Athens Group Has Plan to Help At-Risk Kids Graduate High School and College

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An Athens-based nonprofit is working on a 10-year plan that focuses on getting low-income students to finish high school and graduate from college, according to Athens Online. After winning a $500,00 federal planning grant, a group called Whatever It Takes has put together an extensive team, which includes former juvenile court consultants, school administrators and professional writers. The nonprofit is also working with the University of Georgia. So far, the plan outlines how various community organizations will provide kids with things like academic support, mentoring, counseling, after-school programs, career development, intervention and health care. If approved by the U.S. Department of Education next fall, Whatever It Takes could win $10 million each over the next 10 years to put the plan into action.

Child Welfare Agencies urged to Test Parents for Drugs

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Studies show a majority of kids involved in child welfare services are affected by parents who abuse drugs, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). SAMHSA released a new publication, Substance Abuse Specialists in Child Welfare Agencies and Dependency Courts. It recommends a collaboration between child welfare agencies, drug abuse counselors and parents. “The purpose of co-locating substance abuse specialists is to ensure that parents are assessed as quickly as possible, to improve parent engagement and retention in treatment, to streamline entry into treatment, and to provide consultation to child welfare and dependency court workers,” the publication explains. SAMHSA has also released Drug Testing in Child Welfare: Practice and Policy Considerations, which urges child welfare agency policymakers to use drug testing in child welfare practices.

Feds Force States to Include Child Sex Offenders on National Registry

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States have until July to pass legislation that requires juveniles to be included on the sex offender registry database. The Sex Offender Registry Notification Act (SORNA), part of the Adam Walsh Act, requires states to register kids and teens, but gives states control on how many and which juveniles are included, according to Youth Today. So far, Florida, Ohio, South Dakota and Delaware are the only states currently in compliance with SORNA. If the other 46 do not comply, they will lose a portion of the Justice Department’s Byrne Grant, which supplies criminal justice systems with millions of dollars. Attorney General Eric Holder has pushed the deadline back twice now, causing frustration among supporters of SORNA.

New Curriculum Focuses on Helping Black Teenage Boys Succeed

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A new school curriculum has been created to work on the academic and social achievement gap between black and white kids. Youth Communication Inc. publishes essays, stories, pictures and other projects created by teenagers and has developed the Real Men Resource Kit. The kit contains a full curriculum, called Real Men: Urban Teens Write About How to Be A Man, as well as an activity guide and a film based on one teen’s success story. The curriculum, which schools must purchase ($375), provides stories and lessons written by young black men who talk about breaking out of stereotypes and achieving their goals. Here’s a sample:
“Now that I’m about to graduate from University Heights, I realize that many things about it have helped to make me a better person.

Civil Suit Challenges Life Without Parole for Kids

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There are new legal challenges popping up across the country in the wake of the Graham v. Florida Supreme Court decision, which made life without parole sentences for juveniles unconstitutional in cases that don’t involve murder. Unlike appeals filed in Florida and Pennsylvania, the American Civil Liberties Union is suing Michigan government officials on behalf of nine convicts who were sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole for crimes they committed when they were minors, according to the Jurist. Michigan law requires mandatory life sentences for certain crimes committed by kids who are 14 to 17 years old. The ACLU argues their rights have been violated because they don’t have the chance for parole by demonstrating growth or maturity.

Gangs Use Social Networking to Mark Their Turf

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Teens in gangs are using sites like Facebook, Myspace and Twitter to glamorize their activities and carry on gang wars. In several cases, gang members use these sites to track down and confront rivals by following them on Twitter or checking out their Facebook page, according to a gang awareness blog called Open the Gate. Teens in gangs are also using social networking to recruit new members. Authorities call it cyberbanging and they’re trying to fight it by monitoring sites, along with pictures and comments related to illegal activities. Some gangs are very active online.

Report Urges Feds to Focus on Why Black Teenage Boys are Failing in School

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The Council of the Great City Schools is calling on the  federal government to do something about the academic and social achievement gap between black and white kids. “Black males continue to perform lower than their peers throughout the country on almost every indicator,” says the groundbreaking report A Call for Change: The Social and Educational Factors Contributing to the Outcomes of Black Males in Urban Schools. The study focuses on six areas in black kids' lives, including readiness to learn, in-school experience and college/career preparation. Here are a few things the report found:

One out of every three black children lived in poverty compared with one out of every ten white children in 2007. Black or poor students attending public school were more likely to be held back during their K-8 school career than their classmates.

Feds Push For Nationwide Ban on Alcoholic Energy Drinks

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The Food and Drug Administration is under pressure to ban alcoholic energy drinks, according to the Washington Post. An investigation has been underway since last year as to whether the drinks meet the FDA’s “Generally Recognized as Safe” standard. If there is a consensus that energy cocktails are safe, they will be exempted from FDA review, according to MedPage Today. Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn) along with Senator-elect Richard Blumenthal (D), who is currently Connecticut’s attorney general, sent a letter to FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg Monday urging her speed up the investigation. Blumenthal pushed for the agency to ban the drinks, calling them "a witch's brew of stimulants and alcohol," the Washington Post notes.

New Research on Children Sold for Sex in Georgia

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Every month, an estimated three to five hundred girls are being sold for sex in Georgia, according to a new fact sheet from the Governor’s Office for Children and Families. The Office monitors the problem and reports that girls as young as 12 are serving 10-15 men per night and sometimes up to 45 a night during periods of high demand, including sporting events and conventions. The fact sheet, which is released four times a year, is based on research done by Shared Hope International, The Shapiro Group and Citizens Against Trafficking. Researchers say girls who’ve been exploited often keep silent out of fear of physical and psychological abuse from their trafficker/pimp. Many are tattooed, branded or scarred, a method used by pimps to mark ownership and control over emotionally vulnerable girls, Citizens Against Trafficking reports.

Another Teen Killed at House Party

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For the second time in a week, a teenager was killed at a house party in the Atlanta area. 18-year-old Daquavious Stephon Mapp was apparently caught in the crossfire of a firefight between other teenage boys. James Edwards and Tevin Williams, both 17, are charged with aggravated assault and gun charges. Police aren’t sure whose bullet killed Mapp, according the Atlanta Journal Constitution. Estimates vary widely, but most accounts say 75 kids were at a party in Conyers, Ga.