Rethink Resources

A pending bill would make it possible for homeless youth to qualify for financial aid. As it is, if you can’t provide parental information, contribution or signatures, you can’t qualify for federal financial aid. HR 601 could fix that.

I always wondered why “child pornography” is considered so different than “child prostitution.” For example, in this story, the man paid a teen boy to do sexual things while he was videotaped. Now this happens all the time with teens who have sex for money. Sometimes you’re videotaped, sometimes not. It’s part of the same experience.

Maybe it’s that the teen boy didn’t have sex with the adult (as far as I can tell) and that’s crossing the line. I want to puzzle this out more because I think part of it has to do with defining ‘good victims’ (abused to make porn) and ‘bad victims’ (decided to have sex with people for money). There’s a lot to unpack here.

Connecticut just decided to stop incarcerating minors in adult prisons. Unfortunately many states still do.

Vermont now allows foster kids to stay in the system past their 18th birthday. Often turning 18 means losing all kinds of support for youth in foster care. So Vermont has joined a number of other states that allow youth to potentially stay in care (and hold onto benefits like healthcare, housing, education and other supports).

Lastly, 2 people were sentenced for their role in pimping a 13 year old. They alleged the youth was ’secretly prostituting herself’ and they just didn’t know but the judge didn’t buy it. A positive development since this woman beat juvenile pimping charges in Illinois in two separate trials by claiming the same thing.

Federal bill would bring FAFSA to homeless students (Illinois) Wednesday, July 11, 2007 Homeless kids may have good academic records with promising futures but they can’t get financial help for college because they have no way to complete a FAFSA-the form required nationwide to apply for financial aid. A bill is pending in Congress (HR 601) dubbed the “FAFSA Fix for Homeless Kids” and Diane Nilan wants everyone who cares to call their congress persons. “The Fix,” which has bipartisan support, amends the Higher Education Act to include under “independent student” those who are “unaccompanied homeless youth.” The bill is sponsored by Rep. Judy Biggert, R-Ill., and Rep. Ruben Hinojosa, D-Texas. UHYs receive no financial support from parents, have no access to parental information and cannot get a signature on the form.

Las Vegas Police Seek Alleged Child Pornographer’s Victims (Nevada) Wednesday, July 11, 2007 Metro detectives are trying to find more possible victims of a Las Vegas coach accused of using his student for child pornography. Parents want to know if his employers looked for any warning signs. Police say 26-year-old Yolando Ferguson not only passed a background check, he also has no criminal history.

Age Raised (Connecticut) Monday, July 9, 2007 Toni Walker’s years-long crusade has paid off, with passage of a state law that will stop sending teens under 18 to adult prisons. Anyone who’s been following the efforts of Walker, a New Haven state representative, New Haven State Sen. Toni Harp and others knows that Connecticut is one of just three states in the country that incarcerates 16- and 17-year-olds in adult prisons, with adult offenders.

Pair imprisoned for running teen-prostitution ring (Ohio) Monday, July 9, 2007 A judge imprisoned a woman today for two years for running a teen-prostitution ring out of her Garfield Heights apartment, and locked up a male accomplice for twice as long. Samantha Hunter, 36, pleaded guilty in May to prostitution-related felonies involving a minor in a plea deal that dropped a string of kidnapping, abduction and rape charges. Co-defendant Jonathan McNeil, 24, admitted to similar charges, but was already on probation for attempted vehicular assault. That and McNeil’s prior theft-related convictions resulted in a harsher penalty

New law allows Vermont children to stay in foster care past 18 (Vermont) Saturday, July 7, 2007 Months after leaving her foster family, 17-year-old Kellie Coakley got pregnant. Later, she ended up spending eight months in jail. Looking back, she says, her life may have taken a different turn if she’d had the possibility of staying in foster care after her 18th birthday.