The $746 Million A Year School-to-Prison Pipeline: The Ineffective, Discriminatory, and Costly Process of Criminalizing New York City Students

This report, released by the Center for Popular Democracy and Urban Youth Collaborative, reveals the staggering yearly economic impact of the school-to-prison pipeline in New York City, $746.8 million. In addition, it presents a bold "Young People's School Justice Agenda," which calls on the City to divest from over-policing young people, and invest in supportive programs and opportunities for students to thrive. New evidence of the astronomical fiscal and social costs of New York's school-to-prison pipeline demand urgent action by policymakers. The young people who are most at risk of harm due to harsh policing and disciplinary policies are uniquely situated to lead the dialogue about developing truly safe and equitable learning environments. This report highlights the vision for safe, supportive, and inclusive schools developed by these youth leaders

Guideposts For Success

[Excerpt] he transition from youth to adulthood is challenging for almost every young person. This is particularly true for young people with disabilities. Yet, it is in those critical transition-age years that a young person’s future can be determined. Part of a successful future includes finding and keeping work. The total employment rate is projected to increase by 15% in the first decade of the twenty-first century. Employment in occupations that generally require a college degree or other postsecondary credential is projected to grow much faster than other jobs across all occupations. Jobs requiring work-related training will still account for the majority of the new positions

Family religious involvement and the quality of family relationships for early adolescents

Examination of association between the religious involvement (number of family religious activities, parental worship service attendance and parental prayer) and quality of family relationships with results indicating that religiously involved families of adolescents (ages 12-14) living in the U.S. are more like to have stronger family relationships than families that are not religiously active

European Company Survey on Reconciliation of Work and Family Life

[Excerpt] Demographic change requires an increase in labour force participation. This applies partic- ularly to those groups which have had relatively low participation rates in the past and those with family obligations such as child rearing or care for the elderly. With many companies already reporting difficulties in recruiting or retaining qualified staff, policies which aim to reconcile work and family life more effectively have become more attractive. Implementing work-life balance policies may therefore be considered a significant factor in the enhance- ment of corporate competitiveness and national prosperity. Governments together with the social partners at the national, sectoral and company levels must tackle the challenge of ensuring the competitiveness of companies while granting women and men equal partici- pation in work and family life. The European Company Survey on the Reconciliation of Work and Family Life 2010 provides a detailed description and analysis of family-friendly policies implemented by the firms in six European countries – Germany (DE), the United Kingdom (UK), France (FR), Italy (IT), Sweden (SE) and Poland (PL). These six countries account for approximately 63% of the popu- lation and 68% of the GDP in the EU-27. In autumn 2009, senior executives and the heads of human resources departments in over 5,000 companies were interviewed about how important they consider the issue of family-friendliness and the policies they have offered in their firms. In addition, they reported on their main motives for, and the most significant obstacles to, the implementation of work-life balance measures. The European Company Survey also allows an assessment of the institutional basis, such as statutory provisions, collective and works agreements, on which the policies adopted are ultimately based. It should be borne in mind, however, that the results do not allow a thorough evaluation of specific governmental programmes. Finally, the survey focuses on the impact of the economic crisis on the willingness of companies in the six countries to implement or maintain family-friendly policies

Religion and the life attitudes and self-images of American adolescents

The purpose of the project is to research the shape and influence of religion and spirituality in the lives of U.S. adolescents; to identify effective practices in the religious, moral, and social formation of the lives of youth; to describe the extent to which youth participate in and benefit from the programs and opportunities that religious communities are offering to their youth; and to foster an informed national discussion about the influence of religion in youth's lives, in order to encourage sustained reflection about and rethinking of our cultural and institutional practices with regard to youth and religion.This report, based on nationally representative survey data, shows that religious U.S. 12th graders have significantly higher self-esteem and hold more positive attitudes about life in general than their less religious peers. Of the 13 attitudinal variables this report examines, only one was not significantly related to some dimension of religion when controlling for the effects of nine other variables such as age, race, sex and family structure. The religion factors most commonly related to these outcomes are religious service attendance and importance of religion, although religious affiliation and youth group participation were also important in many cases.The National Study of Youth and Religion, funded by Lilly Endowment Inc. and under the direction of Dr. Christian Smith, professor in the Department of Sociology, is based at the Odum Institute for Research in Social Science at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. This four-year research project began in August 2001 and will continue until August 2006

Religion and American adolescent delinquency, risk behaviors and constructive social activities

This report demonstrates that religion among U.S. adolescents is positively related to participation in constructive youth activities. In addition, those who participate in religious activities seem to be less likely to participate in many delinquent and risk behaviors

Portraits of Protestant Teens: a report on teenagers in major U.S. denominations

Religious participation -- Religious beliefs -- Faith, practices, and experiences -- Sharing faith -- Evaluations of church -- Moral views and risk behaviors -- Civic activities

The Non-government Report on the Implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child in Australia, Contribution by SCALES authors

This non-government report to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child responds to the Australian Government’s Combined Second and Third Reports and makes recommendations to further Australia’s compliance with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. This report was prepared by the National Children’s and Youth Law Centre and Defence for Children International (Australia) following consultations with a wide range of people working with children and young people in Australia across many sectors as well as some participation and input from children and young people themselves

Family religious involvement and the quality of family relationships for early adolescents

Examination of association between the religious involvement (number of family religious activities, parental worship service attendance and parental prayer) and quality of family relationships with results indicating that religiously involved families of adolescents (ages 12-14) living in the U.S. are more like to have stronger family relationships than families that are not religiously active