What's on our radar this week
Every Wednesday, Juvenile Law Center gathers the latest studies, reports, and headlines from around the country. Here's what we've been reading:
- The New York Board of Regents approved a college assistance program for youth who age out of foster care.
- New research from The University of Texas at Austin shows that girls serve significantly longer sentences than boys in the juvenile justice system.
- ABC Action News reported on Florida's foster youth who age out of care and the struggles these young adults face without a support system of caring adults.
- Earlier this month, California passed a new law aimed at increasing protections for undocumented youth - and their juvenile records - in the juvenile justice system. However, the California General Assembly also sidelined a bill aimed at increasing benefits and transition support for "crossover" youth, or people in both the foster care and justice systems.
- Why are there so many police in U.S. public K-12 schools, and what does that do to classrooms and student learning? Hint: not a whole lot of good.
- North Carolina's General Assembly passed a bill that promotes normalcy for foster youth by removing barriers to everyday childhood and teenage experiences, like sleepovers or getting a driver's license.
- New York's population of girls in adult prisons is fairly small, but that puts the girls at risk of being placed in solitary confinement indefinitely and receiving inadequate mental health services and education. One woman recalls over 100 days she spent in solitary confinement.
- Connecticut's Office of the Child Advocate released disturbing videos showing "unlawful" restraining and secluding youth.
- Two-part story on Oklahoma's school-to-prison pipeline, juvenile justice, and youth incarceration.
Did we miss a big story? Email us at [email protected] with your headline.