California's Children

AB 2109 on vax exemption passes Assembly

UPDATE, May 11, 2012: The Sacramento Bee is reporting that AB 2109 (Pan, D-Sacramento), the bill that would require parents who want to opt of the required vaccinations for their children to obtain a physician's statement affirming the parents were given full information on the risks involved, passed the Assembly, 44-19, on Thursday; AB 2109 now heads to the Senate. If signed into law, the bill will go into effect in July 2013.

Previously reported:

March 22, 2012:  AB 2109, introduced on February 23, was referred March 12 to the Assembly Committee on Health. The proposed legislation, which intends to amend the state Health and Safety Code section 120365, was introduced by Assembly member Richard Pan (D-Sacramento), below, who is a pediatrician; and was co-authored by Senator Lois Wolk (D-Stockton) and Assembly member Felipe Fuentes (D-San Fernando Valley). AB 2109 seeks to strengthen exsiting law that:

...prohibits the governing authority of a school or
other institution from unconditionally admitting any person as a
pupil of any private or public elementary or secondary school, child
care center, day nursery, nursery school, family day care home, or
development center, unless prior to his or her first admission to
that institution he or she has been fully immunized against various
diseases, as specified.

In a nutshell: Parents who "file with the governing authority a letter or affidavit stating that [vaccinations are] contrary to his or her beliefs "will, under the language of the proposed law, also require the letter to be accompanied by a "written statement signed by a health care practitioner, and a form, signed by the parent/guardian" that indicates he or she received [information about the health care risks of not being vaccinated] from the health practitioner.

Timed-out foster kids: one more year on the street, tks to red tape

May 11, 2012: The 2,863 CA foster kids who turn 19 this year face a crucial gap in housing support -- due to the phase-in process of a new law meant to solve the immediate problems of "timing out."

The  California Fostering Connections to Success Act (AB 12, Beall), extends vital housing support to age 20 for "timed-out" foster youth (those transitioning out of the foster care system because they are no longer age-eligible). This year, however, foster children who  turn 19 will be dropped from the system until January 1, 2013, when they can reapply for help.

Foster youth are particularly vulnerable to housing issues, even while in the foster care system; for many, the gap in support may prove insurmountable.

A 2010 study conducted by researchers at Chapin Hall, University of Chicago, interviewed more than 700 foster youth between the ages of 18 and 24: only 6% by age 24 were college graduates, more than 2/3 of the young women had children, 45% of the males had been incarcerated, and 37% had experienced homelessness or couch-surfed at some point after leaving foster care.

Further, a 2011 study of the outcomes for youth exiting dependent or delinquent care in Los Angeles County, where nearly 1,000 of the shut-out kids of '12 are living, found that half of so-called crossover youth (those who are involved in both foster and probation systems) experienced a period of extreme poverty, typically earning less than $14,000 total over the first four years. The use of public assistance was substantial: 82% of crossover youth and 68% of timed-out foster kids accessed welfare benefits during the first four years after exiting the system.

Some counties are covering the cost to bridge the gap (e.g., San Francisco, Alameda, Los Angeles and Orange); however, most counties, already burdened with providing extra services due to state realignment, are leaving it largely up to the foster youth to find their own shelter.

Theresa Harrington reports for the Contra Costa Times:

Amy Lemley, policy director for the John Burton Foundation, lamented that these decisions could come down to money. She said the lack of support could force some foster youths onto the streets, and in the worst cases, crime.

"The number of foster youths that are going to turn 19 is not massive," she said. "And the difference continued support can make for these young people can't be overstated."

"These are young people who are out on a limb and if we don't offer them this kind of guidance and support we know they will experience homelessness, unemployment and -- I think the most troubling -- criminal justice involvement," Lemley added. "For a relatively modest investment, the county can play an important role in steering these young people toward a better, brighter future."

The cost to extend foster care varies depending on where youths live and the services they receive. The lowest cost is about $776 a month for placement with a relative caregiver or foster family. That includes care, food and housing, Lemley said.

Written for California's Children by Elizabeth J Carlyle.

Sex traffickers target LA County foster kids: Probation Dept. fights back

May 9, 2012: Over one-third of the juvenile prostitutes who were in police custody at some point during 2010 -- the most recent year for which data is available -- had "ties" to the Los Angeles Dept. of Children and Family Services. The tie? They've been in foster care.

This month, with the help of a $1 million grant received in January from the US Dept. of Health & Human Services, the LA County Probation Department (LACPD) is initiating "My Life, My Choice," a national program, developed in Massachusetts to identify and support girls in foster care who are most vulnerable to being victims of sexual exploitation and human trafficking. 

Susan Abram, reporting for the Los Angeles Daily News on child sex trafficking in LA County, writes that each trafficked girl can earn up to $140,000 a year for a southland pimp; there is believed to be at least 17 main boulevards where young prostitutes are rotated.

In Los Angeles County, two administrators at the LACPD with social welfare educations, Michelle Guymon, at left, and Hania Cardenas, have "gone above and beyond their regular duties...to shine a light on [juvenile sex trafficking] and advocate for rehabilitation and healing...," in the words of LA County Supervisor Don Knabe [Long Beach-South Bay], who addressed the issue in January 2012, and supported the LACPD's efforts to establish a special unit dedicated to sexually exploited minors, for which Guymon is now the project manager.

In the LACPD program, more than 500 staff and community foster care providers have been trained to raise awareness and identify and support sexually exploited girls. Personal protection is also offered for  girls who are willing to testify against the pimps (even though this protection may mean housed in detention or sent to a juvenile camp).

From LA Daily News:

The data [from Guymon and Cardenas's research].... showed that of the 174 girls brought in for prostitution, 92% were African American, while 84% were from the Long Beach, South Los Angeles, Hawthorne, Inglewood, Compton and Torrance areas....

Most of the girls are also between 13 and 17, but many enter prostitution at age 12, Cardenas said. And the form of exploitation continues to grow.

"Online exploitation has increased," Cardenas said. "I think that the pimps are getting younger. Some of them are in gangs. And many of them will promise girls to be in videos. There's all kinds of recruitment tactics."

Cardenas and Guymon also presented data to the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors. The board in April voted unanimously to support the Californians Against Sexual Exploitation Act (CASE), a state ballot initiative to strengthen penalties against human traffickers, add fines to fund victim services, and require that all sex offenders disclose Internet accounts. (It will also remove barriers to prosecute child sex traffickers, mandate training for law enforcement, and protect victims in court proceedings).

If passed by voters in November, CASE would be the toughest human trafficking law in the country, said Knabe [Long Beach-South Bay] who supported the measure. 

Initial reporting on sex trafficking in Los Angeles County among "young girls who may have a history in the foster care system or absent parents" was done by Janet D. Kelly on The Urban Perspective.

Written for California's Children by Elizabeth J Carlyle.

Plastics chapter in textbooks revised from lobbyist version

UPDATE, May 7, 2012: California's environmental protection agency (Cal EPA) has rewritten a chapter in an 11th grade state textbook on plastic bag consumption following a California Watch investigation by Susanne Rust last summer that revealed some of the language came verbatim from the American Chemistry Council (See previously reported story below).

In August 2011, Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson ordered a review of the chapter; Rust reported Friday that the newly revised chapter was posted for review by the public on the Cal EPA website for the next 30 days.

The revised chapter incorporates 33 changes, including deletions, additions and changes in the text.

The new chapter no longer includes a section titled, “The Advantages of Plastic Shopping Bags,” and it incorporates more recent and relevant recycling statistics.

For instance, a question in the teachers’ guide that was originally phrased: “What are the advantages of using plastic shopping bags?” now reads: “What factors have contributed to the consumption of plastic shopping bags?”

In another section, in which the original text had used recycling statistics offered by the American Chemistry Council, indicating a 12% rate of recycling for plastic shopping bags, the new text notes recycling rates of plastic shopping bags are largely unknown. It also shows state estimates, which hover closer to 3%.

Previously reported:

The Education and Environmental Initiative of the California Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA) opens its "about us" web story with the following quote from the naturalist John Muir:

"Tug on anything at all and you'll find it connected to everything else in the universe."

CDC reports: Teens having sex later; 59% use "highly effective" birth control

May 7, 2012: Fewer teens are sexually active and those teens who are having sex are more likely to be using highly effective contraceptive methods, announced the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in a Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report released last Thursday on teen sexual activity and contraception use.

The findings, reported on by Eryn Brown for the LA Times, may explain the drop in teen birth rate in the US to record lows (29.0 births for every 1,000 women ages 15-19). Researchers analyzed nationally representative data on females aged 15–19 years from the CDC's National Survey of Family Growth surveys in 1995, 2002 and 2006-2010.

Among the key findings:

From 2006 to 2010, 57% of females 15 to 19 had never had sex, up from 49% in 1995, with no significant difference among racial and ethnic groups. 

The increase was greatest for African-Americans (34% increase) and Hispanics (29% increase); in increase among whites was 15%.

During 2006–2010, 73% of females aged 15–17 years had never had sex, compared with 36.5% of females aged 18–19 years.

The girls who reported having sex during the 2006-2010 survey were 26% more likely to have used a “highly effective” method of birth control (59% in total), such as an IUD or the pill, than sexually active teenagers in 1995; 16.% depended on moderately effective methods, 6.% used less-effective methods (such as rhythm method or withdrawal) and 18% used no contraception at all. 

White teens were more likely to use highly effective birth control (66%) than African-American (47%) and Hispanic teens(53%). 

Written for California's Children by Elizabeth J Carlyle.