JCCFNews Summary
May 16, 2014

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May is National Foster Care Month 
Loving a Child "To the End of June" and Beyond

 

 
Cris Beam's sweeping book presents an all-encompassing look into the triumphs and failures of the American foster care system. 
 
Beam, herself a foster mother, spent 5 years investigating the system, which includes over 400,000 children in the U.S. She interviews current and former foster families - adults and youths - and combines their narratives with data that represent a deep need for change.
 

 

Who gets to define poverty? Does your newsroom treat poor people as the experts on their own lives? Can journalism about low-income families have an impact on the public policies that shape their destinies?

 

The 2014 Equal Voice Journalism Fellowship and Scholarship Program, sponsored by the Marguerite Casey Foundation, aims to increase the public's understanding of poverty in the U.S. Professional journalists can apply for an Equal Voice Journalism Fellowship which provides a $4000 reporting stipend plus up to $1000 in travel reimbursement. College-enrolled student journalists may apply for the Equal Voice Journalism Scholarship which offers $1000 and up to $800 for travel. The deadline to apply is May 31. Read more

News
News of Note

Schooled
The New Yorker, Dale Russakoff | May 19
Cory Booker, Chris Christie and Mark Zuckerberg hoped to launch one of the nation's boldest exercises in education reform in Newark. They got an education.

 

When Parents Go to Prison, Their Kids Pay the Price
Pacific Standard, John Upton | May 14
Experts with the National Academy of Scientists say too little research has been done on the impact of parental incarceration on children. Some studies show that kids whose families are disrupted by imprisonment have problems in school, are more aggressive and less trustful of adults.

 

Are School Closings the 'New Jim Crow?'
The Washington Post, Lyndsey Layton | May 13
Three federal civil rights complaints filed by community activists charge that students of color from Newark, Chicago and New Orleans have been disproportionately hurt by public school closures and charter school expansions. The complaints, sent to the Education Department's Office for Civil Rights and the Justice Department, call on the Obama administration to halt closures elsewhere.

 

Millennial Moms Put Their Unique Imprint on Parenting 

USA Today, Sharon Jayson | May 13

Today's young moms have been shaped by a variety of influences. Surveys have surfaced distinct characteristics like an interest in video-sharing sites and parenting mobile apps.

  

Life Cycles of Inequity
Colorlines, Kai Wright and Andre Robert Lee | May 12 

The first in a series of videos about the challenges of being young, black and male in America, and dealing with implicit racial bias from early boyhood on.

 

Families Open Up about Trauma at Conference for Survivors of Institutional Abuse 

Juvenile Justice Information Exchange, Roxanna Asgarian | May 12 

Parents who have sent their troubled teen to residential treatment or wilderness camps urge others to rule out programs that ban parent-child communication. Such rules make it impossible for youth to report abuse, neglect and other problems.

 

After Life as an Addict, She's Ready to Be a Mom
The Des Moines Register, Mike Kilen May 10 

Nicole Laird, a former addict, worked with a Safe Babies Court Team to reunite with her youngest child. The program links families with community services in an effort to help moms and dads safely parent again, therefore improving outcomes for young children.

 

Juvenile Injustice: Truants face courts, jailing without legal counsel to aid them 

Center for Public Integrity, Susan Ferriss | May 9

Knox County Juvenile Court procedures highlight a national struggle to respect kids' rights when they're pulled into courts for crimes and for status offenses.

 

Hardship Makes a New Home in the Suburbs 

The New York Times, Jennifer Medina | May 9

Poverty in the suburbs is rising faster than in any other setting in the country. Communities like Moreno Valley, Calif., are grappling with problems that once seemed remote, and struggling to find institutions to help the poor.

 

The Undefeated Champions of Defeat City
GQ Magazine, Kathy Dobie | May 2014
Can the scrappy North Camden Little League transform America's most dangerous city?

 

Youth Radio, Marketplace, Huffington Post, Myles Bess, Sayre Quevedo and Teresa Chin | May 8
Parents in California face piles of fees when they children are charged, prosecuted or punished for crimes. As a result, cash-strapped, stressed-out families are accumulating debt while dealing with the juvenile justice system.

 

Events
Events

All Hands on Deck: How Expanded Learning Time Schools and Community Partnerships Work Together to Improve Outcomes for Students
May 19, 10 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. ET
Center for American Progress
Washington, D.C.
A discussion about the ways in which community partnerships can support schools that wish to become expanded learning time schools and lengthen he school day.

Evidenced-Based Home Visiting Policy Forum

June 19, 1 p.m. - 2:30 p.m ET

Pew Home Visiting Campaign 

Webinar

Researchers will summarize key findings from a national cross-site evaluation of home visiting programs, then discuss the implications for home visiting policy, practice and research.

Opportunities
Opportunities 
 
Deadline: May 23
NLGJA
Leroy F. Aarons and the Kay Longcope scholarships are awarded annually to students who demonstrate a commitment to providing fair and accurate coverage of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community.

2014 UNITY Reporting Fellowship
Deadline: May 30
UNITY: Journalists for Diversity
One college student fellow will be selected to cover the AAJA, NABJ, NAHJ, NAJA and NLGJA conventions, with travel and hotel accommodations provided.

The Leonard C. Goodman Institute for Investigative Reporting: Call for Proposals
Deadline: June 15
Leonard C. Goodman Institute for Investigative Reporting and In These Times
will fund and publish investigative journalism that challenges the status quo. 

Deadline: June 30
Raise Up Project
Youth 15-22 are invited to submit their original raps and poems about the dropout crisis. Five winners will receive a $5,000 scholarship and a trip to Washington, D.C. to perform at the Kennedy Center.
Journalism Center on Children & Families |1100 Knight | University of Maryland | College Park, MD 20742
www.journalismcenter.org