JCCF NEWS SUMMARY
March 27, 2012
Minding the Kids: March Madness  
  Photo of NY Rally via Creative Commons

 

Stories Can Change Lives. We at JCCF know this because we see it every year in the Casey Medal honorees whose reporting has a profound and lasting effect on the journalists themselves and the communities they cover. These stories often deal with very hard and complex issues: child deaths from abuse, neglect, illness or guns. 

 

Sadly, no story is powerful enough to bring back a child whose life was lost to a violent society, but their stories can serve as a wake-up call for personal and social change.

 

Center Director Julie Drizin addresses this month's chaotic events in her latest column.

 

Read More. 

    
 
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Series Spotlight: Kids in Peril
Photo courtesy of The Palm Beach (Fla.) Post. 
 

In 2010, Palm Beach Post Reporter Michael LaForgia discovered that Florida's lax laws allowed anyone--even a convicted sex offender--to run a summer camp. 

 

The resulting article, Sex Offender, Other Felons Ran Camps for Homeless Kids, earned LaForgia a 2011 Casey Medal and prompted state lawmakers like Rep. William Snyder (R-Stuart), pictured above, to pledge action. 

 

As parents begin to make plans summer plans for their children, Florida camps remain unregulated.

 

Kids in Peril, a follow-up series, investigates whether kids were harmed while lawmakers dragged their feet.

 

LaForgia describes the effort behind the investigation here. 


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headlinesCHILDREN AND FAMILIES HEADLINES

 

For Long-unemployed, Hiring Bias Rears its Head

USA Today/Associated Press, Stephen Singer | March 27, 2012

More than four years after the start of the economic downturn, many Americans who have struggled for years without employment say they face discrimination.

 

The Impacts Of The High School Dropout Crisis

WAMU (Washington, D.C.), Kavitha Cardoza | March 27, 2012

Few dropouts return to school seeking a traditional high school diploma or GED certificate. YouthBuild in Washington, D.C., is a "second chance school" that uses unconventional methods to get these students to stay in school.

 

Lawmakers Seek a Softer Justice System for Juvenile Offenders in New York

The New York Times, John Eligon | March 26, 2012

The Close to Home initiative, a New York proposal to reduce the number of juveniles in traditional youth prisons, would house low-level offenders closer to their homes and focus on rehabilitation.

 

 

La Opinion/New America Media, Araceli Martinez Ortega | March 26, 2012

"Old-age poverty" and disproportionate chronic illness prevent many Latino elders in California from visiting their imprisoned sons.

 

 

NPR, Laura Sullivan and Lauren Silverman | March 24, 2012

As the U.S. Supreme Court considers whether it's fair to send juveniles convicted of murder to prison for life without parole, the Campaign for Fair Sentencing of Youth brings mothers of teen perpetrators and victims to the table to find common ground.

 

Study: Nearly 40 Percent of Women Never Married

Gannett News Service | March 22, 2012

The National Center on Health Statistics reports historically low marriage rates. More Americans are delaying marriage or living together without tying the knot.

 

Cradle to Classroom Emphasizes Literacy in Low-income Families

Chicago Tribune, Bonnie Miller Rubin | March 21, 2012

A program in the Chicago area encourages new mothers to introduce books to their infants to boost brain development in the early years.

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EventsEVENTS      
  
April 2, 10:30 a.m. - 12 p.m. ET
The Brookings Institution
Washington, D.C.
The education reform efforts underway in D.C. Public Schools are inspiring Buenos Aires's new education policies, including a district-wide assessment of all students and teachers. Education Advisors from Buenos Aires and D.C. Public Schools will discuss the opportunities and challenges of measuring learning outcomes.
 
April 3, 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. PDT
New America Media
Los Angeles
Community advocates, researchers and experts on early childhood education will discuss shifts in the landscape of California's early childhood education and how pending budgetary changes threaten to impact low-income families across the state.
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FellowshipsFELLOWSHIPS AND SCHOLARSHIPS

 

The Dart Center Academic Fellowship Program

Deadline: March 28
Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma
Fellowship sessions provide in-depth training to journalism educators who are seeking to learn skills and develop curricula that will better educate students on newsgathering, storytelling and self-care when reporting on human tragedy. 
 
Deadline: March 31  
The Society for Features Journalism
Diversity fellows will learn what's happening in features departments nationwide while networking with outstanding journalists specializing in lifestyle coverage.
 
Rosalyn Carter Fellowships for Mental Health Journalism 
Deadline: April 16
The Carter Center, Emory University
Six one-year journalism fellowships with the Carter Center's Mental Health program are available. These fellowships aim to enhance public understanding of mental health issues and reduce stigma and discrimination against people with mental illnesses. 
 

 

Deadline: April 16
USC Annenberg 
This all-expenses-paid mini fellowship on community health issues comes with grants of $2,000-$10,000 to underwrite reporting on a substantive health topic. Journalists will explore the role that race, ethnicity, pollution, violence, and transportation and land-use policy play in prospects for good health. For more information, email Martha Shirk at Cahealth@usc.edu. 

 

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ABOUT THE JCCF NEWS SUMMARY

Mina Dixon, Editor 

The Journalism Center on Children & Families, a program of the University of Maryland's Philip Merrill College of Journalism, is a national nonprofit organization committed to supporting media coverage of children, youth and families, particularly the disadvantaged. The JCCF News Summary helps journalists and others keep in touch with the latest news, policy analysis and research reports on critical social issues that impact families and communities. We encourage redistribution of this material with credit given to the Journalism Center on Children & Families.

Journalists are encouraged to submit their stories for consideration for publication in the JCCF News Summary and on our website. Please send story links to: info@journalismcenter.org. Stories should be archived and free of access charges for at least seven days.
 
JCCF thanks The Annie E. Casey Foundation for its generous support of our work.
 
www.journalismcenter.org
 


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