August 2010

Program nurtures youths leaving foster care

Dominique Smith has limited time to help. She works with youth in the foster care system on gaining independent living skills through a Children's Services program. However, when they turn 21, she has to cut them loose - if they even hung on for that additional three years of help.

Last week, one of Smith's former youths stopped her at a store and asked for help. She's without a job, struggling to get on her feet and turns 21 in September. Usually, she'd only have a month to get help and nowhere to turn, but a pilot program, Ohio Youth in Transition, just started with plans to service at-risk adults ages 18 to 29.

"It's been a big need. When I work with kids, I think 'Oh, God, (when they turn 21) I can't help them anymore,'" Smith said.

The program began this spring in Columbus and now is starting in Ross County through the efforts of Trish and Alvin Mares. The couple live in Ross County and work in Columbus. Alvin is an associate professor in the College of Social Work at The Ohio State University, and Trish is a licensed social worker with Buckeye Ranch. "At some point, all programs end, and they often end sometime between 18 and 22 ... Then they're often left on their own, and we'd like to take them at that point and help them through the rest of their 20s," Alvin said.

The Columbus program is partnering primarily with Community Action, while the Ross County pilot has all "four legs" that Alvin said creates the best environment for success - Ross County Community Action, Ross County Job and Family Services, the Human Services Technology program at Ohio University-Chillicothe and Orchard Hill United Church of Christ. Each agency has someone volunteering with the program, and OU-C human services students will help with the program, gaining valuable hands-on experience that also is required to earn their degree. As such, the Mares describe it as a no-cost program. Students will provide individual case management and work with Community Action to conduct monthly group meetings addressing life skills and support.

Orchard Hill will provide individual and group mentoring. Mentors will begin training -- learning about such things as setting boundaries and mental health - during October sessions at Orchard Hill. While the church is supporting the mentoring portion of the program, anyone can become a mentor for the program. Having a faith-based partner is about connecting to people who would be willing to help, not in bringing people to Christianity, the Mares said.

"Members of the faith-based community may be more ready, willing and able to make a long term commitment," Alvin said. "It's not an evangelical thing."

Having partners that are likely to commit long term is imperative to success. The pilot program is designed to run for four years as the partners develop and tweak it. As the four years come to an end, the program will be evaluated for its effectiveness and hopefully continue on, the Mares said. "A three- to four-year period is a long enough period of time to see them make some real changes and get further in life," Alvin said.

The mentors will be a key part, providing a sense of nurturing that youth coming out of foster care or the Department of Youth Services often lack. Mentors will be expected to spend at least five hours each month with mentees, specifically checking in on periods of change - such as a new job, home or child - and celebrating successes and holidays.

"Whether they're coming out of foster care or incarceration, they lose that caring adult watching over them," Alvin said.

"Statistics have shown that a caring adult may be the single most important thing in success," Trish said.

Another focus will be helping mentees determine what they want to do in life and connecting them to the right training or education to accomplish that dream. Anyone can refer or self-refer to the program. Mentees will be screened for eligibility, which means not only ensuring they are independent and meeting maximum income requirements but also ensuring they are not being served by another program.

The point of Ohio Youth in Transition is not to replace existing programs, Trish assured. "Everybody's doing a great job. We're working to link them to the existing programs," she said.

As part of the pilot evaluation, Alvin will study and write about the program, using information from program participants who agree to be part of his formal study. If the program is successful, he and Trish hope to see it developed into other Ohio counties and potentially in other states.

Jona Ison
29 Augut 2010

http://www.chillicothegazette.com/article/20100829/NEWS01/8290301/1002

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UK

Care for a career? Helping others may be just the role you need

Jobs might be thin on the ground but there's one area of the market that's booming - social care. More than 30,000 jobs are up for grabs each month and the good news is that the numbers keep rising. From working with older people, children, families and youngsters or people with disabilities, there are masses of opportunities to earn a living and learn fantastic new skills while helping others.

One of the key reasons behind the boom in care jobs is the fact we are living longer. Over the past 25 years the number of people aged 65 and over has gone up by 1.5 million. By 2033, it's estimated almost a quarter of the population will be over 65. And as life expectancy rockets, so will the need for more people to work in adult social care - in residential nursing homes or assisting people so they can carry on living in their own homes.

"This work offers a fantastic opportunity to make a real difference," says Darra Singh, chief executive of Jobcentre Plus. "No two days are the same and what's more you get the satisfaction of knowing you've had a positive effect on people's lives."

What makes this area even more appealing is that your attitude and life experiences are often more important than formal qualifications.

What's on offer
Roles range from carers and assistants to cooks, maintenance staff and drivers and they suit all ages and levels of qualifications - from school leavers to mums back to work and those looking for a new opportunity after being made redundant. The work offers great flexibility so you can fit it around other commitments. There are part-time jobs as well as full-time positions, and many of these fall outside the typical 9-to-5 set-up, with plenty of night and weekend jobs.

Some 30,000 jobs are currently being posted every month at Jobcentre Plus (visit www.direct.gov.uk/jobseekers). When we checked there were all sorts - from a home care worker in Birmingham (£7 an hour), a care support worker in Derby (from £7.20 an hour), a residential childcare worker in Stockport (up to £17,392 a year), to care assistants for both domestic roles and residential homes from Penzance to Newcastle (starting from £6.20 an hour). There are also openings for night care and weekend support workers (from £7 an hour).

At www.lgjobs.com, where local councils post vacancies, we found jobs for youth support workers in Walsall (from £17,397) and parttime care assistants for weekend support in Bracknell (£8.24).

Also try www.carejobfinder.com.org/jobs , which will put you in touch with at least 10 social care employers in your area. Jobs on this website include care homes, homecare, live-in care, extra-care housing, housing support services and nurses' agencies. Fill in an online application and they'll match you to the right jobs. They work with many major employers and organisations such as the National Care Association (www.nationalcareassociation.org.uk) and the Department of Health (www.dh.gov.uk)

Pay
Care assistants, care workers or social care workers start on sala-ries between £12,000 and £16,000 a year. With experience, qualifications and extra responsibilities or specialist support worker skills, this can rise to between £18,000 and £21,000. In some cases, free or subsidised accommodation is provided. Night shifts and weekend working can pay higher hourly rates.

Once you start work as a care assistant you will receive on-the-job training from your employer, which will often include working closely with experienced colleagues. You may also attend external courses on issues surrounding hygiene, health and safety, and lifting techniques. If you work in adult social care in England you will be expected to take part in a 12-week induction programme provided by your employer. This will be based on a set of national minimum standards of care.

You are also likely to have ongoing training throughout your career, which may include in-house short courses and the chance to gain work-based qualifications such as NVQ levels 2, 3 and 4 in Health and Social Care (specialising in working with adults or children and young people).

Tricia Phillips
26 August 2010

http://www.mirror.co.uk/advice/jobs/2010/08/26/care-for-a-career-helping-others-may-be-just-the-role-you-need-115875-22515083/

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NEW ENGLAND

Senator Sheldon Whitehouse visits Boys Town New England

Rhode Island Senator Sheldon Whitehouse visited with youth and families at Boys Town New England on Monday. This visit was the senator's first time to the campus, where more than 200 youth receive treatment each year.

Leading the senator on the tour around the campus, during a brief rain shower, was 13-year-old Nicory "Cory" of East Providence. Boys Town New England asked us to not publish his last name. Cory is one of Boys Town's residents at the Portsmouth campus, but will likely return to his home in East Providence within six months, depending on his progress. Cory was chosen to give the tour based on his work ethic, according to Boys Town officials.

"We were looking for someone that's very hard working," said Ashley Kuzmanko, residential consultant for Boys Town New England. "He (Cory) is very motivated."

Cory walked with the senator on Monday and presented a tour of three homes. The senator spoke with boys at all three homes, as well as the foster parents at each site.

Also accompanying the senator on the tour was Bill Reardon, Boys Town New England's executive director. "We are honored to host Senator Whitehouse at our Boys Town New England campus," said Reardon in a previous statement.

In 2006, Whitehouse was elected to the United State Senate. He currently serves on the Special Committee on Aging, Budget Committee, the Environment and Public Works Committee (EPW), Judiciary Committee and the Select Committee on Intelligence. He chairs the Judiciary Subcommittee on Administrative Oversight and the Courts and EPW Subcommittee on Oversight.

In 2009, 3,518 children received help from Boys Town New England's continuum of youth care services, including 228 who received direct care from Treatment Family Services, Treatment Foster Homes and In-Home Family Services.

Nationally, Boys Town has provided youth care and health care programs for more than 90 years. In 2009, Boys Town's Integrated Continuum of youth care and health care programs helped 367,265 children and families throughout America.

For more information about Boys Town New England, please click HERE.

By Sandy McGee
23 August 2010

http://portsmouth.patch.com/articles/senator-sheldon-whitehouse-visits-boys-town-new-england

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NEW ZEALAND

'Pay up to keep kids in iwi care'

Maori leaders have been told to make a stand and pay up for child abuse.

Social Development Minister Paula Bennett delivered her blunt message to a closed-door meeting of iwi leaders last week. They were told to "face up" to child abuse by identifying mothers who let "mongrel men" into their homes, and to stump up with their own funding so abused children could be placed in iwi instead of state care.

Bennett presented the leaders with their own lists of shame - the numbers of abused children from each of their iwi who were currently in state care. "You know who they are. I need you as respected leaders to go back to hapu, iwi and whanau and say it's time to face up to this. It's time to face up to the fact that Maori children and babies are being beaten, abused and killed.

"It's time it stopped," she said.

About a quarter of all children were Maori, yet they made up half of the substantiated abuse cases and family violence deaths. Bennett said effort had to go into finding children before they were abused, by identifying mothers with low self- esteem who let "mongrel men" into homes as they searched for "some warped kind of love". She challenged the Iwi Leaders Forum in Hopuhopu, near Ngaruawahia, to "put your hands in your own pockets" to help find families who could take on children from within their own iwi "because the government doesn't have the money for it right now, quite frankly".

But Ngati Kahu chairwoman Professor Margaret Mutu said what Bennett was saying was nothing new, and although the leaders would always support measures to ensure children remained within their own whanau, the suggestion iwi provide funding and resources was ridiculous. "We can't. We don't have them. It's a state responsibility. We know how bad it is, we know the helplessness and hopelessness of it, and that we are the only ones who can save ourselves. But we also need resources and the support of the state to do that."

Bennett said some of the leaders were uncomfortable with her address but others were supportive. "I was saying if we really are in this together, and those are your children, you can't just expect the state to pay for everything." She proposed a partnership with iwi under which Child Youth and Family "whanau finders" could help iwi identify families who could be called on when a child needed a new home, rather than see them placed in state care.

Bennett told the leaders there were 2227 Maori children in state care. About half of those under five were placed within their own iwi, but she believed work was needed to ensure more found permanent homes within their iwi.

Claire Trevett
22 August 2010

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/4048343/Pay-up-to-keep-kids-in-iwi-care

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OREGON

Maslow Project starts with basic needs

There are over 600 school aged children in Coos County alone, that are either in temporary homes or at risk of becoming homeless. But a new program called "The Maslow Project of Coos County," is looking to inspire hope.

The program is based on American Psychologist Abraham Maslow's Theory of, "A Hierarchy of Needs," that basically, one cannot progress without first having basic needs met. And based on that, a new facility opened its doors in Coos Bay this week, offering homeless youth, or at-risk families, a chance to get off the streets, and have a meal, take a shower, and look into necessary resources.

It's these small steps that build big futures, says Project Facilitator Patty Sanden. "it's more than meeting basic needs, it's about reaching your ultimate and best potential. And when your shoes don't fit and you're worried about where your next meal is coming from, you're not going to be able to do that."

But coming forward for help is only half the battle. According to Judy McMakin with the Commission on Children and Families, it also takes a strong community backing. And showing their support for the program, were dozens of city and county leaders, coming out for Tuesday's official grand opening.

"Children that are happy and taken care of by the community, in turn, return things to the community," said McMakin. "And that's what we really need to cycle through, is helping children move to a mature place where they can give back to others."

Erica Rush
18 August 2010

http://www.kcby.com/news/local/101036074.html

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CHINA

70% of Chinese youth feel incapable of caring for aging parents

With the growing number of the Chinese post-1980s marrying and having children, more and more of their parents are entering into old age. The practical problem of "two supporting four" (a couple from a one-child families supporting four parents) is arising for the young.

The Social Survey Center of China Youth Daily surveyed 1,600 people recently through minyi.net.cn and hudong.com. Of those surveyed, 40 percent are the only child in their families and about 58 percent of respondents said they want their parents to live in the same community with them or in the same neighborhood in order to take care of them.

Nearly 44 percent of respondents are willing to live with their parents and take care of them on their own. Nearly 25 percent of respondents said their parents live in another city and can only visit them irregularly. About 7 percent of respondents chose to let the community's nursing staff take care of their parents for them and only 7 percent of respondents are willing to send their parents to nursing homes.

Of the respondents, about 57 percent of them are from the post-1980s generation, and about 28 percent of them are from the post-1970s generation. About 53 percent are married and about 46 percent are unmarried.

What are the difficulties for the post-1980s only-child youth in taking care of their parents? The survey revealed that about 74 percent of respondents said their pressure in work and life is large, and felt incompetent to take care of their parents. About 68 percent of respondents said they have to support several elderly people.

About 50 percent of respondents said they live in a different city from their parents and cannot take care of them themselves. Furthermore, 42 percent of respondents said the social security and medical insurance is not acknowledged in different cities and nearly 38 percent of respondents said they are uneasy with social nursing homes.

Thd People's Daily
17 August 2010

http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90001/90782/90872/7107331.html

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TEXAS

Area youth graduate from boot camp for juvenile offenders

Twelve families who were once at their wits’ ends with uncontrollable children gathered to see those sons graduate in Weslaco.

“They’re coming,” could be heard from the stands Friday morning as a group of about 30 cadets dressed in fatigues marched to the front parking lot of the Judge Mario E. Ramirez Jr. Juvenile Justice Center’s Boot Camp Facility. Their families waited eagerly on two sets of bleachers under a clear blue sky. Some of the sons were recognized immediately. Others were not.

The center takes in boys ages 13-16 who are not good candidates for home probation but don’t really need to go to Texas Youth Commission lockups, said the boot camp’s Superintendent Richard Garza. The teenagers have to be court-appointed to the program and must go through a series of physical and psychological tests to be admitted to the facility. Once there, they are subjected to a rigorous rehabilitation regimen that lasts an average of nine months.

Edwin Hugo Hi, of Mercedes, was 13 when he was admitted to the facility; he turned 14 at the camp. He was sent there for aggressiveness and drug use, said his 20-year-old sister, Esmeralda Hi. “He would steal trucks and get lost for two or three days,” his older brother, Roberto Hi, added. The teenager, who was already involved with gangs, was part of this month’s graduating class. Hi, like many of the other cadets, said he missed about a year of school, which left him with a big academic gap.

“It takes a lot of counseling to get them to focus on academics again,” said one of the teachers Weslaco school district assigned to teach the boys. Getting them up to par academically is one of the center’s main objectives. Some of them came in with no high school credits, she said. But after nine months, all the grads had finished at least one year of schooling. One had gone from a freshman to a junior, and one of them is now a senior getting ready to graduate from high school.

Judge Mario E. Ramirez Jr., along with the boot camp Commander Rene De Luna, the superintendent and a representative for 449th state District Judge Jesse Contreras took turns praising the teens for their dedication, motivation and attention to detail. They used the achievements of the Mayan and Aztec civilizations to instill a sense of pride in them.

“You are the master of your destiny,” one of them said. “We want you to wake up and realize your potential.”

The 12 graduates were asked to step forward and form a line in front of the group. As the judge, commander, and superintendent handed each of them his diploma, some of them couldn’t help but sneak in a half-smile. The commander then turned to the parents and said, “I’m going to show you how motivated your kids are. Take a deep breath, boys.” The 12 cadets breathed in and held it until the commander said, “Now let it out!” A boisterous “AGGGGGHHHH!” resonated from the parking lot where they stood. Soon after, sniffles could be heard from the crowd.

“We have done everything we can,” De Luna said to the audience. He then asked the parents to stand. “Now it’s your turn. If they fail it will be your fault.”

Soon after, one of the cadets who had previously asked the commander to speak took the stand. “I’ve never felt like this in my life” he said. “When I first came here I thought, ‘Ain’t no one gonna change me.’ But without me even realizing, my thinking began to change. I never knew how smart I was. I feel confident.”

Many of the cadets felt the same way. “It’s been hard,” Hi said. “I didn’t want to stay here, but I’m glad I did.” He was very proud of an Excellence in Physical Training award he had received while at the camp and said that although he figuratively kicked and screamed at times, he was happy. Hi, who is one of eight children and is expecting another sibling soon, said he is going to join the U.S. Marines after graduating from high school and then attend college.

Although the cadets have graduated from boot camp, they will not be immediately allowed to return home. “It would be almost a culture shock,” said one of the camp’s probation officers. Instead, the boys will spend another three months in an after-care program that will help them gradually readjust to everyday life. They will be registered for classes at a high school and will only be allowed to go home to their parents on the weekends after earning a pass. A point system based on several criteria such as school performance will determine whether they receive a pass. “You really have to purposely fail to not get a weekend pass,” the probation officer said.

De Luna hopes all of the boys will change their ways, but he is realistic. “We can’t help everybody, and that’s something I’ve had to face,” he said. “But we’ll keep trying. Hopefully, we’ll see them out there someday.”

Naxiely Lopez
13 August 2010

http://www.themonitor.com/articles/offenders-41824-area-weslaco.html

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NEVADA

Finding adequate homes for at risk foster care youth

They are among the most vulnerable children in the foster care system and the ones with the highest level of instability. Now, the county's Division of Family Services is faced with a major problem over how to care for them. The issue is over efforts to find adequate homes for 'at risk' youth when foster parents are reluctant to taker them in.

County and state officials say the problem is both financial and structural; with foster parents worried that they won't get the support and services they need to deal with these severely emotionally disturbed children.

Over 500 children in the Clark County foster care system have been officially diagnosed as Severely Emotionally Disturbed. "These are kids that have been physically, sexually and verbally abused and can't go back to the home of their perpetrator," said David Doyle, director of Eagle Quest of NV, and non-profit agency that helps Clark County find special treatment foster homes for at risk youth in the system. But finding placement for these kids is becoming a challenge.

"The provider community is pushing back on taking these kids...saying they don't have available homes or the capacity to service the kids," said Tom Morton, director of the Department of Family Services in Clark County.

Doyle believes it's the Medicaid reimbursement cutbacks for mental health services, which has made specialized foster parents think twice about taking in at risk children. "These are clinically and medically needed services and medicaid stopped paying them in mid April. But there have been no changes in the chapter regarding medical necessity …this remains untouched," added Doyle.

Given the budget crisis, the state says they began reviewing the mental health claims for foster care and found certain services to be medically unnecessary; that's when they began denying those claims. "We want kids to get the help they need, but not use federal or state money for mental services used in an inappropriate way," said Charles Duarte, administrator for the Division of Health Care Financing, for the NV Department of Health and Human Services.

Morton says the child mental health system was based around what medicaid could pay for, a financial structure than seems less sturdy every day. And as a result, they've had to place at risk kids in basic homes where the foster parent has little training or experience in dealing with these issues. "Unless we find a better treatment model, kids are not going to get better," added Morton.

More than likely, these kids will be bounced around from basic foster homes to acute psychiatric facilities and even Child Haven, with out knowing where they will end up permanently. County officials say they met with Assembly Speaker Barbara Buckley this week to discuss the possibility of redesigning the foster care treatment, specifically on how services are delivered and paid for.

KTMV
12 August 2010

http://www.ktnv.com/Global/story.asp?S=12966077

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Foster carers: Very rewarding

Unable to have children of her own, Rhonda Caveney yearned to experience family life. So the 53-year-old decided to become a foster carer and has never looked back. Over the last 11 years, Rhonda and her husband Michael, a 62-year-old retired teacher, have fostered 13 children with a wide range of ages. At the moment they are looking after a 12-year-old boy and a 16-year-old girl, who they have fostered for the last eight years.

And Rhonda, who lives just outside Betley, is also the adult carer for two sisters with special needs now aged 20 and 21. She started looking after the girls when they were aged nine and 10, and when they became adults she was keen to keep them in her family. She says: "I never had my own birth children but I wanted to have a family as part of my life. Fostering has given my husband and I adventures and opportunities we wouldn't otherwise have had, from going camping to taking a trip to Lapland.

"Seeing the children's faces light up is so rewarding. It has changed my life and I wouldn't see myself doing anything else. It has also brought me and my husband closer as a couple. It has brought so much love and happiness into our lives."

But she said fostering was not always easy. She explains: "There are ups and downs as each child may come from a difficult background and they may suffer traumas. You may be looking after a child after a bereavement or it might be that a parent is ill and not able to look after their children. People like us are there to help and give support to those children."

And Rhonda said it was sometimes difficult to say goodbye to foster children when it was time for them to move on. She adds: "It is very hard when you have little ones as you do get attached. It can be heart-rending but you have to do what is best for the children."

Before becoming a foster carer, Rhonda spent 15 years working in residential homes for the elderly. "I had my career and then I had my family. The children keep me young and there is never a dull moment. My advice for anyone thinking of fostering would be to pick the phone up and do it. I can say hand on heart that they will have no regrets. It is not going to be easy, but the rewards outweigh the difficulties."

Kate Sutcliffe has been fostering since July 2009 and looks after children aged three and under for short periods until they can return to their own families, be adopted or go to long-term foster parents. She has one son of her own, five-year-old Ewan. She says: "We decided we weren't going to have any more children but we still felt we had time and space in our family to help some children going through difficult times in their lives. We thought about it for about six months and then went to an information evening in October 2008.

"We are still in the early stages now and there is a lot to learn." The 37-year-old, who lives in the Leek area, is currently caring for her third foster child – a baby boy.

The first child she cared for was a two-year-old girl who stayed with Kate and her husband, Mark, for three-and-a-half months.

The former nurse and Mark, a 42-year-old youth and play worker at Stoke-on-Trent City Council, try not to become too attached to the children they care for as they know they will leave after a few months. But she adds: "To see a positive outcome is very rewarding."

10 August 2010

http://www.thisisstaffordshire.co.uk/sentinelle/Pick-phone-foster-carer/article-2506390-detail/article.html

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MAINE

Alleviating poverty cuts crime

As law enforcement officials, our responsibility is public safety — first, last and always. There’s no substitute for tough law enforcement and locking up dangerous offenders. However, we also strongly believe that it is important to take advantage of opportunities to prevent crime in the first place.

Helping children move out of poverty, or avoid poverty altogether, can cut crime. The sad reality is that a child who grows up in poverty, especially sustained poverty, is more likely to be involved in later crime.

Today, one in six Maine children lives in poverty. Here in Androscoggin County, child poverty rates are especially high. Lewiston’s child poverty rate is more than 40 percent, the highest of all Maine communities; followed by Auburn with a child poverty rate of more than 25 percent, the second highest in Maine.

We know from experience that children who grow up in low-income households have a greater risk of becoming adult criminals. A report from the Surgeon General on youth violence found that children from poor families have a much greater chance of becoming involved in violent crime than children from better-off families. One study found that the risk of becoming violent criminals is two-and-a-half times higher for low-income kids than for other children.

Recently, Fight Crime: Invest In Kids issued a report “Cutting Crime by Cutting Child Poverty in Maine,” that shows how reducing child poverty can significantly lower crime. Research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association indicates that when parents’ income is increased to above the poverty level, children in those no-longer-poor families experienced a 40 percent decrease in conduct disorders and opposition defiant disorders. These behavior disorders are precursors to later juvenile and adult crime.

Increasing the incomes of these families can substantially reduce a child’s likelihood of later crime. In fact, this behavior of kids in the study changed so rapidly, that within four years the no-longer-poor families had the same lower rates of behavior disorders linked to crime as middle-class families.

That’s why we are asking Congress to help improve the financial security of working families and also improve public safety by extending the enhancements to the federal child tax credit, which are scheduled to expire at the end of this year.

The current child tax credit, as enhanced by the recovery package, provides help to 60,000 Maine children who could lose these benefits or see them substantially reduced if Congress takes no legislative action. Currently, families qualify for the refundable portion of the child tax credit once they have earned at least $3,000. If Congress does not act, the threshold will increase from $3,000 up to approximately $13,000, excluding many poor, working parents from receiving the refundable tax credit and reducing the benefits for many others.

Recipients of refundable child tax credits are the families most likely to spend the money by taking care of necessities rather than banking it. Strengthening the child tax credit is, therefore, also one of the surest ways of pumping money into the economy. Simply put, allowing lower-income working families to keep more of their earned income would help more families make ends meet, lift more children out of poverty, strengthen the economy and decrease the likelihood that children will commit crimes as teens and adults.

As a member of the U.S. Senate Finance Committee, we know that Sen. Olympia Snowe is working hard to help us fight our way out of our recession, and that she wants to help make sure that Maine kids get the right start. Sen. Snowe has been a strong supporter of the child tax credit in the past and is currently working hard in the Finance Committee on this issue. We appreciate all of her work on behalf of so many Mainers in need. We also appreciate that Sen. Susan Collins, and Reps. Mike Michaud and Chellie Pingree supported lowering the threshold for the child tax credit back in 2009 and hope they will also support extending this provision when it comes before the full Senate and House.

We believe that crime can be prevented if we get out in front on the issues, like extending the child tax credit, which research shows makes a real difference in the lives of at-risk kids. Tax benefits such as the child tax credit can help change the odds by putting more poor kids on the right path and giving them a better shot of being successful — and that’s the ticket to ultimately reducing crime.

Guy Desjardins and James Minkowsky
8 August 2010

http://www.sunjournal.com/guest-columns/story/886642

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ILLINOIS

Merger aimed to benefit at-risk youth

In a move designed to provide more state resources for rehabilitating convicted youths into productive citizens, Gov. Pat Quinn has proposed merging the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice, the agency that now manages incarcerated minors, within the larger Illinois Department of Children and Family Services.

Four years ago, the IDJJ, once a branch within the Illinois Department of Corrections, became an independent agency. Opponents of the merger, like state Rep. Frank Mautino, D-Spring Valley, who was against pulling the agency out of the corrections department in the first place, told The Times, "It would be better that this (merger), which will cost the state money, be done at some future date when the state might have the funds to better address the juvenile problem."

The IDJJ currently oversees 3,000 delinquent and paroled youths — 1,200 youths in custody and another 1,800 on parole or in other aftercare programs. The DCFS has an estimated 15,500 children under its care.

Quinn's chief of staff Jerry Stermer recently told the Illinois Statehouse News a merger would allow IDJJ to confer with IDCFS on combining resources and knowledge and would allow the juvenile justice department more leverage for federal funds under the guise of IDCFS. But opponents say a merger would hurt the IDJJ, which would have to compete with IDCFS for state funds.

La Salle County Detention Home Director Patrick Sweeney said such a merger between the agencies has "been in the works for a while" but is unsure of the impact it would have on his facility. "It probably won't have much of an immediate effect on us here at our home except for a possible change in the state's inspection teams," he said.

Claiming the proposed merger had little to do with his decision, IDJJ Director Kurt Friedenhauer resigned at the end of last month to make way for the appointment of Arthur Bishop, a top official with the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services. In announcing the appointment, Quinn called Bishop "the best person" to move the department into a new direction that focuses more on rehabilitation rather than punishment.

The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 31 union opposes the merger of the state agencies, according to AFSCME spokesman Anders Lindall. A recent public union study, "Road to Reform: Rebuilding Juvenile Justice in Illinois," concluded combining the two agencies would do little to resolve the fundamental problems associated with incarcerated minors, such as rampant recidivism and substance abuse.

Lindall said the study, which offered youth workers' suggestions for program change, called for more attention in preparing convicted minors for life after parole with additional focus on job skills and independent living. Lindall said the report points included:

•  Strengthening academic and vocational education programs.

•  Expansion of access to counseling, drug treatment and other mental health programs.

•  Increasing staff numbers at juvenile facilities.

•  Ensuring youth accountability and safety.

•  Rejecting bureaucratic reorganization over reinvestment and actually reform.

Lindall added the biggest problem with the youth centers now is mostly the lack of proper staffing. "To obtain better outcomes for youth offenders, the state needs to hire more workers, not reduce the union workforce," he said.

Steve Stout
4 August 2010

http://mywebtimes.com/archives/ottawa/display.php?id=410412

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UK

Children as young as 12 still tombstoning on Plymouth Hoe despite dangers

Children as young as 12 were defiant as they continued tombstoning for the "buzz" of the plunge despite warnings they are risking their lives. Teenagers jumping off the pier below Dutton's Cafe on the Hoe told The Herald they chose to jump because it was "fun and kept them out of trouble". They added that they "didn't care" that people had been seriously injured jumping into the water because they had nothing better to do. But coastguards warned of the risks as tombstoning numbers increase over the school holidays.

One 14-year-old boy said: "If I haven't seen the injury myself, it doesn't affect me. We knew someone who broke their ankle but it doesn't stop us. We don't care."

A 12-year-old boy said: "It's fun and everything else is boring. I really like doing it and don't get hurt." He pleaded for the city council to return the diving boards to the Hoe.

A 14-year-old girl said: "We've been coming here for the past couple of months. We used to come up and use the boards but they took them down. It's just fun and keeps us out of trouble."

One 13-year-old boy said: "It gives us a buzz. It's a real rush."

Many claimed to have jumped as high as 70ft at spots around the city. They said they took precautions, checking tide times on the internet and jumping only at high tide.

Kevin Hird, from the Coastguard service, said: "People risk broken legs, paralysis, drowning, getting killed and shattering their spines. There could be articles under the water's surface such as rocks and shopping trolleys."

A 17-year-old is believed to have suffered chest injuries after he jumped from a wall near the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club last month. He was taken to Derriford Hospital and was kept in overnight before being released the next day. Two years ago, a 25-year-old Plymouth man was paralysed for life in a suspected tombstoning incident. Steven Andrews broke his neck after falling 20 feet from a cliff into three feet of water in Whitsand Bay, South East Cornwall.

Plymouth City Council said the diving platforms were closed for safety reasons in 2003. A spokeswoman said: "Young people continued to put themselves at risk of serious injury or death by breaking the locks on the platform or climbing around the mesh guards and jumping in, often in dangerously shallow water." She said the council considered employing lifeguards but the platform's position was such that it could have been closed for days at a time because of unsuitable tidal conditions.

News item
3 August 2010

http://www.thisisplymouth.co.uk/news/don-t-care-risks/article-2482767-detail/article.html

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NEW ENGLAND

Friends, not foes: Program joins Jewish, Arab teenagers

Though it is unheard of in their home country of Israel, Jewish and Muslim teenagers mingled, laughed and celebrated their newfound friendship at a Friends Forever gathering earlier this week.

While celebrating the start of another "Life Raft" program, which brings 10 teenagers from Israel to the United States, the Portsmouth-based but global organization Friends Forever also set its sights on future growth and accomplishments.

Since 1986, Friends Forever has graduated more than 1,000 youngsters from its program, building friendships across cultural, religious and political divides of Northern Ireland and Israel. The organization brings together multi-faith teenagers to live, laugh, learn and volunteer together in host communities in New Hampshire, Maine and Massachusetts.

"We've seen that if teens, five from each culture, can live under one roof, then two nations can coexist," said Thaer Abuleil, 16, an Arab from Ein Mahel, near Nazareth, in northern Israel. The 10 teenagers, five Muslim and five Jewish, arrived in New Hampshire for Friends Forever's two-week "Life Raft" program on July 19. In their country, it would be unusual for teenagers from the north and south of Israel to meet, let alone be friends.

"Our friendship wouldn't normally happen," said Soof Golan, 15, of Jewish decent from Kibbutz Samar in southern Israel. "We wouldn't meet." But during the rigorous "Life Raft" program — when the teenagers live together, shop together and experience a variety of activities together — that's exactly what happens. For the 10 teens, their two-weeks in the United States has included talks before local Rotary clubs, visiting with inner-city youth in Somerville, Mass., and attending Muslim, Jewish and Protestant church services together.

"All of our programs are geared toward engaging the American public," said Friends Forever Executive Director Stephen Martineau. "At home, these youths have been told how different they are, but if we're side by side, we're part of a pact."

Today, the teens will be reading poems they have written daily during their U.S. visit at Prescott Park. The readings will begin at 4:30 p.m.

Golan said he and 16-year-old Mohammad Habib Allah, an Arab Muslim from Ein Mahel in northern Israel, have created a close friendship through the program. Before their trip to the United States, the teens met multiple times in Israel, as part of "Life Raft" requirements. "We overcame distances between the north and the south and achieved some of our own goals," Habib Allah said.

The teenagers have learned about each other's cultures, as well as how to listen and acknowledge each other, they said. "All the youth are the same. It does not matter where you are from, you're youth," said Noa Sax, 16, of Jewish decent from Mahasharat in the south of Israel. "We laugh together, we play together, we do everything together. We don't need the culture to tell us what to do."

For 16-year-olds Thaer Abuleil and ShaiLee Weiss, meeting with Teen Empowerment's inner-city youth in Somerville, Mass., and children with disabilities at Monarch School of New England in Rochester, were meaningful experiences. At Teen Empowerment, they met teens they could relate and talk to, while at the Monarch School they observed a therapy session for children with special needs.

"It broke our hearts," Abuleil said, as Weiss added the children had to be taught everyday skills they do normally.

For the teens, even the smallest things — like walking on hardwood floors — were different from Israel. In his village of Kibbutz Yotvata in southern Israel, Weiss said everyone works and all of their salaries are given to leaders and then divided among residents. At age 16, Weiss works multiple days a week milking cows. "Being born and raised in Kibbutz, they teach us the way of peace and equalship and friendship and coexistence," he said. "I've been raised with these words and now I'm trying to apply them."

In addition to holding the "Life Raft" program with Israeli teens, Friends Forever also works with teenagers in Northern Ireland and plans to expand offerings there thanks to recent recognition. Northern Ireland's Department of Foreign Affairs has recognized and honored Martineau and his work with Friends Forever in Ireland with a $22,000 grant. Friends Forever also received a lead corporate sponsorship of $10,000 from Randox Laboratories Ltd., a health care diagnostics company based in Ireland.

With the funding, Friends Forever will establish an office in Northern Ireland that will focus on coordinating existing programs in the region, as well as developing new corporate support and partnerships. Part of the goal is to create a corps of the 1,000 graduates who can further outreach efforts.

"We're definitely growing and the community has a focus to staying true to local roots, but also of bringing a global perspective to New Hampshire," Martineau said. "That's the thing that excites people about us. We are international, but we bring people here."

For more information on Friends Forever and its "Life Raft" program, visit www.friendsforeverusa.org

Jennifer Feals
1 August 2010

http://www.seacoastonline.com/articles/20100801-NEWS-8010316

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