May is National Foster Care Month and in Arkansas, the number of foster youths near adulthood has dropped slightly, according to a new report.

The Annie E. Casey Foundation report looked at the transition period for young adults in foster care and found the number of young Arkansans aged 14 and up in the system dropped from 28% in 2006 to 20% in 2021.

Eric Gilmore - executive director of Immerse Arkansas - said his organization is helping youth 14 to 24 escape crises, putting them on a path to healing, growth and transformation.

"Finding a safe and stable place to live, getting a job, finishing their education, and building a community around them - whether that's family or mentors, but people that are going to do life with them," said Gilmore. "We come in at a really critical time, a really hard time in life, and help young people put those pieces together to help make sure that they can be successful."

Gilmore said an Immerse transitional program called LifeBASE provides supportive, stable housing and individualized coaching to equip youth for transition into adulthood.

He added that the coach works with the young person for up to 24 months to hit goals and make progress in the areas of employment, education, well-being, and mental health.

The report shows 81% of 21-year old Arkansans received a high school diploma or General Education Degree in 2021, and Gilmore said the state will help young people financially who want to pursue higher education or vocational certification programs.

But he added that some young people face housing challenges, an unstable support network or other barriers to achieving that goal.

"Most young people, they're thinking about college," said Gilmore. "But these young people have not been prepared educationally to get to that point. So, rather than working on higher education, we're helping them get their high school diploma or their GED."

Gilmore emphasized they are also working with youth who are ready for higher education. For example, he points out a young man who is in the process of transferring to the University of Central Arkansas to finish a degree in graphic design.

He added that another student who came through the Immerse program was recently accepted into the University of Arkansas Clinton School.

Annie E. Casey Foundation Senior Policy Associate Todd Lloyd said there are about half as many adolescents in foster care as there were 15 years ago, but he added that the reasons they are entering the system have changed.

"In the past, young people were coming in for foster care for reasons of behavior, adolescent behavior, child behavior problem," said Lloyd. "But now, there's more of a shift towards them entering care for reasons of neglect, which are often connected to issues of poverty."

Lloyd said neglect is often related to economic insecurity and wants child welfare agencies to work with families to help them address issues of economic challenge and provide support.

A new report focuses on "girl power" in Indiana - with an analysis of how young girls are faring in the state, and recommendations for improving their lives.

Using Kids Count data, the Girl Coalition of Indiana found girls under 18 are experiencing trauma and mental-health concerns at rates higher than boys - from bullying and depression, to dating violence and a lack of emotional support.

In one survey, eight in 10 girls said neighbors "don't notice" or encourage them when they do a good job. Mackenzie Pickerrell, executive director of the coalition, described the purpose of sharing these findings.

"Being deeply embedded into communities to understand from their perspective," said Pickerrell, "what girls need to thrive, and what are the barriers for their girls to live their best lives."

The coalition plans to create programming in partnership with the six Indiana Girl Scout councils to make headway on some of the areas of concern.

This first-ever "Indiana Girl Report" was compiled in collaboration with the Indiana Youth Institute. It's available online at 'girlcoalitionindiana.org.'

Other findings in the report: In 2022, Indiana's middle and high school girls reported feeling a sense of hopelessness or depression for two weeks or longer. One in four "seriously considered" suicide.

Girls are twice as likely to be victims of traditional bullying, and three times as likely to face cyberbullying, compared to boys. Pickerrell noted what could be one reason behind these statistics.

"Girls experience mental and emotional pressures at a much higher rate," said Pickerrell, "and a very different reality than boys do."

She added that the report produced some positive data as well. Girls in Indiana are achieving academically at a stronger pace than boys, including higher high school graduation rates.

They're more likely to obtain advanced degrees. And nine out of ten girls say they have at least one caring adult or mentor in their lives, other than their parents.




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A recent ruling from the Washington state Supreme Court lowers the barriers for bringing some childhood sexual abuse cases to court.

Justices unanimously ruled that the three-year statute of limitation for these cases applies from the date of discovery of each element of the case. Seattle-based attorney Nate Roberts of the Connelly Law Offices said that, for instance, if someone in their mid-twenties suffers psychologically because of childhood abuse, they have three years to file a claim against their alleged abuser. He added that there are more situations where the Wolf decision applies.

"If they find out in their thirties, for example, that they were a ward of the state at the time of the abuse and the state knew they were being abused and didn't intervene," he said, "then they would have three years from the date they acquire that knowledge in which to file a lawsuit against the state."

Roberts said this makes more sense than applying the three-year statute of limitation to the date of the abuse.

Washington state lawmakers are considering eliminating the statute of limitations for childhood sexual abuse cases completely. Roberts said other states have already done this.

"The insidious thing about sexual abuse and physical abuse of children is that the kids don't necessarily understand the scope or degree of harm sometimes ever, but often until much later in life," he said, "and I think a simpler, more equitable rule would be to say that if you're the victim of childhood abuse, you can bring the lawsuit whenever you're ready to do so."

House Bill 1618 was introduced in the Legislature this year and passed in the House but died in the Senate. It will be up for consideration again in 2024.

The Keystone State has some work to do to provide more access to quality pre-Kindergarten programs for the youngest Pennsylvanians.

Only 43% of eligible 3- and-4-year-olds are in high-quality, publicly funded pre-K, leaving more than 87,000 without access, according to the new "State of Early Care and Education in Pennsylvania" report.

Maggie Livelsberger, policy director for Pennsylvania Partnerships For Children, said young children need access to programs preparing them to start Kindergarten. But she points out that inadequate funding for child care has led to issues of supply and demand, affecting a family's ability to find care they can afford.

"It also impacts child care providers, and their ability to be compensated fairly, to pay their teachers and maintain their business expenses," Livelsberger outlined. "We are living in a world where there is a very historic workforce shortage within the child care system, and a lot of that is due to unlivable wages."

Livelsberger added in the Keystone State, child care center workers earn on average less than $12.50 an hour, or less than $26,000 a year. The report recommended the state increase funding for the child care sector, and develop a pay system to put pre-K teachers on par with K-12 teachers with similar education levels.

Livelsberger acknowledged child care providers have benefited from supplemental stimulus funding the state received, and there is some new money in the state budget for child care. But she insists more is needed.

"Child care has historically been underfunded," Livelsberger emphasized. "Even though there are new funds for child care in this budget, it's not nearly enough to be able to combat this workforce shortage that the sector is facing. And that's really closing classrooms and not allowing families to access that care."

The report recommends the state's Office of Child Development and Early Learning produce a report every three years to give what it calls a "clear picture" of the early-childhood workforce and recommend ways to expand and improve it.