Youth Service America and the Sodexo Foundation

$500 Grants for Youth-Led Hunger Initiatives

By |

Youth Service America (YSA) and the Sodexo Foundation are awarding 25 Sodexo Youth Grants, totaling $500 each, in an effort to support youth-led service projects in conjunction with National Hunger & Homeless Awareness Week (Nov. 13-20, 2011). Applicants must be between the ages of 5 and 25 to qualify and the project idea must take place, at least in part, during National Hunger & Homeless Awareness Week. More than 17 million kids in the United States are at risk of hunger, according to the YSA, including the one in four children that rely on free or reduced-price school meal programs.
Videos from past grant recipients are available on the YSA website. If considering the grant a good place to start may be the eligibility quiz.

Commissioner Amy Howell DJJ GJSA

Georgia’s Commissioner of Department of Juvenile Justice Talks about Her Kids, All 22,000 of Them

By |

Georgia’s Department of Juvenile Justice Commissioner Amy Howell isn’t ashamed to admit she was a bit of a snotty teen. She had a mean eye-roll and attitude to boot, she has said, and really didn’t see a life past the age of 25. That is until until those in her life who cared about her most, finally got through to her.

When it comes to juvenile justice and heading the DJJ, Howell takes a similar approach. For her it’s personal.

“The goal has to be on the lasting success for young people,” she said. “If we want to make sure they don’t recidivate we need to make sure we’re giving them, and setting them up in the community with, the opportunities for that lasting success.”

Howell recently told a contingent of Georgia YDC Directors that while she considers the juvenile facilities are ‘their house,’ the kids incarcerated are her kids – and she expects them to be taken care of while there.

“My Kids.”

That’s how Howell refers to all of the some 22,000 ‘and two’ kids that are overseen by Georgia’s DJJ: 20,000 kids under community supervision, 2,000 in incarceration and the two in her own home.

Georgia Youth Workers Celebrate GJSA’s 40th Training Summit

By |

SAVANNAH, Ga. -- Professionals from every major youth-oriented field in the state of Georgia, governmental and non-profit, converge on Savannah this week for the Georgia Juvenile Service Association’s (GJSA) 40th Training Summit. The three-day event, Aug. 23-25, will host a long-list of speakers, workshops and society happenings. Members can choose from a spread of workshops covering everything from Georgia’s Cybersafety Initiative to tactics for reintegrating juvenile offenders upon their release.

Two Years Later, OJJDP Still without a Leader

By |

More than two years after taking office, President Obama has yet to appoint a permanent administrator to the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), a federal agency that funds some state-level juvenile programs and ensures federal standards are being met. The delay has been caused, in part, by a bill removing the Senate confirmation requirement for this and hundreds of other executive branch appointments. The bill has passed the Senate, but has yet to go in front of the House of Representatives for a vote. The measure, S. 697, also known as the Presidential Appointment Efficiency and Streamlining Act of 2011, received support from both Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) before being passed by the Senate in June. The push to remove Senate confirmation for the OJJDP top position has been strongly opposed in some quarters.

KIDS COUNT: Significant Decline in Children’s Economic Well Being Over Past Decade

By |

There has been a significant decline in economic well being for low-income children and families in the last decade, according to the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s annual KIDS COUNT Data Book.

Among the findings, the official child poverty rate, a conservative measure of economic hardship according to the report, increased 18 percent between 2000 and 2009. The increase represents 2.4 million more children now living below the federal poverty line, returning to roughly the same levels as the early 1990’s.

“In 2009, 42 percent of our nation’s children, or 31 million, lived in families with incomes below twice the federal poverty line or $43,512/year for a family of four, a minimum needed for most families to make ends meet,” Laura Speer, associate director for Policy Reform and Data at the Casey Foundation, said in a press release. “The recent recession has wiped out many of the economic gains for children that occurred in the late 1990’s.”

43-year-old juvenile offender Steven John Carlson

43-Year-Old Charged in Juvenile Court for 1984 Slaying

By |

A 43-year-old man faces charges in a California juvenile court for the murder of a 14-year-old classmate more than two decades ago. Steven John Carlson was arrested this week and charged with the 1984 death of Tina Faelz, a fellow student at Foothill High School in Pleasanton, Cali., near Oakland. Faelz was found stabbed to death on April 5, 1984 in a drainage culvert she used to cross under the freeway on her way home from school. Carlson, a recent parolee and registered sex-offender, was processed in juvenile court because he was 16 at the time of the crime. A hearing will be necessary before he can face adult charges.