50 of those are from Geelong and Colac. The claims relate to St Augustine's run by the Christian Brothers, Glastonbury run by the Anglican Church, Kardinia Children's Home run by the Salvation Army, the State Government institution Pirra and St Cuthbert's in Colac run by the Anglican Church. As part of her job, she has to hear the tales of physical, sexual emotional abuse and neglect that thousands of children were subjected to by the very people who were supposed to care for them.
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18 AUGUST 2008

Panel: California foster care system way overburdened
A Blue Ribbon panel appointed by the chief justice of the state Supreme Court says that California's nearly 80,000 foster children are underserved by overburdened courts and often end up in limbo after social service agencies make life-changing decisions for them. The commission concluded in a report issued today that foster care cases get too little attention. The fewer than 150 full and part-time juvenile court judges and commissioners working on them have caseloads averaging 1,000 children each. The panel's chairman, associate Supreme Court Justice Carlos Moreno, called the fact that thousands of children are termed out of the system at age 18 without being reunited with their families or finding permanent homes "simply unconscionable."
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US: Research shows 10-year nationwide decline in youth in custody in the justice system
A review of data from OJJDP shows that overall numbers and rates of custody for youth have declined nationwide in the decade since 1997. NCCD examined custody trends by individual states, gender, race/ethnicity, and offense type. The data come from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Some of the findings are as follows:

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Hartford: City-wide curfew began Thursday
As the city prepared to enact a curfew starting at 9 p.m. on Thursday, there are a few clarifications that need to be made, said Mayor Eddie Perez. The curfew will focus on loitering according to Sec. 25-4 of the Municipal Code. It’s "unlawful for any child under the age of 18 to loiter on the streets" after 9 p.m. unless accompanied by his or her parents or guardian or an adult approved by that parent or guardian. If a loiterer is under the age of 18, they will be given a written warning and taken home. "As an emergency 30-day measure, the curfew is intended, first and foremost, to ensure that Hartford youth are in as safe an environment as possible while we implement tougher investigation and enforcement strategies," said Perez. "The majority of gun violence incidents in our city occur between 10 p.m. and 4 a.m.,” said police Chief Daryl Roberts. “The safety of our young people is a top priority."
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Ireland: Children at risk to suffer from HSE cuts
The Health Service Executive has decided to abandon plans for a long-promised round-the-clock service for troubled and at-risk children. This is the latest cut to be announced as reports come in on the effects of cutbacks on patients across the health services. The crisis in social care for children in the 26 Counties was recently highlighted in an RTÉ Prime Time documentary that led to demands for more social workers and a 24-hour on-call service to be provided. The HSE announced plans to provide such a service but on 8 August stated that these plans were to be abandoned due to spending cutbacks. Sinn Féin Health & Children spokesperson Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin TD described the HSE decision as “appalling”. He said that if the Minister for Children, Barry Andrews TD, does not secure the reinstatement of the plan then he is not fit to be the minister and should resign. Ó Caoláin said: “There is a crisis in child protection in this state. This has been highlighted repeatedly with insufficient numbers of social workers unable to cope with the task of protecting vulnerable children.
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UK Government failing to curb sex tourism, says rights body
A children's rights body has said that the government is failing to deal with sex offenders who return to the UK after committing crimes abroad. ECPAT UK, an organisation which seeks to put an end to child prostitution, child pornography and the trafficking of young people, has called for the government to increase cooperation with foreign governments to punish UK sex offenders who are outside Britain. The children's rights body said Britons had been implicated in numerous child abuses abroad, including 15 in Thailand alone, as well as offences committed in India, Ghana, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Albania. It says that the UK has prosecuted only five sex offenders since 1997 whereas the US has seen 10 times as many cases and Australia has brought charges against 25 people. It also adds that the UK has not convicted anyone for child sex offences for the last three years and has no public reporting hotline for crimes against minors.
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New Zealand: Online bullying
NetSafe, a government-funded education group, last year surveyed 963 New Zealand teenagers about their experience of cyber bullying. The full results have not yet been published but NetSafe released key findings to the Sunday Star-Times, showing that of the one in five students who have been bullied via mobile phone, only 16% had told an adult. Those who were bullied on the internet were even more secretive: only 6.8% told an adult. Most of the bullying involved "mean, hurtful or nasty" messages, but one-third had received physical threats. So why the hush-up? NetSafe's principal knowledge officer, John Fenaughty, says it's simple: kids know that their parents will remove the phone, or internet access. Parents might see their child's constant text messaging and mucking around on the internet as a waste of time, but Fenaughty says research shows these "online settings" play a critical part in young people's social and emotional development. NetSafe, run by the Ministry of Education, has a hotline taking up to 2000 calls a year. The group runs classes at schools across the country and regularly puts out information packs for teachers and parents. But none of the teenagers or parents spoken to for this piece had ever heard of NetSafe.
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15 AUGUST 2008

NH foster youths gather for annual conference
More than 100 youths in foster care are gathering in Keene (New Hampshire) today for th fourth annual Division for Children, Youth and Families Teen Conference. The daylong conference is designed for those aged 14-21. Workshops will be geared toward college admissions, buying a car, eating right when money is tight, and identity theft. The youths aso can learn about resources to assist them as they transition from out-of-home foster placement to independent adult living.
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US: Treating childhood mental disorders
Fifteen million children have been diagnosed with a mental disorder, but only about one quarter of them are getting appropriate treatment. This is the conclusion of the American Psychological Association’s Presidential Task Force on Evidence-Based Practice with Children and Adolescents. The report also states many more children are at risk. Researchers say their situations will get worse unless the health care system changes how it delivers services. “This is especially true for low-income youth, for youth in the juvenile justice and child welfare systems, ethnic minority youth and those with drug and/or alcohol problems,” Task Force Chairwoman Anne E. Kazak, Ph.D., was quoted as saying.
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UK: Drug-linked hospital admissions up
The number of under-25s admitted to hospital with mental and behavioural problems linked to illegal drug use has risen around a fifth in a decade, figures have shown. Hospital admissions among children under 16 rose 48% between 1996/97 and 2006/07, from 272 to 402. Among those aged 16 to 24, there was a 17% jump, from 5,964 in 1996/97 to 6,983 in 2006/07. Overall, there was an 18% rise among these children and young people, from 6,236 admissions in 1996/97 to 7,385 in 2006/07, the data, from the NHS information centre, showed.
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New Brunswick: Advocate fears changes to youth justice act
New Brunswick's child and youth advocate isn't optimistic a cross-country tour to discuss Canada's Youth Criminal Justice Act will result in altering changes the federal government has in mind. Federal Justice Minister Rob Nicholson was in Moncton on Wednesday to meet with youth justice stakeholders and discuss where the act needs improvements. After spending four hours in closed-door meetings, child and youth advocate Bernard Richard said the talks seemed encouraging but that he wasn't holding his breath that it would make a difference. "It's very hard when you hear declarations by the prime minister - and even this minister a few times even recently - that they seem quite determined to go ahead with the amendments," said Richard. "I could be surprised, and would love to be, but you really get a strong sense that this is it."
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Facility likely to defy DJS reforms
The Sun's editorial A return to Bowling Brook (Aug. 6) cautions the state, as it moves toward reopening Bowling Brook Preparatory School in Carroll County, to proceed in accordance with the Department of Juvenile Services' reform guidelines calling for "small" 48-bed treatment programs. Yet it appears unlikely that such an approach will be followed. Rite of Passage, the Nevada-based company that has applied for a license to run the Bowling Brook program, operates facilities in Western states that serve hundreds of children; its Ridge View facility in Colorado can house 500 youths. Bowling Brook occupies a 16-acre campus with a facility that can house more than 170 youths. And the company's executive director for Maryland, James Bednark, made his intentions clear when he was quoted in The Sun's article Youth facility in Carroll Co. could reopen (June 25) saying he would start with 48 beds and then "proceed as things warrant," noting that Bowling Brook "was built as a larger campus, and there are opportunities that come from having larger numbers."
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Manchester UK: 42 children a day in trouble with the law
More than 42 children and youths in Greater Manchester are being convicted or cautioned for crimes every day. The rate at which youngsters — are getting into trouble with the law has risen by almost a third in four years, statistics published by the Liberal Democrat revealed. They showed a 30 per cent increase in 10 to 18-year-olds getting a caution or conviction, from 12,095 in 2002 to 15,688 in 2006 — above the national rise of 27 per cent. By contrast, adults with cautions or convictions in Greater Manchester increased by a more modest 16 per cent over the same period.
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Wales: Shocking teenage smoking figures revealed
Underage teenagers are smoking up to 200 cigarettes a week, shocking new research has revealed. A study by anti-smoking charity ASH Wales found that many are buying smuggled tobacco or are being sold individual cigarettes by shopkeepers who are breaking the law. It has been illegal to sell single cigarettes in the UK since 1991. The teen smokers, whose average age is just 14, also find it easy to buy cigarettes in their local corner shops and in supermarkets, despite the age limit on tobacco being raised from 16 to 18. ASH Wales today called on the Assembly Government to take a lead and consider licensing retailers to sell tobacco in the same way they are licensed to sell alcohol, which also has an 18 age limit.
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New Zealand: Child poverty biggest issue for Northland: Health chief
The head of one of Northland's largest health agencies says child poverty is the number one issue facing the region. Eighty-five per cent of Northland's children are born to families in the lower half of the socio-economic scale and half of those are born into the 20 per cent at the very bottom of that scale. "The link between poverty and the health of our children cannot continue to be ignored," said Chris Farrelly, head of Manaia Primary Health Organisation. "A child growing up in poverty is three times more likely to be sick." Mr Farrelly welcomed a Children's Commissioner report that urged the Government to adopt a plan of action to end child poverty.
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13 AUGUST 2008

Australia: Boot camp for young crims
Calls for a military style boot camp have been reignited by a shock report revealing Far Northern children fill more than a quarter of the state's detention centres. Victims of crime and a residents action group want a boot-camp dormitory built at Lakeland Downs, southwest of Cooktown, and say juvenile centres do not deter young crims or rehabilitate them. Their call followed a report from the Commission for Children and Young People and Child Guardian, which showed 27 per cent of detention-centre respondents lived in Cairns and the Far North – the highest proportion in the state, ahead of southeast Queensland on 18 per cent. Residents Against Crime in Cairns spokesman Barry Neall, who last month urged Police Minister Judy Spence to introduce boot camps, said juvenile centres were a failure.
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Manitoba: CFS overhaul means more kids in care
Manitoba's already overburdened child welfare system has seen its caseload jump by more than 10 per cent, putting an even greater strain on staff and resources. According to the latest statistics provided by the provincial government, Manitoba's four child welfare authorities had open files on 17,138 kids as of March 31, 2008. That's up from 15,563 open files a year earlier, or a 10.1 per cent jump. Included in the increase are almost 600 more kids who were taken away from their parents and put into foster care. In total, there were 7,837 kids in care, 8,974 kids receiving services but not in care, and 327 teenage parents, who are monitored by CFS by law. The provincial government said there are a number of factors that affect the rates at which children enter the care of child-welfare agencies, including poverty, substance abuse and isolation.
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New Zealand: Bill offers info on youth offenders
Victims of youth crime are being given the chance to get better information about those who have offended against them. Minor changes have been made by a Parliamentary Select Committee to the Children, Young Persons and their Families Amendment Bill. The legislation addresses youth justice issues. One amendment would put the onus on the head of Child Youth and Family to disclose to victims, if they choose, details of the young offender's progress. Another clears the way for parts of effectiveness reports on child and youth offender's rehabilitation to be released to victims.
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Georgia: SOS Children's Village in Georgia evacuated
The children and their SOS mothers had to be evacuated from SOS Children's Village Kutaisi today as a result of the military operations linked to the conflict in South Ossetia. The security situation in Kutaisi, which is the second largest town in Georgia some 200 km west of Tbilisi, has deteriorated to such an extent that in the early hours of this morning, all of the children and their SOS mothers had to leave the SOS Children's Village in Kutaisi and go to stay with relatives and friends in areas out of town. Male staff members are the only ones that have remained to prevent the SOS Children's Village from being looted. Some military sites, which could be targeted in attacks, are located right next to the SOS Children's Village. Swiad Berdsenischwili, director of SOS Children's Villages Georgia, says that the children and staff members of the SOS Children's Village on the outskirts of the capital Tbilisi are not in the danger zone.
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Ireland: High rate of youth suicide
Ireland has the fifth highest rate of youth suicide in Europe, the Irish Association of Suicidology (IAS) has said. The association is planning to focus on this issue at its 12th annual conference in Athlone next month. According to IAS president and Fine Gael TD, Dan Neville, there is an ‘urgent need’ for research to identify the reasons why so many young people in Ireland take their own lives.“It is important that the reasons why this is happening are identified and understood so that society may respond appropriately. The psychological and social pressures on young people today must be clearly identified and programmes to equip young people to respond to those pressures should be introduced. The resources must be provided by the State to complete this,” Mr Neville said. He pointed out that preventive responses to suicide need to be embedded in a wide range of areas, including education, criminal justice and health.
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Kansas: Three employees allege problems at youth center
Three employees of Kelley Youth Center walked off the job Monday morning alleging problems at the facility. Angelo Junkins, who said he had worked at the facility for about a year, made allegations that included complaints about sanitation after leaving Monday morning saying he was sick. He was joined by Jamie Taylor and Nicole Brazell outside the Kelley Youth Center at 2620 S.E. 23rd St. The center has space for 51 males who are considered juvenile offenders or children in need of care. The women said the facility floods frequently from its toilets and showers. There are spiders, ants and other bugs inside, Junkins said. For months, a bathroom used by 27 people has had two unusable urinals and two working toilets. And although the building is cleaned on a daily basis, they said supplies used by staff members are cheap and ineffective.
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Worsening youth homelessness in Australia
The first national study of homelessness since 1989 has found that more than 100,000 people are homeless on any given night in Australia. Of these, 36,000 are young people, 12 to 24 years old. The year-long study, entitled Australia’s Homeless Youth and funded by the charity-based National Youth Commission (NYC), noted that the problems were “broadly similar” to those identified two decades ago. Should yet another such inquiry be required in 20 years time it would be an “admission of extraordinary failure”. The 1989 Burdekin report, prepared for the previous federal Labor government of Bob Hawke, declared: “The fact is there are homeless children and young people dying in Australia, some from suicide, others simply from neglect. That is not something our nation can ignore.” Nearly 20 years later, after a succession of governments—Labor until 1996, Liberal until 2007 and now Labor again—the number of homeless has approximately doubled, funding for support and early intervention programs has stagnated and the plight of the homeless is as stark as ever.
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Parents horrified as most violent video game ever to launch on 'family friendly' Wii
A new computer game tipped to be the most violent ever is being released exclusively on the so-called 'family friendly' Wii console. Nintendo will dramatically transform Wii's image with the release of ultra violent video game MadWorld which, 'revolves around the themes of brutality and exhilaration', according to its creators. Players in the 'hack and slash' game, which is due for a UK release in early 2009, can impale enemies on road signs, rip out hearts and execute them with weapons including chainsaws and daggers. The decision to release a violent game on a console which has based its reputation on family fun has shocked anti-violence pressure groups. The game has not yet been given an age rating.
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11 AUGUST 2008

Downtown emergency shelter for youth raises concern
A proposed emergency shelter for youths was unanimously endorsed by Haldimand County council but some business owners and residents in downtown Dunnville have raised concerns . The Youth Impact Centre's application for a shelter will be put before council for a final decision on Aug. 11. The meeting begins at 6 p. m in the Cayuga county building. According to centre program director Ray Lyell, an emergency shelter for 14 to 19 year olds is necessary. With renovations, unoccupied apartments and an office above the centre can be converted into a nine-bed shelter that will be supervised around the clock by an adult. Teens will stay overnight or for a week or so, he expected. His goal was to see the shelter open in October or November. Through his work at the centre, Lyell has dealt with 14 and 15 year olds who have been abused and are frightened to go home because it is dangerous. Some are thrown out of their homes and some parents are not healthy enough to look after their children, he added. "We want to help them along as much as we can," said Lyell. "They are our future community."
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Scots plan to store under-16s' DNA
Police are to be given new powers to store the DNA of Scots children who commit violent and sexual offences as part of a crackdown on youth crime. Currently, the genetic profiles of young offenders whose cases are dealt with by a children’s hearing are destroyed, even if they admit the crime or the case against them is proven. However, ministers want to change the rules to allow DNA samples to be held for three years in order to identify under-16s who go on to commit further offences. An estimated 2,000 to 3,000 children per year are expected to have their DNA and fingerprints retained as a result of the changes. The new rules will apply to children who have committed sexual and violent crimes, as well as so-called “trigger” offences, such as fireraising, which indicate a propensity to violence.
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Canada: Tory government promises new moves to get tough on youth crime
Justice Minister Rob Nicholson is promising legislation before the end of the year to further toughen sentences for youths convicted of serious crimes - despite a ruling by the country's highest court that has narrowed his legal options. "We want to move on this in the fall," Nicholson said in an interview with The Canadian Press. "It's part of the government's overall crime-fighting strategy . . . . We're absolutely committed to this, it's one of the focal points of this government." The Tories promised, in the last election campaign, to change the Youth Criminal Justice Act to make it mandatory for anyone over the age of 14 to be sentenced as an adult for serious offences such as murder, manslaughter and aggravated sexual assault. Many criminal law experts say that proposal went out the window when the Supreme Court of Canada ruled in May that even the less onerous sentencing practices adopted by the previous Liberal government went beyond the proper constitutional bounds. Nicholson insisted, however, that he hasn't given up the fight even though he may have to modify his tactics.
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UK: Violent women 'stretching police'
Increasing numbers of violent women are stretching police resources, a police association has warned. About 240 women a day are arrested for violent crime in England and Wales, according to recent figures. Police in Scotland and Northern Ireland say, anecdotally, they have also seen an increase in female violence. The chair of the Police Federation of England and Wales, Paul McKeever, said there was a "new phenomenon" of women using violence and joining gangs. Mr McKeever said: "Clearly there is an increase in the number of women who use violence in their everyday life and when they are out drinking on the streets around the country." Young women were also forming all-female gangs or becoming part of "violent robbery gangs", he said.
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Manitoba foster homes to be spot-checked
The Manitoba government will spot-check thousands of foster homes to ensure they’re licensed and safe and will launch an agency-by-agency review this fall. In addition, three pieces of legislation governing kids in care — the Child and Family Services Act, the Adoption Act and the Authorities Act — will be reviewed, updated and likely amalgamated. The flurry of activity this fall is part of an overhaul of the embattled child welfare system already underway, but recent reviews of two aboriginal agencies have turned up the heat. Last month, the province released a review of the killing of two-year-old Gage Guimond which found Sagkeeng’s child welfare agency failed to perform basic safety checks on his various caregivers, one of whom is now charged with murder. On Wednesday, the province released a similar review of the Cree Nation Child and Family Caring Agency that highlighted a litany of problems with case management, questionable spending on luxury staff retreats, and a lack of monitoring of foster homes.
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Australia: Teachers to undergo training to curb bullying
Teachers with fewer than five years' experience will be the first of 2000 trained under a plan to stamp out bullying and violence in schools. Each state school this week will receive a new package providing principals with updated support materials and expert advice on maintaining safety. That is part of a $10 million program to address student behaviour and follows violent incidents involving school students over the past three months. Teachers in their first five years will be trained before more experienced colleagues by taking part in workshops, before testing outcomes in the classroom. The State Government today will announce that Professor Donna Cross, from Edith Cowan University in Western Australia, will roll out the Supportive Schools Program next year in all secondary schools.
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8 AUGUST 2008

Hawaii: Youth fighting on the rise
While individuals on the island have differing opinions on the causes and outcomes of youth violence, fighting overall has increased over the past couple of years, according to Sgt. Jamie Winfrey of the Kaunakakai police. However, it is difficult to pinpoint the factors that contribute to this increase, said Winfrey. “Is it because of the popularity of ultimate fighting and kids are being self taught and just want to test out their skills or is it because they’re becoming more territorial? It’s hard to say.” Meanwhile, Gary Zukeran, principal at Molokai Middle School, said a bigger concern than fighting is youngster’s attitudes, since this is often what leads to fighting.
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Missouri Governor signs legislation enhancing opportunities for Missouri's children
Gov. Matt Blunt visited the Boys and Girls Town of Missouri where he signed legislation designed to protect important children's programs from red tape and to expand adoptive families' access to special services when needed. "Our future prosperity depends upon the opportunities we provide Missouri children," Gov. Blunt said. "Residential care facilities and adoptive families provide a boundless investment in our state and in our children's future. I am pleased to sign this legislation helping ensure that government bureaucracies do not add unnecessary burdens to providing critical services for our children."
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UK:New career in childcare - for men
Bolton's men are being urged to consider a career in childcare. Bolton Council has teamed up with Bolton Community College to offer the “Men Care Too” course for men who would like to work with children and young people. The free introductory course will give an insight into the different types of childcare jobs for men such as youth or play workers. Education bosses they say many children benefit from being cared for in a mixed gender environment. A Bolton Council spokesman said: “Some young people may not have a male role model at home and would benefit from a male childminder or play worker. Also, recruiting more men helps to ensure the childcare profession reflects society as a whole. “The course, run by Bolton Council at Bolton Community College, will help students decide which career-path is right for them.”
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UK: Child and adolescent mental health service standards
Child and adolescent mental health services can only improve through joint leadership between health and social care at all levels including central government. That was the message from Jo Davidson, chair of the independent review of Camhs commissioned by the Department of Health and Department for Children, Schools and Families, whose interim report was published last week. Joint commissioning between primary care trusts and councils is "underdeveloped", according to the report, and the respective responsibilities of the DH and DCSF, which lead jointly on Camhs, need to be clarified.
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Canada: Combating the rise of youth gangs
In both Canada and the United States, there are mounting concerns about youth gangs. While there appears to be no proven solution to this issue, steps can be taken to decrease the risks of your child joining a gang. The results of the 2002 Canadian Police Survey on Youth Gangs provide a view of this problem in Canada. Canada has about 430 gangs with a membership of roughly 7,000, with the highest gang membership being in Ontario. More than 90 per cent of gang members are men, but for unknown reasons, there is a growing percentage of female gang members in B.C., Manitoba and Saskatchewan.
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Canada: Minister announces Youth Detention Centre in St. John’s will be used
Justice Minister Jerome Kennedy announced today that the Youth Detention Centre on Parade St. in St. John’s will now be used to hold young offenders arrested after 8 p.m. In a news release, Kennedy said that while the centre is not intended to be a long-term holding facility, youth arrested in the evening will be held there overnight until they can appear in court the next morning. Until now, young people arrested in the evening have been transported to the provincial youth detention centre in Whitbourne.
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6 AUGUST 2008

NY: Council to consider W. Utica curfew
Council member James Zecca tonight will present an ordinance to the council, asking his fellow members to support a pilot program to establish a youth curfew for residents younger than 16 years old in the city’s Second Ward. “I know we have a problem in West Utica with gang involvement,” Zecca said. “The drugs, the drug dealers are really grabbing these kids off the streets.” Zecca has pitched the curfew proposal for about four years. He’s tailored and tweaked it differently each time it’s gone before the council. “To establish a curfew for one group of kids just by virtue of the neighborhood they live in — that makes the curfew even more unconstitutional,” said Barrie Gewanter, director of the Central New York Chapter of the New York Civil Liberties Union.
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California: Juvenile probation cuts hurt counties
Juvenile justice reforms at the state level are trickling down to the local level and being felt by probation departments in more rural and sparsely-populated counties. State juvenile facilities are cutting back their populations, leaving more underage offenders to be handled in their home communities. This can be both a good and a bad thing, according to Shirlee Juhl, chief probation officer for Tuolumne County. "In some ways this will impact us more than some counties that have juvenile facilities because, literally, we had already exhausted everything at our disposal before making the recommendation," she said. Because Tuolumne and Calaveras counties do not have their own residential juvenile facilities, teen offenders are sent to youth centers in other counties. The nearest one is in Woodland, Yolo County. It's a three-hour drive both ways for juveniles to appear for court, or for parents to visit their children.
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Scotland: PR exercises 'can’t solve under-age drinking'
The latest government plan to cut under-aged drinking is yet another police-led campaign. This time, after the "success" of a six-week trial in Armadale, the Scottish Government is considering restricting access to alcohol, by barring anyone under 21 from purchasing it in an off license or supermarket. This is nothing more than another public relations exercise, with the zany title of Challenge 21 - or Challenge 25 in Spar stores, where staff have been trained to demand ID from anyone who looks below that age. These initiatives are doomed to failure. Was the pilot scheme in Armadale, West Lothian such a massive success? It targeted under 21's, two nights a week for a month. Police claim calls about antisocial behaviour, youth drinking and vandalism fell on Friday and Saturday evenings from an average of 11 to five.
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LA: Youth prison head under fire before resignation
In a commentary published across the state today, the AP's Doug Simpson looks at the controversial appointment and subsequent suprise resignation of Richard Thompson, head of the state Office of Youth Development, which oversees youth prisons. Thompson, who became the first departure from Gov. Bobby Jindal's Cabinet when he announced his resignation July 25, has yet to say why he left. "He took charge in February at an agency that has been trying to shake Louisiana’s reputation as a state that locks up its young prisoners without bothering to train them for life on the outside," Simpson wrote. "Critics didn’t like Thompson from the start, even before he arrived in Baton Rouge with an unusual résumé that included cosmetology in the Caribbean. Once in office, he failed to impress the panel of elected officials that oversees his office." (Thompson owns the Hispanic American College in Caguas, Puerto Rico, which offers degrees in manicures and hair styling. He did not sell the beauty school to take over the job here.)
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Australia: Minister reactivates youth violence taskforce
Police Minister Judy Spence has reactivated the state's youth violence taskforce - after The Courier-Mail revealed the group hadn't met for the nine months. Many of the solutions the taskforce came up with last year have yet to be fully implemented, although Ms Spence said progress was being made. Premier Anna Bligh touted the taskforce on Sunday when asked what the Government was doing about the recent upsurge in violence, but failed to mention the group was "on recess". A meat clever attack at St Laurence's College, linked to a South Brisbane gang called the Jay Jays, and youth violence at Goodna and on the Gold Coast have triggered a new wave of public outrage and hundreds of emails to The Courier-Mail.
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Scouts honour the best traditions of movement at Irish jamboree
Around 12,500 scouts pitched their tents in Punchestown on Saturday - along with 50,000 apples and 12 tons of potatoes - to celebrate a century of scouting in Ireland. A tent-filled settlement which will rank as one of the 50 most populous towns in Ireland for the next week has been established in Co Kildare as more than 12,000 scouts have gathered to celebrate the centenary of the scouting movement in Ireland. Troops from Ireland, England, Sweden, the Philippines, the US and many other nations are represented at the Scouting Ireland Jamboree 2008, which is taking place at Punchestown Racecourse near Naas. Some 10,000 Irish scouts aged between 10 and 18, as well as 2,500 overseas guests and more than 500 organisers, have donned their neckerchiefs and pitched their tents at the event, which is said to be the biggest gathering in the history of the European scouting movement.
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Improving Children's Hearings system in Scotland
Proposals to reform and streamline Scotland's Children's Hearings system, to improve the support given to vulnerable young people and create a more integrated system, have been published today. Central to the 'Strengthening for the Future' consultation, are plans to create a single national body which will bring together the work of the Children's Reporter service, the delivery and administration of Children's Hearings, and the recruitment and training given to panel members. It will also assist the work of safeguarders, who provide children's hearings and courts with an independent assessment of what action is needed to ensure the best interests of a child.
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4 AUGUST 2008

Many children age out of Alaskan foster system only to land on the street
This morning's Anchorage Daily News reports on the sad circumstances of many of Alaska's foster children who turn 18 while still in the state system. They are young adults between 18 and 24 who have aged out of the foster care system, come out of the juvenile justice system, landed here from a rural village, or left home to be on their own -- all without the resources for stable housing. According to a 2004 report from the National Health Care for the Homeless Council, up to 2 million young adults are homeless at some point each year. This is about 13 percent of the nation's adult homeless population. The numbers in Alaska are worse, say youth advocates and leaders with the Office of Children's Services.
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Essex: police in schools will help cut crime - claim
Placing police officers in schools is reducing youth crime in Essex, police claim. The announcement comes as the Government announced it is looking to expand the Safer Schools Partnership Scheme, with the hope of eventually seeing a dedicated officer based permanently on site in every school. The county currently has 35 schools officers, spread across five police divisions. Some are based in schools working as part of a partnership with the school, while others take on a liaison role from local police stations. An Essex Police spokesman said that any decision on installing officers in all schools would come from the Association of Chief Police Officers, but insisted that the use of them in Essex had so far been a success. “Essex Police has seen a significant reduction in crime over the last three years,” he explained, “and we recognise the importance of ensuring that young people are not unnecessarily criminalised."
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Fiji: Troubled teen appeals
A teenager put in prison with adults because no other institution can control him, has appealed claiming he's being denied justice. Street kid Sukulu Tikoitoga filed an appeal in the High Court against his 18-month jail term, which a magistrate imposed because there was no alternative punishment for his crime. Tikoitoga, who is now 18, was jailed for robbery with violence, break-in and escape while on probation last year. In his judgment then, Magistrate Ajmal Gulab Khan said Tikoitoga's parents, the Social Welfare Department and the church could not help him. Tikoitoga has committed 14 offences. The welfare supervisor said Tikoitoga could not be looked after by any of the department's institutions.
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Judge: Reforms too slow in California's youth prisons
A judge says state corrections officials are moving too slowly in correcting poor conditions throughout the state's juvenile prison system and is warning that he may step in to make sure changes get made soon. Alameda County Superior Court Judge Jon Tigar said the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation is lagging in improvements it promised in a November 2004 agreement with attorneys representing inmates. That agreement came after national experts found inhumane conditions throughout the youth correctional system, including the use of cramped cages. Corrections staff also used drugs to subdue mentally ill or substance-addicted inmates who should have been receiving treatment, experts said. "The parties agreed four years ago to stop spending taxpayer money on housing youth in hurtful, illegal conditions," Tigar said Friday after hearing closing arguments in the class-action lawsuit. "Very, very serious problems continue to exist at the state's juvenile detention facilities."
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Ireland: Child protection services seen as hostile
Child protection services are viewed by many children and parents who have come into contact with the system as powerful, unsympathetic and hostile, according to a report published yesterday. The study also found that victims of domestic violence often experienced difficulty in having their concerns taken seriously and found the system difficult to access. The study, Service Users' Perceptions of the Irish Child Protection System , by Dr Helen Buckley, a senior lecturer at Trinity College Dublin's school of social work, was based on almost 70 service users' experience. A number of people surveyed believed they had been harshly and unfairly judged, feeling that social workers did not consider all the complexities and stresses in their lives. In particular, they felt too much responsibility was being left to them, even when they were too weak or traumatised to take action, the report found. Young people in care said changes in their allocated social workers caused unsettling disruptions, especially where relationships with their workers were crucial. Children in the process of leaving care also raised concerns about the future services they would receive.
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