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Headlines and top stories relating to children, youth and families around the world. Click links for full story at original sites

January 2002

31 January 2002

“Ontario's Promise” attracts millions of dollars and hundreds of sponsors for province's children and youth
Mike Harris, Ontario's Premier, today said a program he launched just 14 months ago is already preventing vulnerable children and youth from falling through the cracks.
"When I launched Ontario's Promise, I invited all sectors to work
together to help build a better future for our children," Harris said to the
program's board of councillors. "We've already raised more than $35 million
and signed up more than 250 sponsors, and I've met some of the kids whose
lives are better because of what we've done."
Ontario's Promise brings together the private, public and non-profit
sectors to create and sponsor projects that benefit children and youth.
 

Scotland: Victims to get priority in youth crime initiative
PLANS to tackle youth crime, including a bigger emphasis on the needs of victims, were announced yesterday, writes David Scott.
Jack McConnell, the First Minister, and Cathy Jamieson, the education minister, said effective early intervention and giving victims "an appropriate place in the youth justice process" would be among priority areas in a plan designed to tackle youth crime.
The two ministers made the announcement during a visit to the Breaking the Cycle project in Musselburgh. Mr McConnell said youth crime scarred the lives of too many individuals and communities in Scotland.
The First Minister said: "Wherever I go I hear of the problems that crime created by young people causes amongst the community.
"Not only does it bring misery to victims, it also represents a waste and a lost opportunity to harness the talents of many young people."
Ms Jamieson told how projects which made youngsters face up to the consequences of crime were proven successes.
She said: "All the evidence shows that when this happens, the offenders are far less likely to reoffend, far less likely to cause further problems in their communities."
 

Australia: Hollingworth calls for action on child abuse
THE Governor-General, Peter Hollingworth, has used his traditional Australia Day message to call on "society and its institutions" to wake up to the horrors of child abuse.
Dr Hollingworth, who has come under intense pressure over his handling of child sex abuse cases while he was the Anglican archbishop of Brisbane, said he hoped the furore could have a positive outcome.
"I hope that criticism of me in recent weeks may serve to raise awareness across Australia of child abuse and its awful consequences," Dr Hollingworth said.
"I also hope it will generate serious discussion and constructive action that will encourage our society and its institutions to continue to improve their response to it."
 

Young offenders may be given a chance to mend their ways
The Justice Ministry will try to give juvenile offenders more chances to correct their behaviour by working out a system where they don't have to go to court for minor offences.
Justice Minister Pongthep Thepkanchana said out-of-court compromises were likely since injured parties tended to forgive young offenders if they repented and agreed to compensate them.
Current laws governing juvenile delinquency cases and the juvenile court allow the state to delay the court trials of young suspects.
 Mr Pornthep is studying procedures that can lead to such compromises.
Proper procedures would ensure transparency and justice for suspects and injured parties, he said.
He would listen to comments from the courts and the prosecution on the issue.
``If the idea is implemented, I believe we can reduce the number of juvenile cases in court by at least 10-20%,'' Mr Pongthep said.
The minister yesterday signed an agreement on more assistance for young inmates to mark the 50th anniversary of the Juvenile Observation and Protection Centre.
The agreement covers co-operation from the ministries of education and public health and the United Nations
Children's Fund (Unicef).
 

 30 January 2002

Nevada: Kinship Care — Relatives get help from state
When 15-year-old Christopher and his 5-year-old sister Jennifer showed up on their grandparents' doorstep two years ago, concerns about where the money would come from to raise them were foremost on the Boulder City couple's minds.
"There they were, two abandoned children with just the clothes on their backs and sleeping bags, and I thought, 'Oh my God, what are we going to do?' " said 64-year-old Jane Horner, whose 77-year-old husband, Will, took a part-time job at a hardware store to help make ends meet.
The children are among more than 8 million Americans -- 30,850 in Nevada -- being raised by their grandparents.
Many of those families struggle on fixed incomes to meet the children's needs during the years the seniors expected to enjoy the fruits of retirement.
Now that has changed in Nevada. The new Kinship Care Program is providing hundreds of dollars in monthly assistance to legal guardians 62 and older -- uncles, aunts, grandparents, etc. -- who are raising their minor relatives.
Jane Horner lobbied the 2001 Nevada Legislature for the state's first-ever guardianship subsidy that created the program.
"Grandparents raising children has increased 109 percent in Nevada since 1990 -- this is a serious child welfare issue of the 21st century, one that a lot of people don't understand or want to understand or talk about," Horner said.
The 2000 Census statistics show that nationwide grandparents raising children is the third most prevalent method of parenting, accounting for 6.2 percent of the nation's families.
 

Zimbabwe Requires Youth Training
Zimbabwe's government announced plans Monday to make national youth service training compulsory, a move the opposition says is an effort to create a private army.
State radio said high school graduates would be required to undergo the training to instill them with ``patriotism'' and what it calls an unbiased understanding of the country's history.
 But the opposition claims that the youth groups are basically unarmed militia that have been used to assault and intimidate critics of President Robert Mugabe.
Mugabe, who has ruled Zimbabwe since independence in 1980, is fighting for political survival ahead of upcoming presidential elections scheduled for March.
But his brutal crackdown on the opposition — tacit government approval of violence against opposition activists and legislation aimed at silencing any dissent in the southern African country — has been criticized by the international community.
On Monday the European Union threatened the government with economic and diplomatic sanctions if Mugabe failed to improve Zimbabwe's human rights record.
 

Canada: Youth-crime law will apply to Quebec — minister
Federal Justice Minister Martin Cauchon shut the door yesterday on any question of letting Quebec opt out of the new youth offenders law, saying he will move quickly this week to have Parliament adopt the legislation.
"It is a bill that touches young people across Canada," he told reporters outside a Liberal caucus meeting. "I think it is important to understand that what is true in Ontario is true in Quebec, is true everywhere in Canada."
Cauchon's comments come less than two weeks after the new minister raised the hopes of the bill's critics in Quebec, saying he planned to study the bill before taking a decision about whether to push for any changes.
Story

New Zealand: Helping learning skills of foster children
New Zealand's 5000 children in foster care are in line to receive free second-hand computers, thanks to an Auckland company and Rotary clubs.
Ark Recycling collects used computers from individuals and businesses, removes confidential files and renovates the Machines, usually for schools.
A chance meeting last year between company founder Bob Lye and the chairman of the Family and Foster Care Federation, Malcolm Yorston, inspired Ark to offer computers to the country's foster homes.
Rotary districts covering the area from Pukekohe north have agreed to chip in $50 for each computer in their area to cover the costs of getting them into homes, and a further $75 when required to return them to Ark's Mt Wellington workshop should repairs be needed.
Story

Youth in N.B. feel powerless to change communities - council
New Brunswick's Youth Council says rural young people in the province worry about violence, racism and a lack of job opportunities. It says they also feel powerless to change their communities.
 The first of three workshops on rural youth issues was held over the weekend in Mactaquac.
About 30 young people, between the ages of 15 to 24, attended from communities like Woodstock and St. Stephen, and from the Burnt Church First Nations.
A wrap-up conference will bring all workshop participants to Miramichi March 22 through 24, where they will develop plans of action to address their concerns.
Anthony Knight, the executive director of the youth council, says the goal of the workshops is to show young people they can change their communities and improve the places they live.
Story

Scotland: "Keep courts for children"
Jack McConnell has today called for action programmes across Scotland to bring young offenders face to face with their victims in a bid to avert them from a life of crime.
It is laudable that victims, who are all too often forgotten in this debate, are to be given a chance to confront the young offender with the human consequences of their actions, and there is some evidence that this can be an effective tactic. At the Breaking The Cycle project in Musselburgh, 75 per cent of the young offenders who have met with their victims have not reoffended.
But before the Executive can get too carried away, there is an obvious caveat - a hardened core of 25 per cent did commit further crimes.
It is understandable that many youngsters will think again once face-to-face with the elderly woman they mugged, or the young single mother whose house they robbed.
But the stark and unpalatable truth is that some young offenders, who have already ignored the authority of the police, their schools, and their parents, simply don’t care.
Sory

UK: Police explore juvenile database plan
The Metropolitan Police will hold a conference in April to discuss a plan to create a database of potential young offenders, a police spokesman said.
"There is a conference in April with the Youth Justice Board so details would be coming out of that," a spokesman for deputy commissioner Ian Blair said.
In early November, Blair said the police intended to create an intelligence access, which would hold sensitive information about the large numbers of children who have not yet or probably will not actually drift into criminality.
Some news reports said children as young as three could be branded potential criminals under the plan. But the spokesman said the age was speculative. "That is a speculative age. We never said that it would be three years," he said.
 

Glasgow council plans to level juvenile facility
GLASGOW City Council has launched plans to raze a controversial secure unit that houses Scotland’s most dangerous children, The Scotsmanhas learned. Kerelaw School at Stevenston, North Ayrshire, houses the worst of the country’s juvenile offenders, as well as children at risk. It has been criticised over the past five years as a haven for drug misuse and violence.
Almost a year since 14-year-old Graham Kerr was found dead in his room at the unit after taking a cocktail of drink and drugs, officials from the council, which runs the facility, have recommended the school be demolished and rebuilt on the existing site. However, the council insists that the £18 million cost of a new building must be met by the Scottish executive and other local authorities that use the school.
Last year, a 15-year-old boy was detained on remand in the adult Kilmarnock Prison, after staff at Kerelaw refused to accept him. The boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was later sent to Polmont Young Offenders Institution, after receiving a two-year sentence for assaulting a fellow Kerelaw resident.
The boy’s solicitor, Neil McPherson, called for an overhaul of the juvenile sentencing system.
He said: “The structure of the building is only a small part of the problem. There is a lack of funding for staff, lack of training and lack of any real efforts being made to educate and rehabilitate children who are at a stage where every influence is important for shaping them for the future.”
Story

 29 January 2002

Jefferson County ponders where to house young offenders
Officials once thought they had a solution to the problem caused by a county ordinance that limits the number of juvenile sex offenders to one per group home: a county-built residential treatment center.
But community opposition to two proposed sites helped scuttle that project.
Now, months later, the county says it has the situation under control, but rising costs could be a problem as early as this year.
"Unless new beds come on line, it is going to become increasingly more difficult," said Terry Green, director of human services for Jefferson County. "We are quickly running out of options."
Currently, the county is the court-appointed ward of 47 juvenile sex offenders and it spends about $5,500 monthly per child on treatment.
Costs are expected to rise by about $1,000 per child per month, said Green, resulting in an increase of about $50,000 per month in Jefferson County.
Other metro-area counties, including Adams County and cities such as Arvada and Lakewood, have also limited the number of juvenile sex offenders to one per home. The shortage of beds in the metro area is, in part, driving up the price.
"We are all competing for the same beds," Green said.
Juvenile sex offenders make up about 10 percent of the total.
 

Australia: Children make suicide pact amid asylum seeker hunger strike
A group of 15 children being held in a remote Outback detention center say they will commit suicide unless they are released.
Their lawyer Rob McDonald says the children are aged from 12 to 17 and have no parents or guardians.
Some of the children have been granted temporary protection visas, but are still waiting to be released from the Woomera detention facility.
"These guys feel this is the only thing they can do to get out of the facility," Mr McDonald said.
About 370 detainees are on hunger strike at Woomera, including some children, according to refugee lawyers.
But the government puts the total number at 259. Most are Afghans, and dozens have sewn their lips together.
The protesters are demanding that the government speed up their asylum claims and move them out of Woomera.
Story

Ireland: Children 'lose out badly in our family law system'
AN overhaul of Irish family law has been recommended in a new book which severely criticises the bias against children in our legislation.
Solicitor Geoffrey Shannon says Irish law does not give children a voice. In his book, Children and the Law, Mr Shannon calls for the urgent reform of child laws and says the Constitution fails to recognise the child as a legal person.
"The realisation of a vibrant and flourishing child-centred system will necessitate discarding the shackles of the Irish adult-centered past," he writes.
"This can only be achieved by ensuring that children are given the capability of being heard in all judicial and administrative proceedings affecting them."
Speaking to the Irish Independent last night, Mr Shannon said the failure of the Government to appoint an Ombudsman for Children was a major flaw.
"The four-year delay in the appointment is to be regretted and reveals a lack of genuine commitment to recognise and respect children's rights," the family law lecturer said.
Story

Australia: Children in care sent to motels
QUEENSLAND'S under-funded child and family welfare system is failing so badly some children in need of help are being placed in motel rooms and others in danger of abuse are being left at home.
A report by a major churches group warns an extraordinarily high number of children entering state care are being placed at further risk of neglect and abuse by the system.
The Churches Community Services Forum report warns of "considerable" legal exposure for the Government and churches because child protection standards are not being met.
The At What Cost report said the introduction of new child protection policy and legislation after the 1999 Forde inquiry had highlighted deficiencies in the system inextricably linked to years of under-resourcing.
The churches forum feared that "our continued provision of services under these conditions is not sustainable and (constitutes) a serious breach of our fiduciary duty".
The report said there was mounting evidence the Government was failing to ensure the safety and wellbeing of children by not meeting its duty of care.
 

US: Chelsea examines services for children
It's a city with its share of agencies that serve children, from the School Department to the Boys and Girls Club.
But concerned that Chelsea is not doing all it can to help children at risk of getting in trouble, city officials and community leaders are collaborating on an effort to define what services are lacking and how they can best be provided.
Created last fall, the 30-member Committee on At-Risk Youth includes representatives from many of the city's public and private youth organizations.
The group's first task, expected to be completed this spring, is the preparation of a guide to existing resources for children in the city.
 The group then plans to develop a master plan for how the city can best serve its young people.
The effort was spurred in part by several incidents last year that pointed to a possible rise in gang activity.
 In the most notable incident, a 13-year-old Chelsea boy was stabbed, beaten, and left paralyzed while walking home from a birthday party in August.
''That was a dramatic blow to the community, and it was cause for us all to examine what we were doing locally about our youth,'' City Manager Jay Ash said.
 

Malawi: Children dying of hunger
Ten children a day were being admitted to Malawi's largest hospital for hunger-related illnesses and as many as 60 children have already died since the country's food shortage began, medical officials said on Saturday.
Most of the children admitted to Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital arrive emaciated suffering from malnutrition and dehydration, says Ibrahim Idana, the hospital's director.
Entire families are apparently camping out at the hospital to share the food given to their children.
Idrissa Kombe, a peasant farmer, had two sons admitted to the hospital for malnutrition and now he and his wife and two teenage children subsist from food given to his sons in the hospital.
He said he could not afford the $13 to buy a sack of corn flour to feed his family.
 

Norwegian children less active
The average Norwegian 9-year-old today weighs 3 kilograms more than in 1975, and is less fit than before.
This is shown by a survey carried out by the Norwegian College for Physical Education.
Norwegian children gain weight, are more susceptible to diabetes, and have a higher risk of suffering from bone and muscle problems because of a more passive lifestyle, writes Bergens Tidende.
Director Bjoern-Inge Larsen of the Directorate for Public Health says this development is dramatic for the general public health.
He says to NRK that the schools have an important role to play in making children more active physically.
Story

Scotland: Half of children fail literacy tests
HALF of all children in early secondary school are failing to reach government targets for basic literacy and numeracy.
National Tests for children "graduating" from the final year of a nine-year course in the "three Rs" reveal that just 46 per cent passed in writing, 56 per cent in reading and 51 per cent in mathematics, according to national test results released this week.
The glowing results among young primary children are attributed in part to the mass expansion of nursery education and more focused teaching in early primary through the Early Intervention programme.
 This involves a higher ratio of adults to children in the classroom and more structured systematic teaching of the three Rs.
The marks in secondary schools are also an improvement on last year, with the number of second-year pupils reaching the benchmark (level E) rising by 3 per cent in reading, 2 per cent in writing and almost 5 per cent in maths.
But although the results improved, they suggest that children’s progress stalls when they leave primary school.
 Marks were significantly higher in P7 than in the second year of secondary school.
The test results confirm a government report earlier this month, which suggested that many Scottish children tread water, and some even regress, during first and second year at secondary school.
Story

 28 January 2002

Ontario: Funding meals to youth and families at risk
Funding to improve the Ontario Association of Food Banks facilities will assist the group's continuing efforts to help alleviate the hardships of hunger and poverty in Toronto. Jean Augustine, Member of Parliament for Etobicoke-Lakeshore announced today funding of $600,000 under the Supporting Communities Partnership Initiative (SCPI), of the National Homelessness Initiative.
"The Government of Canada is pleased to support such a worthwhile project that helps those who find themselves in immediate need of food bank services," said Ms. Augustine. "I would like to commend the Ontario Association of Food Banks for their ongoing commitment and dedication to addressing the daily challenges faced by people who are at risk of homelessness. Together we are truly making a difference."
The Ontario Association of Food Banks was established in 1992 to support the operation of associated food banks in the Province of Ontario. It stores and distributes donated food to its member food banks and works to develop long-term solutions to hunger and poverty.
 

Youths' great escape only lasts a few hours
Three young offenders staged their own great escape from the Waterville detention centre, using wooden pallets to scale the fence this weekend.
The trio were on work duty clearing snow in the jail yard at 12:30 a.m., when they piled up the pallets and jumped the three-metre security fence, Justice Department spokes-woman Michele McKinnon said.
“Staff pursued them, but unfortunately, were unable to apprehend them,” she said. RCMP picked up one of them minutes later, she said. The other two made it to Highway 101 and were spotted hitchhiking around 6:30 a.m.
The Mounties were en route to pick them up when they got a ride. To their bad luck, it was the detention centre’s deputy superintendent on his way to work. “He knew exactly who they were. He asked them if they were cold enough to come back, and they said yes,” McKinnon said.
“They simply climbed into the back (of the car), and they’re now safely back in custody.”
Story

Australia: Child Refugee State 'Unacceptable'
Amid the escalating refugee crisis here, children held in Australian detention centres have been labelled as ``at risk of long-term mental health issues and the possibility of physical harm in situations of rioting and hunger strikes,'' according to psychiatrist Dr. Chris Pearson.
Pearson, who is chair of the South Australian Committee of the Royal Australian College of Physicians, said that the official position of the College is that the treatment of children in Australian detention is ``unacceptable.''
South Australia is host to the Woomera Detention Centre where detainees, frustrated at the lack of progress in determining their visa applications, have gone on a 9-day hunger strike in the latest of a series of protests including rioting and setting fire to buildings.
Along with refusing to eat, local media have reported that up to 60 refugees have sewn their lips together, and that adults also forced it on at least two children.
``Detainees have gone to incredible lengths, risked their lives probably, and spent their life savings and some of their relatives' life savings, on the mistaken belief that getting here would mean that they could stay here,'' Pearson told Reuters Health.
``It is very important to identify that the children must be suffering in a mental health sense, from what one can tell about media reports about the conditions. We need to try and keep the kids out of this argument.
 

 25 January 2002

Seattle: Treehouse meets key needs of foster children
The most important thing for any child who's uprooted from home and placed with a foster family is finding a household with just the right combination of loving support and structure, even if the new family isn't the wealthiest.
But once the placement happens, all the typical needs of youth — from school clothes to money for extracurricular activities to after-school tutoring, spring to the forefront.
That's where Seattle-based Treehouse comes into the picture.
Founded in 1987 by a group of social workers who were aware that the state's foster-care program can't do everything for the children it serves, Treehouse offers a wide variety of services for financially strapped foster families. The nonprofit agency pays for summer camps, swimming lessons and sports activities but also provides paid tutors and counselors for foster children who need them.
In short, it's an agency that helps kids be kids, and which helps "to break the cycle of disadvantage," as Treehouse Executive Director Janis Avery put it. Treehouse is also a Seattle Times Fund for the Needy agency, receiving support from readers who last year funded tutors, sports equipment, clothing, books and other supplies and activities.
 

Hamilton children's aid short 80 foster homes
A shortage of foster parents in Hamilton has become so severe that more children than ever are being sent to other cities, some as far as three hours away.
Local children's aid societies are increasingly turning to privately-run homes that cost three to four times as much as their own foster parents.
Although some of these homes are in Hamilton, the societies regularly have to send children to private facilities in Barrie, Owen Sound, Kitchener and Grimsby.
As many as 230 local kids a year are sent to these licenced private homes because the children's aid societies need at least 80 more foster homes to keep them all here.
"We just don't have the capacity to have the kids in foster homes here in this area,'' said Karen Armstrong, supervisor of the child rescue unit at the Catholic Children's Aid Society.
Story

Shocking Conditions for SA's Poor Children
More than five million children in South Africa - 30% of those under the age of 17 - regularly go hungry, according to a new study by the Institute for a Democratic South Africa (Idasa).
Roughly a quarter of the country's 5,3-million very poor children are in KwaZulu-Natal and a further quarter in the Eastern Cape. Mpumalanga and Northern Province are home to a share of 10% each.
The Idasa study also says that 10,5-million, or 59,3%, of the 18-million children below the age of 17 are poor, in that they lack income. These represent almost a quarter of South Africa's population.
The authors say a marginal increase of 0,4% in the child poverty rate took place between 1995 and 1999 among children under the age of 17, but there was a marginal decrease, also of 0,4%, in poverty of children under the age of six.
There were increases in child poverty in Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and Northern Province, but all other provinces saw decreases across both age categories.
 

Canada's Smoking Rate on Long-Term Decline
Smoking rates in Canada declined last year to their lowest level in 36 years, the Toronto Star reported Jan. 22.
According to a survey by Statistics Canada, the adult smoking rate in the first six months of 2000 was 23 percent, a drop from 50 percent in 1965, when the agency first began tracking smoking rates.
In addition, teen smoking rates declined 5 percent in the last two years, from 28 percent in the first half of 1999 to 23 percent in the first half of 2001."That's pretty substantial," said Francis Thompson of Canada's Non-Smoker's Rights Association.
Thompson credited the decline partly to higher tobacco taxes. In addition, Canada implemented tighter restrictions on tobacco advertising, increased enforcement of age restrictions on the purchase of tobacco, and placed graphic health warnings on cigarette packages.
"It indicates to us that the comprehensive approach we are advocating is bringing results," said Lyne Deschenes, a researcher with the Canadian Cancer Society.

Rio de Janeiro Gets Drug Dealers Off Streets
Thanks to community policing, the streets of one neighborhood in Rio de Janeiro are nearly free of drug trafficking and the violence that went along with it, the Associated Press reported Jan. 21.
The credit for the one-year turnaround in Pavao-Pavaozinho-Cantagalo goes to Maj. Antonio Carballo of the Police Group for Special Areas. Before Carballo was given command of policing one of Rio de Janeiro's 600-plus ghettos, Pavao-Pavaozinho-Cantagalo was awash in violence. Drug dealers controlled the neighborhood, with nobody moving without their knowledge or permission.
Today the scene is vastly different. Officers dispatched to the neighborhood are usually responding to settle family quarrels or provide medical assistance.
To obtain such dramatic results, Carballo's mirrored community-policing projects that were implemented in Boston, Mass. Among the initiatives is Cease Fire, which deals with juvenile violence.
Story

 24 January 2002

First Nation Questions Fairness of Provincial Youth Offender Selection Process
In light of recent comments by Minister Flaherty excluding First Nations as "real communities" in Ontario, Fort Frances Area First Nations are concerned that their application to be the host site of a provincial Youth Offender facility will not be treated fairly."Despite Minister Flaherty's remarks, we hope that the Ontario government will give our bid the consideration it deserves.
Our proposal will provide local economic benefits and offer native and non-native young offenders a unique opportunity for rehabilitation and community reintegration" stated Chuck McPherson, Chief of Couchiching First Nation, speaking on behalf of the Fort Frances Area First Nations.
Fort Frances Area First Nations in partnership with the Town of Fort Frances have developed a proposal to be the first youth offender facility located on First Nation's land in Ontario. The facility would be designed to offer culturally relevant programming to all young offenders - both native and non-native alike.
"Unfortunately the vast majority of youth offenders in Northwestern Ontario are native.
Our community recognizes that our children are being sentenced into custody and we have the opportunity to make a difference to them by teaching them traditional values of respect and responsibility," said McPherson.
The Town and First Nations plan to bring their local resources together to create a leading-edge facility.
Their vision is a facility that will become the leader in young offender rehabilitation.
 

Australia: Plans to revive police youth clubs
POLICE Minister Michael Costa will announce plans today to revitalise the board responsible for running the state's Police and Community Youth Clubs. Broadcaster Alan Jones, athlete Melinda Gainsford-Taylor, Daily Telegraph editor Campbell Reid and Macquarie Bank executive Nicholas Moore have been approached by Mr Costa to serve on the PCYC board.
Mr Costa, who wants the traditionally sports-dominated PCYCs to broaden their focus to literacy and learning, said last night the proposed appointments were "a major part" of his plan to modernise the clubs.
He said a revitalised network of PCYCs could play a greater role in encouraging young people into positive activities.
"These clubs must focus more on those young people who are at risk of future involvement in crime," he said.
"I've asked these prominent members of the community to join forces with police in fostering a better relationship with our youth. Each has achieved remarkable success in sport, business or community." Mr Costa said he was "close" to finalising plans for revamped PCYCs in which the clubs would be transformed from venues for boxing and weightlifting to centres where young people could do their homework, surf the Net and send e-mails.
Daily Telegraph editor Campbell Reid said last night he had "long admired the good work and worth of the PCYCs" and was considering the approach.
 

 Government of Canada funds work experience program in Edmonton for youth with disabilities
The Honourable Anne McLellan, Minister of Health, and Member of Parliament for Edmonton West, on behalf of the Honourable Jane Stewart, Minister of Human Resources Development Canada, today announced funding of $178,294 under the Youth Internship Canada (YIC) program to help 33 young people with disabilities gain work experience to helpfacilitate their entry into the labour market.
Under this project entitled School to Work, Chrysalis will provide work experience opportunities for youth with disabilities.
 The activities undertaken include assessment services for youth to determine their job readiness, life management and career exploration workshops, as well as employment matching. The job match with subsequent supported work experience will give these youth with disabilities the tools they need to succeed in the  workforce.
"This project will enable youth to develop and enhance employability skills to facilitate their transition into the labour market," said Minister McLellan.
 "The Government of Canada is proud to help provide young people with employment opportunities that will improve their capacity to integrate into the labour market."
 

Children face street curfew in Moscow
MOSCOW is considering a curfew on all children aged under 16 as a way of dealing with the 50,000 homeless children roaming the capital’s streets, many of whom are criminals, prostitutes and drug addicts by the age of 11.
The city council confirmed yesterday that Yuri Luzhkov, the Mayor, was pressing for the swift passage of measures to deal with the children, but no funds had been set aside.
Mr Luzhkov sought the curfew as the latest response to President Putin’s demands for urgent action to deal with the street children, whose numbers are now larger than they were after the Revolution and Civil War.
The public is outraged about children sleeping rough in stations, over air-vents, in empty basements or in makeshift cardboard shelters that offer little protection against winter temperatures that plunge to -20C.
 

Ireland: Inquiry told that children were used as pin cushions
CHILDREN in State and religious institutions were used as "pin cushions" by doctors in the past, the inquiry into vaccine trials in orphanages was told yesterday.
In an emotional outburst from the public gallery, Michael O'Brien, a former Lord Mayor of Clonmel, who spent his childhood in one of the homes said the people who suffered must not be muzzled at the inquiry, otherwise it will be a farce.
The unexpected interruption came during a preliminary hearing of the investigation by the Laffoy Commission into vaccine trials in children's homes between 1940 and 1987.
Explaining how the probe will be conducted, Judge Mary Laffoy, chairperson of the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse, said it has already been established that three vaccine trials took place in institutions in 1960-61, 1970 and 1973.
They were the subject of a report by the Chief Medical Officer of the Department of Health published in November 2000 and this was in turn referred to the Commission for further examination. A number of former residents however interjected yesterday after concern was expressed about proposals to appoint an independent legal team to represent the interests of the entire group at the inquiry which is expected to hold public hearings in early summer.
Story

US: New Adoption Web Site Created Gives Children Hope
Today, an estimated 20,000 children in Canada are wards of the state, waiting to be adopted.
In Texas, USA, a new adoption web site, created with Accenture's assistance has improved the potential outlook for the thousands of children waiting for adoption. Accenture and the Texas Department of Protective and Regulatory Services recently launched the online child search Web site, which could be a model for what could be built here in Canada as well.
The new site launched in the US was designed to address a constant struggle of the Texas Adoption Resource and Exchange program - reaching and securing the interest of families willing to provide a loving home to older children, many of whom are from childhoods where trust, caring and love often were in short supply.
Featuring a database of 850 Texas children waiting for adoption and registered in the Texas Adoption Resource Exchange, the new Web site provides prospective parents a way to easily locate children they may be able to adopt. The comprehensive information provided on the site includes photos, videos and sibling information, as well as details about the child's physical, emotional, medical or other special needs. The online search is not only more convenient, but also minimizes the trial-and-error risk of inflicting emotional trauma upon both the child and prospective parents when a new adoption fails to work out as expected. The site is located at www.adoptchildren.org.
Story

Massachusetts: 220,000 children in state are latchkey kids
More than one-fifth of Massachusetts children as young as 6 years old return to an empty home after school mainly because the state lacks enough programs to engage children in constructive activities while mom and dad are at work, according to a survey released yesterday by Massachusetts 2020, a nonprofit group pushing for more quality after-school and summer programming.
The study, based on a survey of 408 parents, found that roughly 220,000 children across the state are latchkey children, students who take care of themselves after school.
Most parents surveyed favored after-school programs, but said few, if any, were available to them.
''The state has not made this a core priority, nor has any other state yet,'' said Chris Gabrieli, chairman of Massachusetts 2020.
 

UK: Unmarried couples will be given right to adopt children
The government is poised to embrace a change to Britain's adoption law that would allow unmarried couples - gay as well as heterosexual - to adopt children if it is deemed in the child's interests.
Labour MPs, who have been campaigning in vain for the change against resistance in Downing St, claimed last night that ministers are ready to accept the case for a free vote that would amend the adoption and children bill before it becomes law later this year.
It is thought that an all-party amendment to the adoption and children bill, to be tabled when it returns to the House of Commons, is unlikely to be opposed by the government.
 Story

 23 January 2002

Scotland: Children in need still face long wait for help
A SPECIALIST service for Lothian children with mental health problems, which closed its lists due to overloading, has re-opened - but with no extra resources.
And youngsters suffering from conditions from hyper-activity to eating disorders will still have to wait months or even years to see an expert, according to city doctors.
GPs were banned from referring non-urgent cases to the region’s Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service last August because it was over-stretched.
Now they have been told the waiting list has re-opened but with no extra staff and the same letter still urges doctors to find alternative support for troubled youths.
Wester Hailes GP Dr Ian McKee said: "It was a shortage of resources which led to the referral ban in the first place and, if this situation is not speedily rectified, the service will again be unable to cope. Very urgent referrals will naturally continue to receive priority, with the result that those children whose needs are considered less urgent will have to wait months, if not years, before getting the help they need.
"Indeed, with the current provision of resources, it is not beyond the bounds of possibility that some children will never be seen."
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New Zealand: Child case cost agency $170,000
Child, Youth and Family spent nearly $170,000 on a legal battle to remove two children from a Wellington family in a case that highlights sharply rising legal bills.
Figures obtained from the department under the Official Information Act show that from July 1999 to January 2001 the agency spent $167,953 fighting the case in the Family Court and High Court. Up to December last year it spent a further $40,179 maintaining the children in care.
CYF spent $1.5 million on legal bills to protect at-risk children in the past three years.
Under section 438 of the Children, Young Persons and Their Families Act, details of the case and the identity of the family cannot be published.
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Colorado: Youth-facility group starts over
Two whose license revoked in 1998 win initial OK for new state contract
Two administrators who ran a youth corrections facility that had its license revoked by the state in 1998 have won a preliminary, multi-million dollar state contract to run a similar facility.
In 1998, the Colorado Department of Human Services shut down the High Plains Youth Center operated by a company called Rebound and run by Jane O'Shaughnessy and Joe Newman.
The facility often was cited for violating state regulations and the suicide of a 13-year-old boy eventually led to its downfall.
Now, O'Shaughnessy and Newman head a company called Cornerstone Programs, which earlier this month received preliminary approval for the contract to run a new $7 million facility for 40 female delinquents in Jefferson County.
"It's not that unusual" to reorganize under a different name and continue to do business, said Liz McDonough, spokeswoman for the Colorado Department of Human Services, which revoked the old license and awarded the new contract.
 

Backdown on sniffing rooms
Welfare workers at a taxpayer-funded agency have bowed to pressure and will stop children's supervised sniffing of toxic paint and glue fumes. Berry Street Victoria chief executive Sandie de Wolf yesterday said the use of inhalants has been outlawed at the agency's statewide network of children's homes after the State Government threatened to pull its $15 million funding.
The backdown came after the Department of Human Services admitted it knew of the dangerous practice but did nothing. The ban, on the order of Premier Steve Bracks, follows a public outcry which erupted after the Herald Sun yesterday revealed Berry Street staff were watching children as young as 12 get high on the fumes.
Ms de Wolf had initially vowed to defy an order from Mr Bracks to stop all supervised sniffing sessions at Berry Street children's homes or lose their funding.
"A small number of kids will still be able to use them in our back yards, yes," Ms de Wolf told the Herald Sun.
She changed her mind after a tense late-afternoon meeting with Community Services Minister Christine Campbell.
"As a leading Victorian welfare agency we would not wish to operate without the full support of the Victorian Government," Ms de Wolf said.
Earlier Ms de Wolf said the agency did not condone drug use, but tried to keep young people safe while they were helped to get off drugs.
 

30 Years of Education Reform Has Failed to Close Achievement Gap in New Mexico
A new study released today by The Albuquerque Partnership, makes an alarming point: 30 years of education reform has failed to close the achievement gap between Anglos and Minorities.
"We all know that the achievement gap exists and that it is significant," said Dr. Moises Venegas, the study's author, director of The Albuquerque Partnership and former New Mexico public educator. "Now we know that 30 years of reform has done little to improve the quality of education available to low-income and minority children in New Mexico."
The landmark study, titled "The 2001 Achievement Gap," assesses the educational performance of students in New Mexico, analyzes the significant achievement gap between various ethnic groups and reviews the effectiveness of past and present educational reform efforts in the state.
The study finds that despite billions of dollars, lots of attention, and numerous programs focused on education reform over the past 30 years, little has transpired to improve education or narrow the achievement gap between New Mexico's minority students (mostly Hispanic, Native American, and African American) and their non-minority counterparts.
The study further finds that education reform is extremely difficult to achieve from within the system, concluding, "There must be a strong competitive challenge from outside the system. Real reform and change will only come from pressure outside the system."
 

ResCare Creates New Training Services Division
ResCare (Nasdaq: RSCR), the nation's leading human services provider to people with special needs, today announced the creation of the new Division for Training Services to emphasize the pursuit of training and education programs, including distance learning.
William J. Ballard, former chairman and chief executive officer of Children's Comprehensive Services, Inc., has been appointed as president of the Division for Youth Services. This division includes ResCare's Youthtrack and Alternative Youth Services programs that offer a broad spectrum of services to young people including highly secure placements, wilderness programs, emergency shelters, foster care and services to children with developmental disabilities.
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 22 January 2002

Australia: Don't push students, says Education Minister
The pressure to finish high school is creating "disillusionment and disengagement" among young people, the new Federal Minister for Education, Brendan Nelson, believes.
"There are many young people who have felt they are being pressured, forced to stay in the education system, sometimes beyond their natural abilities, studying things in their hearts that they don't want to be doing," he said.
"That has been a great source of tension, a great source of disillusionment and disengagement for a lot of young people."
Dr Nelson also revealed that he would be "delighted" if his son chose to go to TAFE instead of finishing high school.
While some young people were anxious to fight their way upstream, like salmon, others were happy to find their own quiet "pond" and should not be criticised for this.
 

Toronto youth plead for programs
If Toronto politicians are serious about tackling youth alienation and crime in the city, they must invest more money in services for young people, the city's youth cabinet says.
"Why is it at budget time that youth programs are always the first to be taken off the table?" said Kehinde Bah, chair of the group that advocates on behalf of city residents between the ages of 13 and 24.
"These initiatives will be a direct deterrent to crime," he added.
The youth cabinet, a group of high school, college and university students, wants city council to approve $2.9 million in new spending on a wide range of health, recreation and social programs for the city's 300,000 youths.
But under the budget now being debated by city councillors, staff has recommended no new spending in an attempt to keep this year's property tax increase to 4.8 per cent.
The new spending proposed by the cabinet would support programs on violence prevention and nutrition, youth leadership initiatives, peer counselling and stay-in-school support. "These are programs that we already have and that already make a difference," said Councillor Olivia Chow, the city's child and youth advocate. "The problem is that we just don't have enough of them."

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US: Teaching just 'hard skills' doesn't get the job done
In an ideal world, children develop the basic behavioral skills for success in life and work through their families, school, after-school activities or summer-work experiences.
By earning an allowance for family chores, baby-sitting or odd jobs in the neighborhood, they learn money management alongside responsibility, accountability, time management, priority-setting and elementary job skills.
But placement firms, employers and customers are finding that an increasing number of people seeking or holding their first jobs do not have that early-learning background.
Whether they come from multiple generations of welfare culture or have simply grown up relating better to computers than to people, they exhibit varying degrees of deficiency in life skills and "soft" skills. They may have the technical or "hard" skills required for a job, but those aren't enough to ensure their success in the workplace.
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Seattle: Budget cuts worry service agencies
For Kent Youth & Family Services, it's 75 fewer children who will receive early childhood education, and thousands of teens whose late-night recreation program will vanish.
At Seattle Mental Health, it will mean about 1,000 low-income people who won't be able to get help until they do something so drastic they have to be hospitalized.
A proposed $246 million cut in the state's human-services budget would have just such real consequences for social-service nonprofits that stand to lose funding as critical needs are peaking.
Some groups hold out hope that state legislators can still be prevailed upon to lessen the cuts for prevention-oriented programs, whose elimination tends to reap a harvest of more-costly, crisis-level service needs down the line.
Others are hoping the shortfall will highlight the need for more stable funding for human services over the long run. But one thing's certain: Charities agree that if the state makes the proposed cuts, the private sector will not be able to compensate.
"There is no money coming from elsewhere to replace the state funds," said Edward Freedman, executive director of the Hearing, Speech & Deafness Center in Seattle. "We expect a reduction in the number of hearing aids we'll be able to give to the people who most need them."
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Kids struggle to survive Moscow streets
Many youths prefer homelessness to cruel treatment in shelters. They flutter through the Kursky railway station like flocks of dirt-smudged pigeons, sniffing glue fumes out of plastic bags, begging for money from strangers and scattering as police approach waving nightsticks.
These are Russia's lost children, part of an army of millions of homeless boys and girls who have fled unhappy homes or escaped from the harsh discipline in state orphanages. Mobs of them, some as young as 5, haunt the capital's subway stations, highway underpasses and railroad terminals.
The Kursky railway station, just east of central Moscow, is home to about 150 children who have drifted here from all over the former Soviet empire. By day, they roam the city, begging in subways and stealing what they can from shops. At night, they return to the station.
It is a filthy, disease-ridden and violent home. Some of the boys and girls work as prostitutes. Some have contracted hepatitis or HIV. After a day of begging, some wander holding bags containing glue over their mouths to get high. Others discreetly inhale the fumes under their coats, hiking their collars.
Station police occasionally administer what seem to be random beatings. Early Friday, two uniformed officers cornered a boy of about 16 in a station entrance. One slammed the boy with a truncheon as more than a dozen bystanders watched. Then the police led the youth away.
The children's begging and stealing create problems for passengers, said another policeman, who would not give his name. "They say that we beat them and take money from them," he said, "but we don't."
Why do the children stay? "The police beat them here," said Pavel Novikov, an evangelical Christian who feeds homeless children at the railway station. "But they don't get beaten as often as in the shelter."
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Australia Threatens Removal of Afghan Migrant Children
Australian authorities are threatening to remove the children of some Afghan asylum seekers after several youngsters had their lips sewn together as part of a hunger strike.
Officials at the Woomera detention camp in southern Australia confirmed today (Monday) that at least three Afghan children between the ages of 12 and 15 were hospitalized to have stitches removed from their mouths. They also were treated for dehydration.
Australian Immigration Minister Philip Ruddock says children involved in the protest may be separated from their parents in the youngsters' best interests. He says the parents' behavior risking the lives of children and that Australian government has a responsibility to act in their defense.
Almost 200 detainees at the Woomera camp began the hunger strike Wednesday to protest what they call the slow pace of the asylum process. Dozens of protesters have sewn their lips together.
 

 21 January 2002

BC: Cuts will hurt young, child advocate says
Young people will be hurt by cuts to the ministry of children and families, B.C.'s child and youth advocate said Friday. Laverne MacFadden said cuts of more than 20 per cent during three years in the ministry's staff and budget will translate into cuts in services for children.
"We've said over six years that the current resources aren't enough to meet the essential service needs and the cuts announced yesterday will only make it worse," MacFadden said. "We have great concern about it. You can't cut more than 1,000 positions without having an effect."
Following Thursday's announcement, the government said it will reduce the number of children in care by putting money into family development programs.
The government says 10,700 children are cared for by the ministry -- about 11 out of every 1,000 children in the province, compared with the national ratio of nine in 1,000.
MacFadden said there are many reasons why B.C.'s rate might be higher than average.
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Denver: Give homeless kids a hand
Between 60 and 75 youths become emancipated from the Denver Department of Human Services each year, and where they go from there, no one really knows.
Some end up on the streets and become part of the hard-core homeless or street kids, who number in the hundreds each year.
This unfortunate situation is preventable. And from what we see in a preliminary plan proposed by Denver Mayor Wellington Webb, two housing complexes with support staff can give those coming out of foster care the support they need while also addressing the needs of other young people who are serious about getting off the streets.
Webb proposes finding, buying and redeveloping two apartment complexes with about 70 units between them. The units will be remodeled into studio apartments for emancipated youths from 16 to 21.
"Over the past 10 years, we in Denver have seen more and more of our youth end up on the streets," Webb has said. "Many of these youth have no family resources of any kind, and the city has determined that for these young people, we need to offer them an opportunity for a successful future."
 

Florida: State seeks to move disturbed children
Faced with a bottleneck of children stuck in pricey treatment programs, child welfare officials in Broward County have begun to aggressively assess the cases of dozens troubled youth.
The Department of Children & Families will begin by reviewing the placements of about 30 mentally ill or emotionally disturbed children who now live in institutions or group homes. In all, about 190 Broward children live in these centers.
"We have professionals that are looking into this. We've had a national consultant that's recommended that we begin to move kids into family-type settings rather than large group institutions," said Jack Moss, the department's district administrator in Broward County.
"We're not going to do anything that's not in the best interest of the child."
 

Australia: Fearful youth in knife rise
ONE in six Victorian youths have carried a knife, according to new research. Teens have also reported that shopping trolley handles, golf tees, car aerials and snooker balls are being used as weapons.
Results of a world-first research project, known as Operation Counterfoil, are expected to be released within the next two months.
Researchers at RMIT are in the final stages of the project, which also involves Victoria Police, the Youth Affairs Council of Victoria and Royal Australasian College of Surgeons.
Operation Counterfoil was set up after statistics revealed a steep rise in the number of weapon-related offences in Victoria -- up 91 per cent from 1994-1995 to 1999-2000.
In 2000-2001 there was a further 16.5 per cent increase in the number of offences involving weapons, with knives used in 45.6 per cent of cases.
But researchers say they have found that youths are not carrying weapons to be aggressive -- about 80 per cent do so out of fear.
 

UN: Accord to prevent child sex abuse
An international accord entered into force on Friday which obliges signatories to protect children from prostitution and pornography. Called the Optional Protocol on the sale of children, child prostitution and pornography, the accord has been signed by 89 countries and ratified by 16. The ratifiers include Cuba, Iceland, Morocco, Panama, Qatar, Romania, Sierra Leone, Spain, Uganda and Vietnam.
The protocol is attached to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which is universally implemented, and is seeking to raise the standards for the protection of children against the sex trade, a business in the billions of dollars annually.
The UN Children's Fund (Unicef) said the most vulnerable children, girls in particular, are traded across and within borders for the purposes of prostitution, pornography and "other intolerable forms of child labour". Many of those children are refugees, orphans, abandoned children, servants or children caught in a war.
Unicef estimates one million children are caught in the sex trade every year and has mounted an international campaign calling on governments to take measures to stop the trade.
 

Japan: Nara juvenile prison staff disciplined for beating inmates
Nine officers at the Nara Juvenile Prison were reprimanded between 1998 and 2000 for using violence against 13 inmates such as slapping them in the face, judiciary and prison sources said Friday. The chief corrections officer and eight other officers at the juvenile prison in Nara Prefecture were reprimanded for using violence against the inmates, who had allegedly broken prison rules, the sources told Kyodo News.
The officers are required to give verbal warnings to rule-breakers, the sources said, adding that the chief and a senior officer were also warned but averted criminal charges because no inmates were injured.
The Nara Juvenile Prison currently has about 750 inmates, most are under 30.
According to the sources, one incident of abuse took place in October 1998. A 37-year-old corrections officer slapped inmates several times on the face when they were quarreling, and barred them from performing their work duties. But in a daily log, the officer wrote that they performed their duties.
The officer also forced all the inmates working in the same room to meditate during recess and banned newspaper reading for a week as punishment, the sources said.
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US: Juvenile justice head confronts critics
Faced with a rising chorus of critics who believe his agency has turned its back on efforts to reform juvenile delinquents, Juvenile Justice Secretary William Bankhead confronted child advocates in Fort Lauderdale Wednesday and vowed not to abandon troubled kids.
Bankhead listened as a judge, a prosecutor, a public defender, business people and several child advocates derided the Department of Juvenile Justice's apparent shift away from preventing and treating juvenile crime -- in favor of building beds in secure facilities.
``We must realize these are not someone else's kids; these are our kids, kids who, with the right services, can stay on the right side of the law,'' said Jason Zaborski, chief assistant to the executive director of the Tallahassee-based Florida Children's Campaign, at the breakfast sponsored by Broward Workshop.
If lawmakers and juvenile justice department officials don't change course, Zaborski said, Florida will have a ``Department of Juvenile Corrections,'' not justice.
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 18 January 2002

Australia: Inquiry targets children detained on Christmas Island
Christmas Island will today become the first site of a national inquiry into the detention of children of asylum seekers. Australia's Human Rights Commissioner will investigate conditions on Christmas Island.
Late last year, the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission announced a national inquiry into the detention of children in immigration centres across the country.
Human Rights Commissioner Dr Sev Ozdowski has chosen Christmas Island as one of his first sites, and plans to meet with island officials today.  He then plans to spend the next few days visiting the remaining 200 asylum seekers in a camp on Phosphate Hill.
Some 300 asylum seekers were flown to Nauru from Christmas Island a few weeks ago.
Dr Ozdowski will be checking whether the detention of children and the conditions under which they are being kept, agree with Australia's human rights obligations.
 

US: Bush Signs At-Risk Children's Bill
President Bush is offering help to the children of prison inmates, proposing $25 million in seed money for programs that provide role models and mentors.
Bush made the proposal Thursday as he signed legislation that expands programs for at-risk children, such as those that encourage adoption, try to reunite broken families or provide additional benefits for youths in foster care who are nearing adulthood without being adopted.
 

Ruling ignores rights of children: professor
Canadian parents, teachers and guardians retained the right to use "reasonable" force with misbehaving children after a Tuesday court ruling upheld a controversial section of the Criminal Code.
The Ontario Court of Appeal rejected a bid to strike down Section 43 -- sometimes called the "spanking law" -- which allows the use of force "by way of correction" towards a child as long as it does not exceed "what is reasonable under the circumstances."
Ailsa Watkinson, a University of Regina Faculty of Social Work professor, researched the challenge to the law in the mid-1990s and chose an Ontario advocacy group to argue the case.
She expressed dismay, but not surprise, at the decision of the appeal court, which followed a July 2000 decision by Justice David McCombs to keep the law because parents and teachers need some latitude in carrying out their duty as caregivers.
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England: New action on school exclusions
There are some 8,300 exclusions a year. Head teachers in England are being told that they can kick pupils out of school for a single, first offence of bullying, if they consider it to be serious enough. There are just too many examples of children whose lives have been made a misery by the action of other children.
The Conservatives and even a senior Labour MP called it a "U-turn" on the previous policy, which had set targets for reducing exclusions.
The Education Secretary, Estelle Morris, said serious bullying - or possession of an offensive weapon - would be added to the grounds for immediate expulsion in new guidelines to be issued next week.
The existing grounds are sexual misconduct, drug dealing, or serious violence - actual or threatened.
Story

Zambia: Copperbelt Plans for Girl Child Education
THE Copperbelt Province has devised a plan to sensitise traditional rulers and parents on the importance of girl education in rural areas.
Copperbelt provincial education officer John Luo said in an interview in Ndola yesterday that many girls had dropped out of school because of some negative traditional tendencies disadvantaging them. He said the massive sensitisation would start next month and a team of officers will coordinate the activities and oversee the exercise.
The campaign is aimed at discouraging early marriages and advising parents to talk to their children on the dangers of the dreaded HIV/AIDS.
 

 17 January 2002

Canada: Natives look to break free from welfare 'cycle'
Some teenaged natives view welfare as a birthright once they reach their 18th birthday, native chiefs told a policy conference yesterday. Worried chiefs meeting in Dartmouth yesterday said it’s crucial that bands find ways to motivate young people to work or stay in school, even when their parents want them to line up for a government cheque.
“In a lot of instances, it’s the parents who are bringing the children up to the band office when they turn 18 to get them put on welfare. And if the welfare officer says ‘no,’ the parents throw a fit,” Chief Second Peter Barlow, of Indian Island, New Brunswick, told a group of 25 native leaders attending a meeting of the Atlantic Policy Congress. “I have young people coming to me, saying ‘the government owes me a living, I don’t want to work‚’” added Shirley Clarke, chief of Glooscap First Nation in the Annapolis Valley.
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Russia: Putin Says Russia Must Help Kids More
President Vladimir Putin told his government on Tuesday that it was not doing enough to end homelessness among children — a problem he says has reached alarming proportions. His comments, during a meeting with Deputy Prime Minister Valentina Matviyenko, came a day after he ordered new proposals for dealing with what is a growing concern.
``People are raising this issue,'' Putin said. ``If people are drawing the attention of the head of state to this problem, that means the measures haven't been effective.''
The government says there are at least 1 million homeless children in Russia. In Moscow, they typically congregate at train stations and can be seen sleeping in subway cars and near ventilation systems that give off heat. Beggars often stand in the subway with children who may or may not be their own.
At her meeting with Putin, parts of which were broadcast on ORT television, Matviyenko ticked off a list of recent government initiatives.
Children's rights advocates welcomed the president's attention to the problem but said the challenge would be to translate it into concrete action. ``What Putin said is important, but there are fears that this will again lead to nothing,'' said Boris Altshuler, head of a group called Right of the Child.
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Michigan: Spending priorities put programs at risk
Alarmed that prevention programs for troubled families are quickly unraveling, advocates are calling for Michigan to divert money from college scholarships and promised tax cuts to keep the services going.
A coalition of groups Monday said that programs aimed at early childhood development and prevention of child abuse and neglect got a foothold during flush times of the '90s. Now, they are among the first to be cut.
Gov. John Engler has said education is his priority, and he protected the school aid fund from the sting of a recent round of budget cuts.
That's fine, but cutting preschool programs or parenting education programs will impact education in the long run, said Paul Shaheen, executive director of the Michigan Council for Maternal and Child Health.
"It's like saying roads are a priority budget but we're going to cut the cement budget," Shaheen said. "Child development is a key component of educational success."
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Ireland: Proposals would minimise risks to children
NEW service proposals, which would allow social workers to minimise the risks to children at a time of severe shortages in the profession, have been put forward to employers, it emerged yesterday.
IMPACT trade union said the plan put before the three health boards in the eastern region is aimed at improving on the current haphazard approach. The aim is to create a "quality emergency service" which would openly recognise the impossibility of providing a full service. "But it would improve upon the existing haphazard approach, which potentially puts children at risk ... "It would mean a block on certain services for unallocated cases." This includes access visits and the preparation of court reports, the proposals said. It follows the warning by Kieran McGrath, Irish Social Worker editor, that thousands of suspected abuse cases are not being dealt with because of staff shortages.
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Australia: Children tougher than we think over divorce
Most children do not suffer long-term harm when their parents divorce, a new ground-breaking study claims.  Less than 25 per cent of the children studied were permanently damaged, the research stated, bucking popular thinking about divorce.
An Australian academic says the results reflect other studies showing that the short-term pain of divorce often disappears for children. The study of 1400 families was conducted by Mavis Hetherington, a psychologist at the University of Virginia. She found that 75 to 80 per cent of children coped reasonably well with divorce, while the other 20 to 25 per cent were prone to depression, emotional problems or anti-social behaviour. That compares with 10 per cent of children from intact families.
Professor Hetherington said previous research focused too much on the negative effects of divorce and "ignored its sometimes considerable positive effects". While she did not want to encourage divorce, she said it was "also an opportunity to build a new and better life".
To avoid future problems, children of broken families had to have at least one competent and emotionally caring parent, the research found.
 

 16 January 2002

Police Storm Thailand Youth Prison
Police firing tear gas canisters stormed a juvenile detention center in southern Thailand early Tuesday to quell a seven-hour riot by hundreds of inmates over prison conditions, officials said. One officer and one inmate were seriously hurt in the violence that destroyed two buildings at a juvenile correction center in Surat Thani province, about 330 miles south of Bangkok. Five other inmates suffered minor injuries.
About 425 inmates aged between 15 and 18 protested what they called harsh regulations, said Col. Chaiyaporn Wamasiri, provincial police chief. Most of them were being detained on drugs charges.
They were demanding smoking rights, family visits outside prison, and the removal of one warden they said was too strict, Chaiyaporn said.
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Drunk Japanese youths mar coming-of-age events
Annual coming-of-age ceremonies in Japan held Monday were marred by drunken youths in what is being seen as a deviation from the country's traditional values of courtesy and patience, Britain's The Daily Telegraph reported Tuesday.
''Japanese believe that the virtues of respect for other people and patience are what make their society work, so there is great disappointment'' that many youths fail to sit through the ceremonies without using their mobile phones, it said.
It cited an incident on Sunday in the Okinawa city of Naha in which seven people were arrested for violence, and quoted Mayor Takeshi Onaga as saying, ''These stupid antics really leave me feeling sad and pained.''
The Telegraph said that while ''older Japanese observed their own coming-of-age ceremonies in respectful silence,'' ceremonies in recent years have been a ''painful annual reminder of the growing gap between the generations.''
The ceremonies are held to mark 20-year-olds' entry into adulthood.
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US: Detention Change Sought
With more juvenile delinquents being squeezed into crowded detention centers, some lawyers are calling for the state to give young offenders credit for the time they serve. Currently, adults who are arrested and go to jail before trial have that time subtracted from any sentence they receive should they be convicted.
But the rules are different for juveniles, who can wait as long as six or nine months for their cases to be resolved in court. The clock does not start ticking on their state commitments - which can last from 18 months to four years - until they are placed.
"I see it all the time and I think it is manifestly unfair," said Middletown Juvenile Public Defender Maria Madsen Holzberg. "I think it deprives them of equal protection under the law. If adults get credit, children should too."
Such issues will be discussed today when national experts, state officials and legislators meet at the Capitol for a forum on the state's juvenile-justice system.
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Canada: Doctors encouraged to get active about physical inactivity
Doctors across Canada are being urged to write physical activity prescriptions for their patients as a more effective way of tackling the problem of obesity among Canadians, in addition to a myriad of other inactivity-related chronic diseases. In 1999, approximately 21,000 Canadians died prematurely as a result of medical problems related to physical inactivity and added $2.1 billion in direct costs to Canada's already burdened health care system.
Statistics linked to the physical activity levels of Canada's youth are most concerning:

• Between 1981 and 1996, obesity nearly tripled among boys, and more than doubled among girls.
• Canadian children now expend 400 per cent less energy than their counterparts did 40 years ago.
• Two-thirds of Canadian children and youth are not active enough for optimal growth and development.

The CFPC has been urging its members to become more active in addressing physical inactivity by encouraging the use of Canada's Physical Activity Guide (which recommends the accumulation of at least 30 minutes of moderate physical activity on most days of the week).
 

Parents' long hours may harm kids
PARENTS who work long hours to support their children financially may be harming their child's psychological development according to research undertaken in the US. The National Longitudinal Survey of Youth released this month in the journal Developmental Psychology highlights the short and long term effects of early parental employment on children.
Compliance, behaviour problems, cognitive development, self-esteem and academic achievement were monitored with mixed results.
The survey found early parental employment positively affects children's development by increasing family income. But working more hours was linked with slightly lower cognitive development for children up to the age of nine and slightly lower academic achievement scores for children under seven.
The study focuses on maternal employment based on how many weeks after their child's birth they returned to work and the average hours they worked per week during the first three years of their children's lives. It showed that mothers who return to work in the first three to four years of their child's life risk dealing with children with behaviour problems, such as chronic disobedience. There were no significant effects of fathers returning to work early in a child's life.
 

Finland: Long waiting lists for child psychiatric care
In more than half of all hospitals in several parts of Finland - including Helsinki, the northeastern Kainuu region, Northern Ostrobothnia, parts of the southwestern Satakunta region, and Eastern Savo - the waiting list for admission to a child psychiatric ward is more than four months, when it should be no more than three.
A shortage of psychiatrists is the main difficulty in the southern region of Uusimaa. For instance, the city of Järvenpää has not received any applicants for a vacancy for a child psychiatrist, which has been open for a year.
According to Jorma Back, head of the social and health affairs unit of the Association of Finnish Local and Regional Authorities, many individual hospitals are unable to offer child and youth psychiatric services in a reasonable time. However, he says that most health care districts and hospitals are able to offer such services without undue delay.
"Help is always given for the most urgent problems. Psychiatric problems are also treated at public health clinics, in occupational health, and in school health care. It is not possible to get very many new psychiatrists into hospitals and out-patient care", Back says.
Story

Canada: Court upholds spanking law
Parents can continue to use reasonable force to discipline their children with the blessing of the Criminal Code after Canada's age-old "spanking law" was upheld Tuesday by the Ontario Court of Appeal. "Parents can physically discipline their children . . . that's what the court has found," Roslyn Levine, lawyer for Canada's Attorney General, said after the ruling was handed down.
"It provides a balance between what parents need to raise their children and what children need to protect their constitutional rights."
The Canadian Foundation for Children, Youth and the Law went to court in hopes of striking down Section 43 of the Criminal Code, which grants parents, teachers and guardians permission to physically discipline children in the name of correcting behaviour. The challenge was launched following a decision July 2000 by Justice David McCombs to uphold the century-old law because parents and teachers need some latitude in carrying out their duty as caregivers.
"The section exempts only the use of force that is reasonable in the circumstances and is by way of correction," the appeal court judges said in their ruling. "It decriminalizes only non-abusive physical punishment of children by parents or teachers where the intention is to correct and correction is possible."
Story

 15 January 2002

Canada: Kids let down by courts?
A national surge in the number of children in government care and protracted custody battles is bogging down the judicial system, say child welfare advocates.
"If the courts were a business, they would be bankrupt," said Peter Jaffe, executive director of the Centre for Children and Families in the Justice System.
A shortage of judges, lengthy legal arguments, insufficient mediation and assessment services and tougher provincial legislation have conspired to force unconscionable delays in deciding the future of many Ontario children, said the head of a London, Ont.-based advocacy and support group.
Last week, Ontario's chief justices raised concerns of their own by complaining about delays which run the risk of becoming "endemic."
"Child protection cases are among the most important cases in our court and it is a matter of concern that we do not as yet appear to have the ability to deal with all of them within optimal time frames," Brian Lennox, chief justice of the Ontario Court of Justice, said at the opening of the court's winter session.
Story

Scotland: Under 12s crime to be abolished
Thousands of children under the age of 12 will escape punishment for committing crimes - including murder - under a radical plan to be presented to ministers tomorrow.
The Scottish Law Commission is expected to recommend raising the age of criminal responsibility from eight to 12 in a long-awaited report ordered by the Scottish Executive.
It means the 5,000 crimes committed each year in Scotland by eight to 11-year-olds could no longer result in children being taken to court, no matter how serious the offence.
The proposal has outraged police, Tory and even Labour politicians, who claim the Scottish Executive is in danger of going soft on crime and selling out communities which are under siege from juvenile offenders.
But supporters of the change say Scotland has one of the lowest ages of criminal responsibility in Europe and must reform the law to stave off a flood of legal challenges under human rights legislation.
Story

Unesco starts free schools for Afghan children
Unesco Office Islamabad, with support from the ministry of education has launched an initiative to organize basic education for Afghan refugee children.
According to a press release issued here on Sunday, three temporary schools/classes have been started in Maskeenabad, a slum area of Sector I-11, where over 80,000 Afghan refugees are residing.
Unesco director-general, Koichiro Matsuura visited one of the refugee schools with the federal education minister Zobaida Jalal and the federal minister for women's development, Dr Attiya Inayatullah.
These schools will provide education free of cost. Unesco has provided free textbooks, school bags, stationary and other teaching aids for the students.
Story

US: Juveniles deserve the protection of open hearings
Pennsylvania has yet to learn the lesson of Minnesota and 11 other states. After a three-year pilot program, the Midwestern state's Supreme Court has ordered that all hearings and most court records on abused and neglected children be open to the public beginning in July.
Minnesota Chief Justice Kathleen Blatz said the experiment that has been working in 12 counties since 1998 should be made statewide and permanent. "The power of the court system is derived from the trust and confidence of the people in the judiciary," she wrote. "You cannot have that trust and confidence when the people cannot get into the courtroom."
Story

Girls account for more juvenile arrests
While juvenile crime is down overall, experts point to a variety of factors as to why females are in trouble more. The change can be seen every day at the Jackson County Youth Center.
Since last year, the center's residential facility for troubled juveniles has devoted a wing -- 10 beds in all -- to girls. They now make up half of the spaces that the center offers.
"It used to be that maybe we'd have two or three girls in the program at a time," said Liane Morgan, who supervises probation officers for the county Circuit Court's family division.
The example underscores a trend that has grown noticeable to police, judges and social workers in recent years: Girls are accounting for a higher share of juvenile arrests.
That comes despite the fact that such crime overall has been on a steady slide since 1990, according to a review of Michigan State Police statistics.
Experts don't agree on reasons behind the trend but point out several factors: inadequate prevention programs, troubled home lives, more gang involvement, drug abuse and sexual victimization.
Story

Zimbabwe: 10 000 Children's Education under Threat
OVER 10 000 primary school children will be denied education as a result of farm school closures caused by the fast track resettlement scheme which has brought business at commercial farms to a standstill. The General Agricultural and Plantation Workers' Union of Zimbabwe (Gapwuz) said the number of children to be thrown out of schools on farms was bound to increase because of the disturbances.
Story

 14 January 2002

New Zealand: Youth chooses adult prison
A 16-year-old youth yesterday got his wish for a spell in Christchurch's Paparua Prison, preferring it to the cells at the Christchurch Central police station.
Four youths have been held in the police cells this week, because secure accommodation is not available for them at the Kingslea Residential Centre in suburban Burwood. One of them was brought before Judge Stephen Erber in the Christchurch District Court on Friday.
He faced six charges of escaping from custody as well as counts of resisting and assaulting police, theft, receiving stolen property, threatening to kill or do grievous bodily harm, wounding and injuring with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, burglary and unlawfully taking a vehicle.
He had been on bail awaiting sentencing on January 31 but was arrested for a breach of the bail conditions on January 4 and has been in the police cells for a week. No bed is available at Kingslea until Wednesday, and he sought a remand to Paparua in the meantime.
Crown prosecutor James Rapley said the law would allow the youth before the court to be remanded to an adult prison, which offered better facilities and exercise yards.
Story

France: Youth gangs, rising violence become concerns
Terror by gangs of youths is spreading through French ghettoes to an extent that firefighters, ambulance crews and even police are reluctant to enter.
"The suburbs are burning," headlined the conservative daily Le Figaro, describing the situation in the suburban slums inhabited mainly by immigrants from North Africa and sub-Saharan former colonies.
Random violence and accompanying insecurity are the leading national concerns, dwarfing unemployment, as this year's presidential election approaches.
 

Australia: Proposal backs mall rights for youth
Tension between young people socialising in malls and shopping centre managements who see them as putting off other visitors could soon be eased following the proposal of new protocol contracts.
Agreements may be in place by the end of this year if suggestions by the lobby group Youth Action Policy Association are adopted.
A proposal for New South Wales has been based on an agreement set up at the Myer Centre in Brisbane and signed by the shopping centre, the local government authority and the Youth Affairs Network of Queensland, and monitored by the Queensland University of Technology. That contract followed an incident in 1997 when a 14-year-old was reportedly asked to leave the shopping centre for sporting a mohawk haircut.
 

Most Children in Angola Malnourished--UNICEF
The United Nations said on Friday children in Angola, which has the second highest mortality rate among children under age 5 in the world, were suffering chronic malnutrition amid war and disease.
``Angola -- like Afghanistan until recently -- has consistently been one of the 10 forgotten conflict areas,'' Wivina Belmonte, a spokeswoman of the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), told Reuters.
In a letter to donor countries, UNICEF renewed its appeal for $18 million to help Angolan children and mothers, in particular to fund the distribution of vaccines to combat an outbreak of measles.
 

 11 January 2002

UK: Union gains respect for its work with inner-city youth
CALL it coincidence if you like but, 24 hours before the Rugby Football Union staged a disciplinary hearing set in a context of racial abuse, it received a massive pat on the back for its work in inner cities and social regeneration.
A sport that, eight years ago, was not organised to win support from a younger and sometimes alien generation is now seen as a pioneer in that field, according to Geoff Thompson, the executive chairman of the Youth Charter of Sport, Culture and the Arts. Thompson was the 1982 world heavyweight karate champion before becoming involved in sports politics.
“The RFU was the only leading governing body to listen to what the Youth Charter was trying to do,” he said at the launch yesterday of the See U @ Rug B initiative at Twickenham, sponsored by Royal and SunAlliance, which will see an investment of £750,000 over the next three years on the development of rugby in the inner cities, including the introduction of a floodlit league in Manchester’s Moss Side.
 

No quick fixes for gas sniffing by Innu youth: health official
While the resurgence of gas sniffing in Davis Inlet is a frustrating setback, such relapses are typical when dealing with solvent abuse, an official with Health Canada said Wednesday.
"We know there are no quick fixes," Brian Dorey said from his office in central Labrador. "Some of the pieces aren't meshing well right now. . . At times, all parties get frustrated with this
process."
Dorey was responding to reports that dozens of children and youths in the northern Labrador community had resumed inhaling gas fumes in recent weeks despite an intense, year-long effort to help them kick the habit.
The Innu chief of Davis Inlet, Simeon Tshakapesh, immediately accused Health Canada of failing to offer enough help over the stressful holiday period.
 

Australia: Youth mentor scheme comes first
New methods of dealing with juveniles roaming the South Australian city of Port Augusta at night may begin within two weeks.
While the so-called safe house is still on the agenda, a youth mentoring scheme will be established first.
Key interest groups met for nearly four hours in Port Augusta yesterday to discuss the problem of hundreds of young children roaming the streets late at night, causing residents to fear for their safety and regularly forcing businesses to deal with vandalism and theft.
Highest on the agenda was a proposed safe house, where children could be taken if found on the streets at night. While the idea garnered support from most local groups, it was proposals to establish night street workers and mentors that got the immediate go-ahead, with the South Australian Government promising $100,000 for the mentoring.
Story

 10 January 2002

Gas sniffing resumes on a large scale in Davis Inlet
Dozens of gas-sniffing youths are again roaming the squalid streets of Davis Inlet. Their sudden return to this northern Labrador community suggests a year's worth of high-profile treatment programs has failed. "There's dozens and dozens (sniffing gas)," said one resident of the island community, which is home to about 600 Innu.
"It's worse than it was before. ... A bunch came back and got the others into the gas-sniffing mood after Christmas." Simeon Tshakapesh, the community's outspoken Innu chief, said federal health officials are to blame because they haven't approved funding for a community treatment centre.
"It's stubbornness from Health Canada," he said Tuesday. "It's something they're trying to impose on us. ... We keep saying it's not going to work until we get our hands on these programs and run them ourselves." Health officials couldn't be reached for comment, but the RCMP and some residents say the disturbing resurgence in solvent abuse can be traced to other factors.
http://www.canoe.ca/NationalTicker/CANOE-wire.Innu-Gas-Sniff.html

NS investigation may be released soon
A year late, the independent investigation is almost done into the way the Nova Scotia government handled its controversial compensation program to those who claimed they were abused at provincial reform schools.
Justice Department spokeswoman Michele McKinnon said yesterday the report — authored by retired Quebec justice Fred Kaufman — could be released as early as the end of this month.
http://www.canada.com/halifax/news/story.asp?id={6591EFD9-8A2A-40FC-B3C4-0900F959FC97}

Premier Harris Joins AOL Canada on e-Mentoring Program for At-Risk Youth
This week AOL Canada, in partnership with Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Canada (BBBSC) and Frontier College, officially launched a new mentoring program for at-risk youth called Digital Heroes. This program is part of AOL's commitment to Ontario's Promise -- a provincial initiative dedicated to creating partnerships between all sectors of society to benefit children and youth.
The program provides young people with unequalled access to volunteer mentors from BBBSC and Frontier College via e-mail. The types of mentoring provided by the program will include personal development, educational or academic questions and career advice.
The program will provide over 200 participating Ontario youth with computers, equipment and AOL Canada's Internet service to connect with their volunteer e-mail mentors.
 

Kenya Library Services a Failure, Say Youth
The Kenya National Library Services (KNLS) has failed in its objective to enhance literacy and popularise the reading culture among Kenyans, youths at a workshop said at the weekend. The organisation was also blamed for not reaching out to rural communities.
Its mobile units have been crippled and the few in operation were obsolete in content, they argued.
The youths mainly in secondary and colleges were speaking at a pre-school opening gathering at Isebania town in Kuria District. They were drawn from Bukira west location and organisers used the forum to counsel the youths on contemporary issues in education, health and social matters.
The students suggested that KNLS establishes a working relationship with local learning institutions so that their libraries are used to extend services to post-literacy learners throughout the year.
 

Ireland: Children in pubs row sparks drink abuse debate call
THE row over whether children should be allowed into pubs took a new twist yesterday as a Dail committee chairperson called for a public debate on alcohol abuse. Charles Flanagan, of the all-party Dail Committee on Liquor Licensing, said Irish society was in denial about the extent of the problem.
We are suffering from a "highly dangerous level of alcohol addiction" according to the Fine Gael front-bencher. While consumption in the EU was declining it was "rocketing ahead."
His remarks came in the wake of controversy following a publican's decision to refuse service to a man accompanied by his young son which the Director of Equality Investigations' office ruled as unlawful.
Mr Flanagan said a drink problem was apparent among young people. "Teenage binge drinking is now a fact of life in every community in Ireland," he added "Teenage drinking is also impacting on school performance. Universities and third level colleges are awash with alcohol.
Story

Poverty hits Indonesian children
At least 2,000 scavengers from Bekasi and 4,000 others from various towns benefiting from the Bantar Gebang dumpsite. Life is far from ideal here. But many, including the more than 700 children aged seven to 15 who work nine to 12 hours a day at Bantar Gebang, have gotten used to it and know how much they depend on the dumpsite to survive.
The child scavengers are among the 6.5 million Indonesian children forced to work to survive, according to the National Commission for Child Protection. The figure represents a more than 100 percent increase from last year's 2.7 million child labourers, it adds.
According to the commission, this year continues to looks bleak for many Indonesian children as the prolonged economic crisis, from which the country has to yet to recover, forces more and more of them to earn a living. Aside from working in dumpsites, children can be found working in fishing platforms, factories, plantations, farms, brothels, and on the streets.
Having to work also means these children are not in school because of the work at the dumpsite. The children working as scavengers risk getting injured or even killed by the dump trucks and bulldozers that operate at the dumpsite. They are also exposed to different diseases such as typhoid fever, tapeworm, tetanus and diarrhoea.
Story

BC Children's ministry struggles with cuts
The Children and Family Development Ministry is looking at cutting its workforce by 26 per cent, eliminating protective services for 17- and 18-year- olds and then changing legislation so it can meet its mandate.
A leaked ministry memo, written in November, sets out ways the ministry could reduce investigations, trim the number of children in care and make staff and the public more willing to accept that some children will be at risk.
Minister Gordon Hogg is on vacation and not available for comment, but ministry spokeswoman Marisa Adair said the document is part of an ongoing discussion with regional staff and no decisions have been made. The paper was given to a senior assistant deputy minister, but originated from one of the regions, not from the top level of the bureaucracy, she said.
The ministry does not yet know what its budget targets will be and the 26 per cent staff reduction is hypothetical, Adair said.
Children at moderate risk should be managed in families and communities and low-risk children should not have ministry involvement, the document suggests.
"If the ministry is to be effective in protecting children with a significantly reduced workforce it must shift its expectations and focus its priorities and resources on high-risk children ... To accomplish this cultural shift, the ministry and society must accept some risk," it suggests.
Seventeen- and 18-year-olds should no longer be taken into care, but they should have access to support services, it says.
Story

N. Ireland: New children's home is opened
A NEW eight-place children's home built in Lisburn at a cost of £500,000 has been officially opened by Baroness May Blood.
The building, to be known as Flexfield, is close to the Lagan Valley Hospital at Hillsborough Road and it will provide for children in need of long term residential care.
The new amenity will have a fully qualified social work team of nine led by manager Steve Mack.
 

 9 January 2002

Group seeks youth curfew
A group of Anne Arundel County residents is asking the County Council to create a curfew for people younger than age 17 that it believes would solve nuisance problems in neighborhoods.
A curfew of midnight Friday and Saturday nights and 11 p.m. other nights has been requested by members of the county's Western District Police Community Relations Council. Under the proposal - based on the curfew law in Laurel City - it also would be illegal for children to be in public places when school is in session.
"We're trying to do something to help the community by giving police officers another tool," said Mary Cooper, a community council member who has lived in the Russett neighborhood for nearly a decade. Dave Daughters, community relations council president, said the group studied curfews in other cities for several years. He said nearly 88 percent of 222 west county residents responding to a survey last year supported the idea to allow police to remove children from corners and streets late at night.
Story

Canada: Govt funds literacy projects in Prince Edward Island
Announced this week is funding totalling $116,239 for three literacy projects in Prince Edward Island through the National Literacy Secretariat. "These projects will help foster awareness and an appreciation of family literacy initiatives in Prince Edward Island, and encourage lifelong learning among children and parents." said Mr. Murphy on behalf of the Honourable Jane Stewart, Minister of Human Resources Development.
Literacy skills are linked to work skills, health and self-esteem and enable people to participate more fully in our economy and our society. For instance, literacy skills help determine the kinds of jobs we find, enable parents to read to their children and help us understand technical jargon, allowing us to use tools and equipment safely.
 

Michigan Bill Would Prevent Teachers from Recommending Ritalin
A measure under consideration by Michigan lawmakers would prohibit teachers from suggesting to parents that they should put their children on Ritalin. State Rep. Susan Tabor (R-Lansing) said it's inappropriate for teachers to offer diagnoses of Attention Deficit Disorder to parents. Her bill would allow teachers to discuss a student's behavior with parents and suggest only that the child be taken to a doctor for evaluation.
"It says teachers cannot even discuss with parents the fact that the child might need Ritalin," said state Rep. Irma Clark, a former president of the Detroit Board of Education, who opposes Tabor's measure. "I don't want our teachers being so strapped to where they'd be afraid to even talk to parents."
Story

Teen Treatment Admissions on Rise
A new report shows that the number of adolescents aged 12 to 17 admitted to addiction treatment has increased 20 percent between 1994 and 1999, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).
Adolescent admissions for marijuana use increased from 43 percent in 1994 to 60 percent in 1999. The report showed that in 1999, four substances accounted for 91 percent of admissions. They were alcohol, 47 percent; opiates (mainly heroin), 16 percent; cocaine, 14 percent and marijuana/hashish, 14 percent.
The report found that alcohol admission rates were highest in the Pacific Northwest, North Central, and Northeast states. Heroin admission rates were highest in the Pacific and Middle Atlantic states, while cocaine admission rates were highest in the Middle Atlantic and some Southern states. The report also noted that methamphetamine/amphetamine admission rates have increased since 1994, spreading east from the Pacific states into the Midwest and South.
A copy of the 1994-1999 TEDS report is available online in pdf format HERE NOW
Story

 8 January 2002

Canada: Program aims to educate youth on sex
Hastings and Prince Edward Counties have the highest number of teen pregnancies in Eastern Ontario, and one of the highest in the province. Based on 1997 figures (the latest available statistics), the two counties have the second highest pregnancies in the 15-to-19-year-old group in Ontario.  The rate here is 52.7 per 1,000, about 200 pregnancies per year. The provincial rate is 41.7 per 1,000, significantly less than the two counties, and wants to reduce this to 40%.
In a bid to meet that target, the Hastings and Prince Edward Counties health unit has embarked on an ambitious new campaign called "We are here to help you...", says Marsha Olinski. The services are confidential, with a strict guarantee not to contact parents, doctors or partners without approval.
"The first thing we give to youth is information," Olinski says. "We put the emphasis on responsibility for young people. We actually really put an emphasis on abstinence. It's helping them to make healthy choices."
Story

US: Low-income programs now poorer
The Liberty City Optimist program, dedicated to providing sports and educational programs that local youths lacked, started with 12 kids and has morphed into a sports powerhouse serving some 800 boys and girls. But it faces its biggest threat this year, after the club lost funds from its main sponsor -- Miami-Dade County.
Last year, the group was awarded $67,800; this year, it's getting $33,900. Coupled with a $10,000 reduction in funds from Miami, Johnson said, the cuts could spell catastrophe.
``We're trying not to cut programs. I'm just trying to hold on,'' Johnson said. ``It's gonna change. We aren't sending kids away, but something has got to happen.''
Story

Researcher wants B.C. youth to remain a priority
The director of the McCreary Centre says costs are higher in long run if teen needs aren't met. Dr. Roger Tonkin hopes the needs of youth won't slip off B.C.'s political agenda in 2002.
"After going through all the change and trauma of the last few months, we need to take time to stop and listen respectfully to what young people have to say," the pediatrician says. "Try to understand what protects young people, rather than focus on how bad they are."
Tonkin is executive director of the non-profit McCreary Centre Society, which has been researching youth health issues in B.C. since 1977.
Story

California Youth Nonprofit Closing
Big Valley Helping Hands Corp., a 5-year-old nonprofit that provided services for those with physical, developmental and emotional disabilities, hasn't closed its doors yet at its offices in Stockton and Modesto. That's only because a handful of former employees now working as volunteers are doing the final packing up.
Over-expansion of a new program for mentally ill youths, plus contracts with several county governments that chronically paid bills late, depleted Helping Hands' cash reserves, strangled cash flow and sapped resources from other programs, said Kimberly Chimiklis, chief executive officer and founder of the agency.
Last month, about 50 people had jobs there, although paychecks had only sporadically been on time for the last several months of last year.  This month, no one has a job, and any paycheck will be the last.
 

 7 January 2002

UK Primary school children turn to drink
One in four 11-year-old boys has an alcoholic drink at least once a week, says a major study that has shocked experts. The figures, which also show one in six 11-year-old girls has a weekly drink, suggest alcohol use is becoming endemic among the very young - while parents and politicians focus on the dangers of other drugs. 'The first time we saw the results it was hair-raising,' said Dr David Regis of the Schools Health Education Unit, which surveyed 13,000 children across Britain. 'When we explained the figures to parents in our survey schools, they were similarly shocked. They didn't think it was their children.'
Story

Focus on obese children
CLINICALLY obese children who have to cope with "fat" jokes as well as other ridicule could be as much at risk of developing serious mental health problems as physical illnesses, according to researchers.
A team at Sheffield Hallam University is starting a project which will explore the mental effects of obesity on 126 overweight youngsters between 11 and 16.
Dr Amanda Daley, senior research fellow in psychology, said: "One of the big things about obesity in children of this age is the effect it has on their self esteem. "They can develop very low self worth."
 

Child curfews were just spin
A high-profile government attempt to crack down on juvenile crime by imposing night-time curfews on children is in disarray. The Home Office admitted last night that in the three years the legislation has been in place, not a single curfew has ever been implemented.
The law gave powers to local authorities to ban all children under 10 from being in a public place after 9pm. But the scheme, extended to include 15-year-olds last August, has been ignored by councils amid claims it is unworkable.
Napo, the probation union – which has campaigned against the new powers since their introduction in 1998 – said the law should now be abandoned. Harry Fletcher, Napo's assistant general secretary, said yesterday: "The curfew is unnecessary and discriminatory. If an individual child is problematic then the authorities should target him or her. In any event, many children are on the streets because of appalling circumstances at home."
Story

Reformed Child Support System Termed a Success
Two years after California overhauled its beleaguered child support system, state officials and advocates said Friday that the new program has exceeded expectations in collecting money for single-parent families.
With a record $2 billion a year now collected from parents ordered to pay child support, the new state Department of Child Support Services has more than doubled the average amount brought in per case, from $419 in fiscal 1996 to $1,015 in 2000, officials said. The 2001 figures are not yet available.
Just as important, they said, the new department has increased the number of cases in which paternity has been established in court, expanded the number of children covered by health insurance and enhanced the customer services that just a few years ago were a constant source of controversy. "For the first time in the history of California, child support enforcement embraces the idea of customer service," said Melanie Snider, a director of the Assn. for Children for Enforcement of Support, a national advocacy group.
 

Juvenile Court report shows change
Washtenaw County officials will review progress at study meeting this month. A final report on the overhaul of Washtenaw County Juvenile Court shows a reduction in backlogged cases and a number of new operational procedures in place.
The report by Circuit Judge Donald E. Shelton signals the end of the reorganization started nine months ago after county officials decided the system needed an overhaul. Shelton was assigned to oversee the project at the Juvenile Center, 2270 Platt Road in Ann Arbor.
The comprehensive report has so far received favorable reviews from county commissioners and trial court judges. Board members said Wednesday that they will review the study at a meeting later this month.
Story

 4 January 2002

School for troubled youths sued by family of student who died
The family of a 17-year-old student who died last year at a private school for troubled youths sued the facility yesterday, saying officials there failed to properly train a counselor who restrained the teen.
Carlton Eugene Thomas died May 14 after going into cardiac arrest at the Edgemeade-Raymond A. Rogers Jr. School in Upper Marlboro. A counselor had put Thomas in a restraining hold, which the state medical examiner concluded cut off the youth's oxygen and triggered an asthma attack.
The lawsuit, filed in Prince George's County Circuit Court, seeks "millions" of dollars in damages, the family's attorney said.
Story

UK: School run children would prefer to walk
EIGHT out of ten children who are driven to school by their parents would prefer to walk, according to new research. The school run is unpopular with young children because it restricts the time they get to spend alone with their friends, and because of a burgeoning awareness of the pollution and congestion caused by the extra traffic.
A survey of 600 children aged from 7 to 11 in Buckinghamshire and Berkshire, conducted by John Barker of Brunel University, indicates that 80 per cent of those who are normally taken to school in their parents’ cars would much rather walk or cycle. At present, 45 per cent of children in the area go to school by car, compared with a national average of 38 per cent.
Story

Hong Kong schools ban Chinese children
A human rights group in Hong Kong says it will take up with the United Nations the cases of children from the Chinese mainland being denied access to schooling.
The Hong Kong Human Rights Monitor says it is preparing submissions to three UN committees criticising the Hong Kong education authorities denial of what it says is the children's right to an education.
About 190 children of Hong Kong parents are reported to have been told by the Chinese authorities that they have to have proper exit visas before coming to Hong Kong - a process that can take years.
Story

UK: Children win foster boy abuse payout
FOUR children sexually abused by a teenager being fostered by their parents have been awarded compensation in an out of court settlement. The parents say they were not told that the 15-year-old boy had a history of sexually abusing others when he was placed with the family by an Essex county council social worker. The incidents were said to have occurred over four weeks in 1993.
The three girls and a boy, who were aged between eight and 12, and the parents have received a total settlement of nearly £200,000 after taking action against the council.
Story

Australia: Harsh treatment for arsonists
YOUNG arsonists will be taken "by the scruff of the neck" and shown the horror of their actions under new juvenile conferencing rules, NSW Premier Bob Carr has said. He said the changes meant those responsible would become fully aware of the results of their actions.
"Our goal here is to take these young people by the scruff of their neck and rub their noses in the ashes that their behaviour has generated, and that's what we're doing," Mr Carr told journalists.
Mr Carr earlier this week announced new guidelines for the juvenile youth conferencing program would include firebugs meeting with burns victims, people who had lost houses and systematic cleaning up of the affected areas.
 

School Rejects State's Demand for Budget Cuts
Roosevelt's embattled school board last night rejected state demands to close a growing budget deficit, which district officials said would require "devastating" teacher layoffs and elimination of kindergarten classes, sports and other student activities. The board's 4-0 rejection could set the scene for a showdown with state school officials, who have threatened to oust board members if they do not comply. However, the board did agree to two of the state's demands, that it revise a district-wide improvement plan and make no personnel changes without approval from a state-appointed panel.
"If we make these cuts, we might as well shut the school system down," said board member Sara Gilliard, who was appointed last week to fill a vacancy. "Whether they remove this board or not, I'll go down fighting."
Even state authorities acknowledge that budget cuts of that size would all but wreck the 3,200 student system. The state could impose cuts on its own, after removing board members from office. That could trigger a wider crisis, because Education Commissioner Richard Mills has threatened to dissolve Roosevelt and assign its students to other districts, rather than condemn district youths to substandard programs. The state says budget cuts must be in place by the start of the district's second semester on Jan. 28.
 

Drug court to begin this year : Intensive program to help troubled youth
With no fanfare and no ceremonies, Anne Arundel County courts will quietly start a program next month aimed at turning around the lives of troubled, drug-using youths.
The county's Circuit Court will create the fourth juvenile drug court in the state, a carrot-and-stick mix of therapies, treatments and court orders that officials hope will prevent problem children from growing into adult criminals.
Story

Maryland juvenile program to end by June
Maryland will end the juvenile-jail program at the Victor Cullen Academy in Western Maryland by June, and will instead place most of the youths under community-based supervision, Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend announced yesterday.
Under a new plan drafted by Juvenile Justice Secretary Bishop L. Robinson, Maryland will deal with high- and low-risk youth separately. The Cullen facility, in Sabillasville, will remain open and house 48 high-risk teens divided between two facilities. The other 158 teens considered a smaller threat to public safety will be evaluated and reincorporated into society with the help of counselors, who will monitor the youths' schooling and after-school activities.
 

Public defender vows to shorten youths' stay at S.F. juvenile hall
San Francisco Public Defender Kimiko Burton yesterday pledged to help shorten the time youth offenders spend at juvenile hall, where they remain an average of three months even after being ordered released by a judge.
Burton, who was appointed in January and faces re-election in March, said her office will step up efforts to help rehabilitate gang youths and reunite them with their families.
"If we can reconnect them with their families and rehabilitate them, we can get them out of gangs," Burton said at a press conference in Chinatown.
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 3 January 2002

Australia: Harry Potter name used for drug
The spellbinding allure of Harry Potter has moved beyond the cinema and onto the street with drug dealers adopting the young wizard's name for a new batch of ecstasy.  A drug internet chat site named pillreport shows a drug named Harry Potter has hit the streets of Melbourne.
Drug takers there have posted notes on the website saying the drug is very nice while others have called for supplies of Harry Potter in Sydney. The drug, which features an engraving of a witch over a moon, joins a list of other drugs named after crazes of the day.
 

China to continue one-child policy
China’s first legislation on family planning and population was enacted by the 25th session of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC), which concluded here Saturday, reports Xinhua. The law, to be enforced from September 1 of next year, is to continue the current government policy on birth control and family planning as it has proved effective.
The law stipulates that the country encourages a couple to bear one child, and they can have a second child if their circumstances meet the provisions. NPC Standing Committee Chairman Li Peng said facts have proven that the family planning policy has played a vital role in promoting economic development and social progress and improvement of people’s living standards in China.
 

Over 300,000 Children Recruited For Combat -- Report
More than 300,000 children, some as young as 7, are being recruited to fight in armed conflicts worldwide, mainly in Africa and Asia, according to a report released today by the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers.
While the use of child soldiers has decreased in Latin America, the Balkans and the Middle East in recent years, "new generations of children are at risk in Africa and parts of Asia and the Pacific," the coalition reports.
"The widespread availability of modern lightweight weapons has contributed to the child soldier problem, enabling even the smallest child to become an efficient killer in combat," the report says, noting that in 87 countries children are being recruited by national and rebel armed groups.
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Australia: Decline in child fitness
Television, video games and cars have been blamed for a steady decline in the aerobic fitness of Australia's children. A University of South Australia study has found today's children are likely to be 15 to 20 per cent less fit than their parents were at the same age.
Researcher Tim Olds said similar trends had occurred in all affluent nations, but Australia's slide in fitness was among the worst.
"Compared to children of similar ages across 11 other countries, Australians showed poor to average aerobic fitness levels," Dr Olds said.
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Miracle AIDS child
A coouple infected with the HIV/AIDS virus have given birth to a child who is negative after the mother took anti-retroviral drugs during her pregnancy.
Nompumelelo Payi (29) and her boyfriend Lamla Khethe (31) told City Press the government should reconsider its appeal to the Constitutional Court to reverse its ruling that the government provide HIV-positive mothers with anti-retrovirals to prvent mother-to-child transmission of the virus.
Payi, who lives in an informal settlement in Khayelitsha, was infected with HIV and has lived with the disease for eight years. She said taking the anti-retroviral drug from a local "experimental clinic" probably spared her child's life. "I urge the government to consider giving all (HIV positive) women the drug to save more lives," she said.
 

Child sexual abuse cultural 'nonsense'
THE perception that child sexual abuse was somehow acceptable in Aboriginal communities because it was part of the culture was nonsense, West Australian Premier Geoff Gallop said.
Dr Gallop made the comment as he announced details of a $1 million six-month inquiry into widespread child sexual abuse in WA Aboriginal communities, and how government agencies handled such cases.
Perth Children's Court magistrate Sue Gordon will head the panel of three inquiring into the issue. Also on the panel are Yorgum Aboriginal Counselling Service manager Darryl Henry and a former community services minister, Kay Hallahan, who is current chair of the national board of the Save the Children Fund.
 

Child Welfare League of America on list of 100 Best Charities
The Child Welfare League of America (CWLA) has been chosen as one of the 100 Best Charities in the December/January 2002 issue of Worth magazine (http://www.worth.com ).
The special issue reported results of an extensive six-month investigation by its writers and editors into what charities actually do, how they spend contributions, and whether or not they are making a real impact. The magazine concentrated its examination of nonprofit organizations in five areas they felt were critical to America and the world: health, human services, education, relief and development, and the environment, to come up with what they consider the 100 Best Charities.
"We are extremely pleased to be recognized as one of Worth Magazine's Best Charities," said Shay Bilchik, CWLA's President and CEO. "I believe Worth is right to be concerned about the effect the events of September 11 might have on charitable giving. This list of charities will help the public recognize worthwhile causes for their tax-deductible contributions."
 

 2 January 2002

Bay Area funding shows disturbing trend
Bay Area non-profits are bracing for layoffs and cuts in services after a slow giving season.
Charities that provide an array of help -- whether giving shelter to those without homes, counseling children who have experienced domestic violence, assisting people with lung disease -- say the recession is strangling donations, much of which come in during the final quarter of the year. In extreme cases, holiday giving is off as much as 80 percent from the year before.
``We are the benchmark,'' said Chris Boyle, chief marketing officer for United Way of the Bay Area. ``When we have a tough time, hundreds and hundreds of charities struggle.''
 

Giving A Voice To Kids In Detention
On any given day, as many as 20 youths may be found sleeping on the floor in the state's juvenile detention centers. As many as seven may be on suicide watch, waiting for mental health treatment that takes months to come.
Five years after federal courts ordered the state to improve such conditions at the detention centers, overcrowding and a lack of mental health services persist.
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New York welfare reform turnaround?
Mayor-elect Bloomberg's appointment of Verna Eggleston as commissioner of the Human Resources Administration offers a disquieting clue on the future of a critical municipal agency. Pre-Rudy, the goal of government was to maximize the welfare rolls. Despite fierce resistance, Mayor Giuliani successfully challenged that notion, arguing that the moral approach is to channel able-bodied souls into productive lives. The result: More than half the total were weaned off the dole.
Bloomberg's view of welfare and other social services may be a mystery, but Eggleston's background suggests she's from anywhere but the Rudy school. For starters, she springs from David Dinkins' social-service bureaucracy - famous for its pro-welfare policies and incompetent management.
 

Australia: PM's denial on free child care
FREE child care for low-income families was not on the Federal Government agenda, Prime Minister Howard said yesterday. But he signalled early intervention to help disadvantaged children would be a focus of his third term.
Mr Howard's office downplayed reports on free child care, warning it was "premature" to speculate on any initiatives. It had been reported the Government was looking at Ms Stanley's suggestions of free child care and developmental testing of all four-year-olds, similar to the immunisation program.  But Mr Howard's spokeswoman said yesterday: "The Government has not given any consideration to free child care for low-income earners."
 

AIDS Draining South Africa's Schools
In the Hlabisa community in the heart of Zululand, medical researchers warn of a catastrophe as AIDS takes a heavy toll on students and teachers. Teachers take sick leave for up to six months at a time. Student enrollment in the first grade is falling. Funerals have become a common family excursion.
"Almost every week, we are burying a number of educators and learners," said Godfrey Mashaba, manager of the Hlabisa school district, which has 191 schools and about 90,000 students.
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Scotland: Pledge to help nation’s youth
Jack McConnell has promised to put young people at the top of his political agenda for 2002. In his New Year message, the First Minister claimed the executive has made a number of substantial achievements, particularly in improving public services, but recognises "there is much more to do".
"We have an absolute duty to use the power and resources of government to make sure that our young people grow up in a secure environment where opportunities are there for them to develop all of their abilities and grow confidently into adulthood," he said.
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