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New Look and New Resources!Look to the left side of your screen, Click on the Brevity Archive button to get past issues of Brevity, beginning with last week's issue. The Subject Library brings you information from all previous issues of Brevity sorted by subject matter. It is going to take me a while to transfer the information from the Subject Library at our old web site to the new one. If you want to look at the contents of a particular category of information in the meantime, get in touch with me and I'll send you the still-active page from the old Library. In the upper right corner of Brevity (and on every page on our site) you will see three symbols. Click on them to (1) Create a PDF file (2) Print the page or (3) send it as an email. I would very much like to hear your comments about our new site and Brevity specifically, both critical and laudatory. Thanks! JB AIDS Drugs Tested on Foster Children A review by Associated Press has found that government-funded researchers tested AIDS drugs on hundreds of children over the past two decades, often without providing them with a basic protection afforded in federal law and required by some states. The research was conducted in at least seven states – Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, New York, North Carolina, Colorado and Texas – and involved more than four dozen studies. The children ranged in age from infants to those in their late teens. More details at the Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report for May 5, 2005 ++++++++++ Scoutreach, a Boy Scout program for boys whose mothers are at the Washington Corrections Center for Women is run by the Chief Seattle Boy Scout Council. It is the first such program for boys in the country. The program participants meet at the prison once a month. The program is intended to help over come the isolation and loss children of incarcerated parents feel. ++++++++++ From the Executive Summary of this report by the South Carolina Rural Health Research Center, these findings: Exposure to Violence – The study found no evidence to support the common assumption that rural youth are protected from exposure to violence. Rural teens are equally or more likely than suburban and urban teens to be exposed to violent activities. Drug Use – Rural teens are at significantly greater risk of using drugs than both suburban and urban teens. The proportion of rural teens who reported ever using crystal meth was almost double the proportion of urban and suburban teens. Effects of Race: -Racial differences for exposure to violence and drug use are negligible among rural teens. Among rural teens, only one measure of drug use differed by race: rural non-white teens were less likely to report chewing tobacco compared to rural white teens. Effects of Gender: - Exposure to violence and drug use vary by gender among rural teens. Among rural teens, females are more likely than males to be coerced into sex or engage in suicide behaviors, while males are more likely than females to use weapons, be threatened at school or engage in fighting behaviors. 6 page pdf file. ++++++++++ The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Services analyzes ongoing changes in rural areas. This bulletin shows the most current indicators of the demographic, social, and economic well-being of rural children. Based on data from the 1990 and 2000 Censuses. From the bulletin:
6 page pdf file. ++++++++++ Police Fumble Missing Children Cases The Scripps Howard News Service conducted a study of computer files at the National Center for Missing ad Exploited Children and found that dozens of police departments across the national failed to report at least 4,498 runaway, lost and abducted children in apparent violation of the National Child Search Assistance Act passed by Congress in 1990. Seventeen of these unreported children are dead, 131 are still missing. ++++++++++ Standards and Guidelines for Supervised Visitation Practice The Supervised Visitation Network, the agency that created the guidelines, is a multi-national non-profit membership organization that consists of a network of agencies and individuals who are interested in assuring that children can have conflict-free access to parents with whom they do not reside. See also FAQs for Parents, for Professionals 27 page document that can be downloaded in a printer friendly version. ++++++++++ A Casey Family Programs publication on career and employment success for young people from foster care, this handbook is intended for child welfare professionals and others responsible for helping young people prepare for transition to adulthood and the workplace. 80 page downloadable pdf file. ++++++++++ The Affects of Family Members’ Substance Abuse on Workers The April 18, 2005 CESAR FAX says slightly more than one-fourth (26%) of employed adults report that there has been substance abuse or addiction within their family and 42% of these workers report that they have been distracted or less productive at work because of it. ++++++++++ Reconnecting: The Role of the Juvenile Court in Reentry This new NCJFCJ publications is a guide to planning, implementing, and operating a juvenile court to manage the reintegration into the community of juveniles who have undergone court-ordered out-of-home placement. 46 pages. Available in hard copy for $7/copy. Downloadable at the link above. ++++++++++ The NYT Magazine last Sunday featured a lengthy article on fathers’ rights groups in the United States who advocate for a new standard in child custody. They want 50-50 joint physical custody and a standard that values parental rights as highly as the child’s best interest. ++++++++++ Identifying Victims Using DNA: A Guide for Families This 8-page booklet is an overview of DNA analysis for friends and family of missing persons to help them understand the process forensic scientists go through to identify human remains. Available from the National Institute of Justice at the link above. Pdf. ++++++++++ A new study from Brigham Young University shows that relational aggression – harming others through purposeful manipulation and damage to relationship – may be associated with social prominence as early as 4 and 5 years of age. Research indicates this is the preferred type of aggression among girls. These preschool “Queen Bees” are controversial children who receive both “like” and “dislike nominations” from their peers. They are children with a strong social impact and demonstrate an active mix of positive and negative behavior. ++++++++++ The Murderer Next Door: Why the Mind is Designed to Kill The Casey Journalism Center reviews this new book and interviews its author, a psychology professor at the University of Texas who applies evolutionary theory to explain modern domestic violence and other phenomena that sometimes turn into murder. The author, David Buss, says the explanation for domestic violence is found in evolutionary adaptations resulting in men who “control and manipulate their own mates – and therein lies the horrifying bridge to abuse.” ++++++++++ Charter High School for Students with Substance Abuse Disorders Kathleen Bower, a public school administrator who struggled with substance abuse when she was in college, bought two dilapidated Cincinnati Public Schools warehouses and renovated them into a charter school for students struggling with substance abuse. Dohn Community High School opened in 2001 with 50 students, many of whom were kicked out of other schools for truancy, fighting or drug use. Students can attend AA meetings and receive chemical dependency counseling at school. It is the only school in Ohio that conducts random drug testing on its students. ++++++++++ The Stake of Vulnerable Populations in Social Security Connect for Kids reports on a Generations United briefing on Capitol Hill May 2 to explain more about the Social Security system and its effects on families. The briefing highlighted new findings from research that Social Security lifts approximately 1 million children above the poverty line. ++++++++++ What happens when you’ve grown up in foster care and suddenly you’re on your own? This new film follows young people as they become parents, battle drug addiction, face homelessness, and end up in jail. It forces us to consider the strengths and weaknesses of the public systems that serve foster youth, and the role that private citizens and organizations can play. Aging Out will be broadcast on PBS Thursday, May 26, 2005. Check your local listings to confirm time and date. ++++++++++ Is Childhood Becoming Oversexed? It’s called the “sexualization of childhood,” a sex-saturated culture that encourages children and young adults to define themselves mainly by how sexy they are, and to see sex as the most important quality in a successful relationship. Parents and child development experts bump up against marketers who say kids today are growing up in a different world than their parents did and are savvier at younger ages.
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