N.J. foster children placed in homes with relatives more often than in other states, report says, By Megan DeMarco, May 23, 2012, Star-Ledger: “A higher percentage of children in New Jersey’s foster care system are being placed with relatives and close friends than in nearly every other state, a report released today found. About 35 percent of kids in New Jersey foster care are being raised by grandparents, aunts, uncles or close friends – which child advocates call ‘kinship families,’ according to the Annie E. Casey foundation report. Nationally, 26 percent of kids in foster care were placed in kinship families from 2009 through last year. Only Hawaii, Florida and Arizona place a higher percentage than New Jersey, which was in a three-way tie with Illinois and Michigan…”
Day: May 24, 2012
Chronic Homelessness – New Orleans, LA
Chronic, longtime homelessness has been nearly halved in Orleans and Jefferson parishes, By Katy Reckdahl, May 23, 2012, New Orleans Times-Picayune: “For 28 years, Miller Osbey survived with the help of a shopping cart. But for six weeks now, the massive plastic buggy has been parked inside Osbey’s living room, near the front door. Osbey, 60, patted the cart fondly as he passed it earlier this week. ‘I ain’t gonna let it go,’ he said. Less than two months ago, Osbey moved into one of 2,116 apartments in Orleans and Jefferson parishes that house homeless people with severe disabilities. The apartments aim to keep even severely impaired homeless people housed by pairing rental vouchers with intensive social services and mental health and medical services, paid for by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the Housing Authority of New Orleans and various state agencies. A separate federal program provides similar housing and services through the local Veterans Affairs hospital for homeless veterans…”
Child Poverty Rate – South Africa
More than half of South Africa’s children live in poverty, By Aislinn Laing, May 21, 2012, The Telegraph: “Eighteen years after the end of apartheid, South Africa is now judged to be one of the most unequal societies in the world and its 19 million children bear the brunt of the disconnect. The Unicef report found that 1.4 million children live in homes that rely on often dirty streams for drinking water, 1.5 million have no flushing lavatories and 1.7 million live in shacks, with no proper bedding, cooking or washing facilities. Four in 10 live in homes where no one is employed and, in cases of dire poverty, the figure rises to seven in 10…”