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As a teenager , Jose Colmenares spent time sleeping on the streets of Los Angeles as a runaway before ending up in a group home for foster youth. Besides missing many days of school, he missed out on important conversations about how he would plan for the future, including developing a career. At the group home where he lived from age 15 to 18, he remembers listening to many panel discussions about drug abuse, but never about careers. Colmenares had always been fascinated by technology, but...

In 1998, the federal government started an incentive program aimed at pushing states to finalize more adoptions of youth in foster care. But in the decades since its inception, few states have seen any consistent benefit from the half-billion dollars spent on incentives. There are 34 states that have received less than $10 million in the 18 years the awards have been made thus far. But one state has consistently reaped rewards from the federal incentives: Texas. [For more of this story,...

Doniesha Thomas is in her bedroom, crouching on the floor and peering into a pet carrier that appears empty. “He’s in there, all the way back,” she said, reaching in to find the kitten she rescued from a nearby vacant lot the day before, though she says she dislikes cats. Thomas’ bedroom is in her house. Her house, rented in her own name. It’s a single-family dwelling in south central LA that she shares with her fiancé and a roommate. [For more of this story, written by Lauren Lee White, go...

“I'm already beat. The trick is to not let the caring get to you.” These were the words recently uttered by one of my physician colleagues, referring to the stresses of caring for patients in the world of modern health care. The weariness was clear over the phone. Without missing a step, I responded, “I know. Of course.” It took me weeks to realize that it might be concerning that I immediately empathized with her sense of being submerged and overpowered by an uncaring health care system.

(Editor’s note:  We proudly are reprinting Ferndale Enterprise columnist Wendy Lestina’s prize-winning column from the November 17, 2017 edition. Lestina placed first in the 2017 California News Publishers Association (CNPA) California Journalism Awards. Her award was announced on Saturday at the CNPA Press Summit, held in Sonoma.) Mother Pewsitter and I both have January birthdays. About ten years ago, my sister Candace decided we should celebrate jointly at a family dinner (the three of...

Educators consider chronic absenteeism a red alert — a blaring sign that a student might be academically at risk. But schools and parents now have a new tool to investigate the problem, in the form of open-source data collected by UC Davis and research partners Attendance Works and Children Now. Together, they produced “ Seize the Data Opportunity in California: Using Chronic Absence to Improve Educational Outcomes .” The report uses an interactive map to pinpoint the type of schools that...

Sen. Res. 346 , the companion bill to the already passed House resolution, was approved unanimously by the U.S. Senate on May 22. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) was the sponsor of the resolution that attracted bipartisan co-sponsorship prior to the vote. The House version was sponsored by Rep. Mike Gallagher and Rep. Danny Davis who made statements on the bill as reported earlier on ACEs Connection.

Check out this exciting opportunity to support babies and strengthen families! Please join hundreds of other organizations in signing on to this letter urging our state leaders to fund critical home visiting supports for babies and families living in poverty. Children’s earliest brain development is the foundation for their lifelong health and success. Yet too often families, especially those who are struggling to make ends meet, don’t have the support they need during the stressful time of...

Depression-Related Feelings Among Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual Youth, 2013-2015 An alarming 61% of youth who identify as gay, lesbian or bisexual have felt depressed in the previous year in contrast to 29% of their peers who identify as straight. These students, who are in grades 7th, 9th, or 11th grade or are in non-traditional programs, felt so sad or hopeless almost every day for two weeks or more that they stopped doing their usual activities. Disparities among youth who experience...

I also hear from others that people don’t want to talk about their story because it is too painful. Well, what I find “too painful” is knowing that a young man just shot people in his school because he wanted someone to “know his story.”

“Casserian engeri?” (“And how are the children?”) — Traditional Masai greeting The most serious, non-infectious disease in childhood, and the most common, is poverty. Despite economic gains in the last few years, children remain the poorest age group in America with nearly one in five living in poverty. That’s 13.2 million children. A recent study by the Children’s Defense Fund illustrated an even bleaker picture, with three million children living in families surviving on $2 a day per...

The woman used a thick extension cord on her foster children. Welts rose. Bruises formed. Fear became the norm inside the Watts neighborhood home in Los Angeles where LaToya Cooper and six other children were sent to live. But no one believed the then-fifth grader. Not Cooper’s teachers. Not the police. [For more on this story by Susan Abram, go to https://chronicleofsocialchange.org/child-welfare-2/california-considers-a-bat-signal-for-foster-youth-in-distress/30903 ]