Worst of the Internet – Manual on Molesting Children

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A 170 page manual, with instructions on how to find and molest children, is being passed around on an email listserv.  Police in Orange County, Florida are horrified by this discovery.  They have no idea where it originated, but they hope to track where it goes.  WFTV-TV in Orlando interviews Det. Phillip Graves, a sex crimes investigator, who says this booklet is one of the most disturbing things he's seen online.  The author calls himself “the mule” but police have no idea who he is. The story is generating outrage and buzz about First Amendment rights. Investigators say sending the manual by email or possessing it is not a crime.  You can guess the reaction from a website called shuddup.com.

OMG Look What Some Teens are Texting

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Sex, drugs and alcohol are hot topics for some teenagers. So hot, they’ve got a special shorthand text language that leaves adults clueless. Check this out:

IWS   =  I want sex
Cu46  =  See you for sex
a-boot   =  Under the influence of drugs
WTG 4 a \%/    =  Want to go for a drink? No 420? Wiyp?  =   No weed? What is your problem?

CASA Volunteers Look Out for Abused, Neglected Children in Court

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By Margie Richards at MadisonJournalTODAY.com

CASA Northeast Georgia executive director Melissa Mitchell got a letter recently from a child she’d helped as a CASA volunteer a decade ago in Forsyth County. The girl, one of four siblings whose case she had worked, wrote to tell her that she’d just graduated from high school and was headed to North Georgia College. She wanted to thank Mitchell for her help all those years ago.  “Often times, the rewards of being a CASA volunteer are not immediate, but there are many rewards in helping these children,” Mitchell said. A CASA (Court-Appointed Special Advocate) is a trained community volunteer who is appointed by a judge to advocate for the best interests of an abused or neglected child in juvenile court proceedings. The CASA volunteer’s job is to advocate for the child to be placed in a safe, permanent home as quickly as possible.

States Struggle with Teen Sexting Laws

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Nearly 20 states have enacted new laws, or are working on measures that deal with teenage sexting, aimed at treating children more leniently than adults. The Wall Street Journal reports Arizona, Connecticut, Louisiana and Illinois are among the states that enacted laws this year. Many of the new rules impose only modest penalties, such as small fines and short stints in juvenile detention, instead of prison terms and a cameo on the sex offender registry. Across the nation, lawmakers and child advocates are struggling with the issues:  Should they hammer teens, or let parents and schools handle sexting incidents? One in five teens admits to "sexting," according to a survey by the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy.

GA Tax System Based on 1930s Economy, Says GBPI

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The Department of Juvenile Justice will present new budget cuts at a board meeting Thursday morning.  Governor Perdue has ordered every state agency to come up with scenarios detailing 4%, 6% and 8% cuts. On the eve of the big reveal, the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute says the state tax structure dates back to the Great Depression and that’s why we’re in trouble. Here’s an excerpt from Advancing Georgia’s 1930s Tax System to the Modern Day:

"Georgia will spend more than 80 percent of the FY 2011 state budget on education, healthcare, and public safety; therefore, the size of the state budget is overwhelmingly driven by these three policy areas Georgia’s overall population, as well as the specific populations that state government serves, such as school children and prisoners, will continue to increase dramatically. In addition to meeting the needs of sheer increased numbers of Georgians, the state has urgent existing needs, such as bringing our education, mental health, and transportation systems, among others, up to national standard"

The report recommends changes that include:

Taxing more personal services, while lowering the sales tax
Updating cigarette and motor fuel excise tax rates
Modernizing personal income tax brackets, rates, and standard deductions
Closing corporate tax loopholes

Ken Trump: Federal Bullying Police Coming to a School Near You

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“We’re the federal government, and we’re here to  help investigate you.”

The Education and Justice Departments are now taking on investigatory and prosecutorial roles against school districts on bullying and harassment cases.  Historically their roles have centered on research, along with funding prevention and intervention programs on these issues. The U.S. Department of Education and its Office of Civil Rights reaffirmed last week it would be “vigorously” investigating local school districts on complaints against the districts related to bullying and harassment. The Department’s statement followed up on presentations made by Education Department officials at their “bullying summit” two weeks ago where they announced they would be “proactively investigating” schools on bullying complaints. Last week the Justice Department entered the fray by filing an “amicus curiae” or “friend of the court” motion in a federal discrimination lawsuit against the Indian River Central School District in New York.  The case involves claims of discrimination (based on sex) by the school district in connection with harassment, physical assaults, and threats against a gay former student.  The suit reportedly claims the district refused to help him and refused to allow him to form a Gay-Straight Alliance at the high school. According to the news report, the lawsuit was brought by Lambda Legal, a national organization that defends the rights of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people.

Normer Adams: DJJ Budget Tragedy

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If you thought that the Department of Human Services budget was bad, the Department of Juvenile Justice is a tragedy.  Their FY2012 budget is $102 million less than it was in FY2009.  This represents more than a 30% cut from their 2009 base. In order to meet their budget, significant cuts are proposed to community residential services to youth, cuts to staff, furloughs, and contracts for services. The implications of these cuts are very evident to DJJ as itemized in their impact statement.  DJJ's ability to meet its core responsibilities are at risk.  In order to continue to meet their obligations, DJJ is proposing additional legislation that will allow it to reduce the number of children entering secure facilities, manage the length of stay in facilities and offer more community services. A detailed analysis presented by the Department shows with legislative support they could move more than 270 children charged with status offenses out of secure facilities into community programs.  

Early Warning System For Kids At Risk

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The Annenberg Institute for School Reform is looking for six school districts nationwide to develop and test College Readiness Indicator Systems. The goal is to identify students in danger of dropping out of high school as early as the 9th grade. Researchers plan to create an early warning system using attendance patterns, grades, suspensions and other factors to predict which students are on track, and get help for students who are at risk of dropping out. The project is funded by a $3 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.  Each school will also work with the John Gardner Center at Stanford University to focus on college and career readiness. Contact the Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University:  401-863-7990

Judge Key: Show Us Evidence Your Program Really Works

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The National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges is looking for evidence-based programs that are effective in dealing with status offenders and their families. The new NCJFCJ President, Judge Michael Key of LaGrange, GA, sent a letter to his members across the country this week.  Here is part of that letter:
August 11, 2010

Dear Colleagues:

On March 14, 2010, the Board of Trustees of the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (“the Council”) voted in support of the re-authorization of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act, including the provision which would repeal the Valid Court Order Exception to the detention of status offenders. The re-authorization bill includes a phase-out period, a hardship clause, and support for resource allocation for status offenders and their families. The Council was aware of the concerns this position raised in places where there are scarce or ineffective resources for the status offender population, and received a resolution from the Georgia Council of Juvenile Court Judges calling upon us to address these concerns.  A copy of the Georgia Resolution is available here. The Council's Board of Trustees presented a resolution addressing these issues to the Membership at the July 2010 Annual Conference in San Diego. The Membership approved the Council Resolution Regarding Efforts to Ensure Availability of Evidence-Based Services to Meet the Needs of Status Offenders and Their Families.

The Plague of Bullying

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The U.S. Department of Education held the first summit on school bullying this week. It comes in the wake of several high profile suicides linked to bullying, including two children in Georgia.   Education Secretary Arne Duncan called bullying in schools across the country “a plague.”   The Christian Science Monitor provides these alarming statistics:

Nearly 1 out of 3 students in middle and high school said they had been bullied in 2007. 1 out of 9 high schoolers – 2.8 million students – said they had been pushed, shoved, tripped, or spit on during the last school year. 900,000 high schoolers reported being cyberbullied in 2007.