The Mayor’s Office of Education plans to expand to 3,300 PHLpreK seats in September 2019. To apply for PHLpreK funding and seat, interested pre-K providers must submit a mandatory Letter of Interest by December 14. The LOI and informational materials are now available on the PHLpreK website.

https://app.reviewr.com/s1/site/PHLpreK_LetterofInterest

To learn more, contact the Mayor’s Office of Education by emailing education@phila.gov.

The Human Services Program at the Kresge Foundation has announced a new funding and learning opportunity as part of its Next Generation (NextGen) Initiative, now in its second year.

As part of this initiative, Kresge will invest in those nonprofit organizations and public agencies working to advance the social and economic mobility (SEM) of families. The initiative is a two-year program consisting of three components: 1) leadership development; 2) development of a community of practice; and 3) the creation of organizational and cohort action plans designed to advance and accelerate SEM using a two-generation, whole-family approach.

Grants of up to $500,000 over two years will be awarded to up to ten human service organizations and/or agencies. As part of this initiative, grantees will participate in a learning and collaboration network that will include two meetings per year.

To be eligible, applicants should be characterized as person-centered; outcomes-based; data-driven; applying a racial equity lens; and focused on greater sector impact and systems change. Additionally, these organizations should adhere to sector best practices such as brain-science informed and two-generation, whole family approaches.

See the Kresge Foundation for complete program guidelines and application instructions.

Deadline: January 15, 2019

Learn more and apply: https://kresge.org/news/kresges-human-services-program-announces-second-next-generation-initiative-funding-and-learning

SPIE is an international society that works to advance an interdisciplinary approach to the science and application of light.

As part of its education outreach mission, SPIE will award grants to support optics- and photonics-related education outreach activities. The society offers two kinds of grants: SPIE Education Outreach grants and Sustaining grants.

1) SPIE Education Outreach grants: Recipients of Outreach grants are required to submit an annual outreach report to the society on how the grant was used within ninety days of completing the activity. New Education Outreach grant applications must demonstrate new activities beyond that on which a previous award was used.

2) Sustaining Grants: If a program has received an Education Outreach Grant twice in a period of five years, it can only apply for further support through a Sustaining grant, up to a maximum of $2,000. There is no limit to the number of times a program can apply for a Sustaining grant, but it will be in competition with all other proposals for every application.

To be eligible, applicants must be a nonprofit organization such as a university, optics center, science center, primary and secondary school, youth club, industry association, or international optical society.

See the SPIE website for complete program guidelines, information about previous grant recipients, and application instructions.

Deadline: January 31, 2019

Learn more and apply: http://spie.org/education/education-outreach-resources/education-outreach-grants

Steelcase Education seeks to understand how teaching and learning best takes place and how smarter, active learning spaces can help.

To that end, Steelcase is accepting applications for Active Learning Center Grants program. Each grant includes furniture, design review, installation, onsite training, and a Learning Environment Evaluation measurement tool to elevate connection, improve engagement, and spur collective success of students and staff. Applicants may choose from four classroom styles for up to thirty students.

Eligible classrooms include those in grades 6-12, colleges, and universities.

Steelcase will be hosting an optional informational webinar for prospective applicants on December 11.

See the Steelcase Education website for complete program guidelines and application instructions.

Deadline: February 1, 2019

Learn more and apply: https://info.steelcase.com/active-learning-center-grant

Grants will be awarded to fire departments and brigades, as well as national, state, regional, local, and community organizations working to support a wide array of fire prevention, preparedness, and control efforts, including pre-fire planning, fire prevention education/training, and arson prevention/fire investigation.

Any organization or agency that supports fire prevention is eligible. However, funds must be used for public purposes. Additional terms and conditions may apply for applicants based in the United States, Canada, and other countries.

See the FM Global website for complete program guidelines and application instructions.

Deadline: March 31, 2019

Learn more and apply: https://fs20.formsite.com/fmglobal/form14/index.html

A Little HOPE supports organizations that provide bereavement support services and grief counseling to children and teens who have experienced the death of a parent, sibling, or loved one.

To be considered, applicants must e-mail (no telephone calls) the name of their program, website address, names of executive director and program director, and location of the program. No other information is needed or will be processed. Strong preference will be given to applicants who demonstrate a commitment to the use of community trained volunteers.

Grant award amounts are based on the scope and budget of the project.

Introductory e-mails are accepted year round. Upon review, selected applicants will be invited to submit a complete application.

See the A Little Hope website for complete program guidelines, information about past grant recipients, and application instructions.

http://www.alittlehope.org/granting

The Gloria Barron Prize for Young Heroes celebrates inspiring, public-spirited young people from diverse backgrounds all across North America.

Established in 2001 by author T.A. Barron, the Barron Prize honors outstanding young leaders the ages of 8 and 18 who have had a significant positive impact on people, their communities, and the environment. Each year, up to twenty winners each receive $10,000 to support their service work or higher education. Since its inception, the Barron Prize has awarded more than half a million dollars to hundreds of young leaders and has won the support of the National Geographic Education Foundation, Girl Scouts of the USA, and the National Youth Leadership Council, among other organizations.

The Barron Prize welcomes applications from public-spirited young people who are between the ages of 8 and 18; a permanent resident of and currently residing in the United States or Canada; currently working on an inspiring service project or have done so within the past twelve months; and working as an individual. The Barron Prize does not accept applications from large groups of young people.

The prize will begin accepting applications on January 7, 2019.

For complete program guidelines and application instructions, see the Barron Prize website.

Deadline: April 15, 2019

Apply

The USA Swimming Foundation serves as the philanthropic arm of USA Swimming. Established in 2004, the foundation works to strengthen the sport by saving lives and building champions — in the pool and in life. Whether teaching children how to swim through its Make a Splash initiative, or providing financial support to the U.S. National Team, the foundation aims to provide the wonderful experience of swimming to kids at all levels across the country.

To that end, the foundation is accepting applications for its Make a Splash program. Through the program, grants totaling more than $600,000 will be awarded in 2019 through Spring and Fall funding rounds. Funding will be provided to programs directly benefiting children who would not otherwise receive the opportunity to learn to swim, and individual grant awards will range between $1,000 and $15,000, depending on the service category.

To be considered, applicants must be a Make a Splash Local Partner in good standing and provide a detailed project budget and program narrative as part of their application.

Interested swim-lesson providers who are not yet Make a Splash Local Partners will need to complete the Local Partner application prior to December 31, 2018, to be eligible for 2019 grant funding.

See the USA Swimming Foundation website for complete program guidelines and application instructions.

Deadline: January 15, 2019

https://www.usaswimmingfoundation.org/utility/landing-pages/news/2018/12/05/2019-usa-swimming-foundation-grant-applications-now-open-to-make-a-splash-local-partners

Five percent of eco-friendly online retailer Artfully Reimagined’s profits go to artists devoted to creating works from recycled objects, in the form of Reimagine It Grants. These unconditional, non-matching awards are made directly to individual artists to help launch or support careers in the inspiring world of repurposed art.

Awards are based on the creative excellence of works submitted for review and are awarded to a limited number of artists of outstanding talent. Submitted pieces must be an original work; created within the past twelve months in the United States; and be made with a minimum of 70 percent of found, reclaimed, recycled, repurposed, vintage, or upcycled objects.

At the time of application, the applicant must be at least 18 years old and a citizen of the United States.

For complete program guidelines and application instructions, see the Artfully Reimagined website.

http://www.artfullyreimagined.com/ReimagineItGrant

Chester, PA, December 4, 2018, The Chester Education Foundation (CEF) is excited to announce the opening of the Marie and Cynthia Jetter College and Career Center (Jetter Center). The Jetter Center will continue the work of the College Access Center of Delaware County (CACDC) and the Chester Higher Education Council (CHEC) spearheaded by Widener University & Swarthmore College After the closing of CHEC and CACDC, CEF recognized a continuing need for supplemental college and career programming for the Chester community. Based on their 30-year history of partnering with multiple organizations and providing educational support services, it was a natural fit for CEF to continue and expand the work of the
CACDC.

The Jetter Center is named in memory of Marie Jetter and in honor of her daughter, Cynthia Jetter, who drove the creation of CHEC and the CACDC in her role as the Director of Community Partnerships and Planning at Swarthmore College’s Lang Center for Civic and Social Responsibility (Lang Center). Cynthia’s work was inspired by her mother Marie, a lifelong Chester resident, who passed away in 2015.

The Jetter Center will extend college and career services to the Chester Upland community at CEF’s Offices on Avenue of the Arts in Overtown, at the local high schools, and in partnership with community-based organizations at convenient locations throughout Chester.

Current programming includes Let’s Get Ready SAT prep classes, college visits, and college and career workshops as part of the after-school programs at Chester HS and STEM Academy and CEF’s summer programs. In addition to Lang Center funding of Let’s Get Ready, students from both Swarthmore College and Widener University are providing one-on-one tutoring and support to Chester residents. Upcoming activities include tutoring, parent workshops, and career and college exploration. A community advisory board guides this work.

CEF has received funding for the Jetter Center from Ohev Shalom, United Way of Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey, and the Foundation for Delaware County. The former CHEC institutions (Widener, Neumann, and Penn State Brandywine Universities, Swarthmore College and Delaware County Community College) have agreed to partner with CEF to continue these critically needed services in our community.

CEF is a Local Education Fund (LEF) created in 1988 by a consortium of local and state leaders. CEF’s mission is to support educational excellence and promote community revitalization in the Chester community. Year-round academic enrichment, social-cultural enrichment and college preparation services are provided to more than 500 middle-through high school students and young adults.

For more information or to get involved, contact Cheryl Cunningham at cheryl@chestereducation.org or Marcy Boroff at collegeandcareercenter@chestereducation.org

We invite your organization to consider serving as one of the service placements for Quaker Voluntary Service (QVS), a dynamic program providing opportunities for transformative service in peace, justice and community organizing contexts.

QVS is open to young adults interested in the intersection of faith and activism, living in intentional Quaker community, and openly engaging questions of faith and service in the world. QVS Fellows live together in simple intentional community. QVS partners with agencies and organizations that offer direct support to marginalized individuals and communities, and that strive to transform unjust structures. QVS places energetic and committed young people in full time positions in these agencies for 11 months (early September through late July). These QVS Fellows receive housing, a food stipend, access to health insurance, training, and spiritual support from QVS.

This year long experience has the potential to orient Fellows to a whole life committed to service and justice. To see the list of the organizations we currently partner with, see Current Placements.

The link to the online application is here: https://www.quakervoluntaryservice.org/information-for-site-placements/

Our next meeting of the 2018-2019 school year will take place on Thursday, December 13, 2018, at Chestnut Hill College, Main Campus from 9:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. (See location details below.) This meeting will feature information on campus safety and security, an issue that is more and more a major concern for educational institutions. Our panelists will be from our host institution, Chestnut Hill College: Dr. Krista Bailey Murphy, Dean of Student Life and Title IX Coordinator, and Emily Schademan, M.S., Director of Student Activities, who may also be joined by Dr. Sheila Kennedy, SSJ, Director of the Counseling Center.

As always, there will be time for participants to network and to make announcements on current events for their respective organizations. If you are bringing handouts from your organization, please bring at least fifty (50) copies and, for networking purposes, remember your business cards!

Come out and join us for the last meeting before we begin again in the New Year AND, if you are willing to host a Monthly Networking Meeting in 2019, please sign up on the list that will available at this meeting!

RSVP now »

If you have any questions and/or concerns, please email: contact@collegepreproundtable.org or text/call 484-843-1153.

The exact location for the meeting is as follows:

Chestnut Hill College
9601 Germantown Ave
East Parlor in St. Joseph Hall (the building that looks like a castle!)
Directions: Go in the front entrance of St. Joseph Hall and once you enter the rotunda, the East Parlor is to your right. There will be a registration table in the rotunda.

Parking information:
Please park in the lots by the Soccer/Lacrosse Filed and Tennis Courts
Please print out and put the parking pass (forthcoming by separate message) on your dash

Maps and directions are here: https://www.chc.edu/about-chc/maps
Anyone with a handicapped placard/plates who needs parking assistance, please email Jody at markleyj@chc.edu

School District of Philadelphia, 440 North Broad St. Room 1080

At this meeting we will discuss partnerships with institutions of higher education and nonprofit organizations that provide K-12 schools with supplemental STEM programming.

Register here: https://k16stempartners.eventbrite.com

Presenters:

• Ayana Lewis, Partnerships Manager from the Office of Strategic Partnerships at the School District of Philadelphia will discuss how to partner with the school district and align to school and district priorities.
• Jamie Shuda, EdD, Director of Outreach and Education at the Institute for Regenerative Medicine, University of Pennsylvania will share the STEM Partnership Toolkit that provides a framework for developing sustainable partnerships and details how to align to the district’s scope and sequence of the science curriculum. This toolkit was created as part of the Philadelphia STEM Ecosystem.

Who should attend?

• University faculty, staff and students who work with or are interested in working with K-12 schools
• Non-profits and community programs who are interested in partnerships with colleges, universities and K-12 schools.
• K-12 teachers, administrators and staff interested in partnerships.

PHENND University Partner Meetings bring together university, nonprofit, and school-based practitioners around common themes. Attendees will have the chance to ask questions to all presenters, network with peers and obtain concrete information on how to connect with the School District. The three main goals for K-16 University Partners meetings are:

• provide practitioners with “take aways” (e.g. ideas you can adapt for use in your own programs)
• exposure to new and innovative programs and practices
• introduction to key School District personnel and strategies

Questions? Contact Caitlin Fritz at caitlin@phennd.org

Register here: https://k16stempartners.eventbrite.com

Wednesday, January 16, 2019 at 6 PM – 8 PM
Temple Performing Arts Center
1837 N. Broad Street

https://www.facebook.com/events/1125450024292733/

Worried about student debt? Struggling to pay it off? Scared for your kids?

It’s time for Philly to do something about making college affordable. Come share your ideas and hear from people working hard to create real change.

Featuring:

• Seth Frotman, Student Borrower Protection Center
• State Representative Malcolm Kenyatta
• Councilwoman Helen Gym
• Professor Sara Goldrick-Rab
• Michael Luna, Community College of Philadelphia
• Hosted by Mary Baxter, Hope Center Board Member

For further information or questions about this event contact us at hopectr@temple.edu

Learn more about the Hope Center for College, Community, and Justice at http://hope4college.com

Participants will learn about multidimensional poverty, bottom-up approaches, how to adapt poverty indicators to their communities, and how to develop an inventory of local available solutions and strategies.

Thu, December 20, 2018
2:00 PM – 3:00 PM EST

Register: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-poverty-stoplight-a-new-poverty-metric-coaching-methodology-tickets-52679974221

Presented By: Dr. Martin Burt

Dr. Martin Burt is founder (1985) and CEO of Fundación Paraguaya, a 33-year old non-profit organization devoted to the promotion of entrepreneurship and economic self-reliance to eliminate poverty around the world.

He is a pioneer in applying microfinance, microfranchise, youth entrepreneurship, financial literacy and technical vocational methodologies to address chronic poverty around the world. He has developed one of the world’s first financially self-sufficient agricultural and tourism high schools for the rural poor. He is co-founder of Teach a Man to Fish, a global network based in London (3000 members-150 countries) that promotes “education that pays for itself” and which is partnering with more than 50 organizations from 27 countries to establish self-sufficient schools, mostly in rural areas.

He has also developed the Poverty Stoplight, a new poverty measurement tool and coaching methodology that assists families to self- diagnose their level of multidimensional poverty and develop customized plans to eliminate poverty. This new metric is now being implemented in more than 30 countries, including the US and the UK.

Dr. Burt is currently a member of the Board of Directors of the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship at the World Economic Forum and of the Global Foodbanking Network. In public service, he has served as Chief of Staff to the President of Paraguay, was elected Mayor of Asunción, and was appointed Vice Minister of Commerce.

Dr. Burt has books published on economics, development, municipal government, poetry, and education and has received numerous awards. He holds a PhD from Tulane University Law School and is a Visiting Professor of Social Entrepreneurship at Worcester Polytechnic Institute and Professor of Management and Entrepreneurship at the American University of Nigeria.

Dr. Martin Burt was born in Asunción, Paraguay in 1957 where he resides with his family.

This webinar will review Equity in the Center’s Race Equity Cycle framework, share critical learnings from its “Awake to Woke to Work: Building a Race Equity Culture” publication and provide insight on tactics to support organizations in moving through the Race Equity Cycle.

The Race Equity Cycle identifies the three stages and common entry points of building a Race Equity Culture; helps organizations find themselves in this work; and names the levers that create momentum in building a Race Equity Culture. Participants will be provided key learnings on how to operationalize equity and measurably shift organizational culture toward race equity.

1) Participants will be introduced to research and resources Equity in the Center provides to support leaders and organizations in advancing race equity.

2) Participants will understand key research findings from the “Awake to Woke to Work: Building a Race Equity Culture” publication, and how to apply the Race Equity Cycle framework in their own work.

3) Participants will learn about management and operational levers that can shift organizational culture toward race equity.

Presenter: ANDREW PLUMLEY

Andrew Plumley comes to ProInspire with experience in sustainability, strategy, and diversity, equity, and inclusion consulting in both the social and private sectors. He has also worked in education, where he’s advised on diversity and inclusion strategy at higher ed. institutions, as well as provided access and success programming for Pell eligible, students of color. Andrew is a “We All Belong” program board member for the Community Economic Development Office, as well as served as a city council appointed Police Commissioner in the state of Vermont.

Andrew has a BA from Middlebury College, and received an MBA with a focus in social and environmental sustainability from the University of Vermont’s Grossman School of Business. In his role as Senior Program Manager, Andrew manages the launch of Equity in the Center, which is a field wide initiative to influence leaders to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to create a more diverse and equitable social sector.

Learn more about Andrew in our occasional blog series, The Backstory.

Register Here

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/awake-to-woke-to-work-building-a-race-equity-culture-tickets-51576733398

The Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED) has established the Local Share Account (LSA) – Philadelphia program to distribute a portion of slot machine license operation fees from facilities operating within the City of Philadelphia. Funds are available for economic development, neighborhood revitalization, community improvement, and other projects in the public interest within the City of Philadelphia.

Eligible Uses of Funds
Eligible projects must be owned and maintained by an eligible applicant.

• Economic Development Projects: Projects that promote local economic activity and create and/or retain jobs.
• Neighborhood Revitalization Projects: Projects that improve the health, safety, and well-being of residents and/or improve commercial corridors in distressed neighborhoods.
• Community Improvement Projects: Projects that improve or create civic, cultural, or recreational facilities.
• Projects in the Public Interest: Projects that improve the quality of life in the affected community.

We are accepting applications starting December 1st until January 31st. Eligible applicants are CDC’s, economic development organizations and redevelopment authorities, BIDs/NIDs, not-for-profit organizations with a 501(c) designation, the City of Philadelphia, and the School District of Philadelphia. Grant awards will be between $10,000-$500,000.

For more details, go here.

Local Share Account (LSA) – Philadelphia

Program guidelines are available here.

https://dced.pa.gov/download/local-share-account-lsa-philadelphia/?wpdmdl=87510

The Issue
If you are ever arrested in Pennsylvania and charged with a crime, even if you never had to go to court on it or if you were found not guilty, you have a criminal record. Every crime you were charged with is permanently available on the internet to the public, for free, at any time, unless a judge orders it to be erased (expunged). If you were convicted of a crime, even if it was just a minor offense or happened decades ago, the only way to get it erased from your record is to get a pardon from the Governor.

Written in words that few but lawyers understand, criminal records (“rap sheets”) are considered by an estimated 80% of employers and 87% of landlords during background checks; credit agencies, retirement homes, and assisted care facilities likewise check them as a matter of routine. Criminal records exclude people from thousands of jobs, professions, schools and trades that are licensed by the state where “good moral character” is a requirement for admission.

Adults with criminal records are not allowed to go on school trips with their children, coach them in sports leagues, or volunteer in community activities. These specific punishments do not take into consideration the general, emotional and psychological harms inflicted on people by being forever branded “criminals”.

People change; records don’t. As the executive director of the Fels Fund recently said, “It’s crushing that what someone was charged with 10 or 15 years ago, very often when they were young adults, can completely wipe out everything that person has done since then to improve themselves, even if they have accepted responsibility.” The Pardon Project was created to give people who have improved themselves a realistic chance to stop being defined by the worst things they’ve done.

The Pardon Process
People think it’s almost impossible to get a pardon in Pennsylvania. The numbers suggest why: of more than 3,000 Applications for Clemency distributed by the Board of Pardons in any one year, the highest number of pardons recommended in any one year by the Board was just 288.

But the unknown story is that the Board is today approving over 80% of the applications that make it to the “merit review” stage. The huge drop-off comes from the fact that over 75% of the applications are never “officially filed” – they were either not completed and submitted, or administratively rejected because they were incomplete. Still others fail because they did not tell the person’s story accurately, fully or well.

While the Application for Clemency is long (at 7 pages, with 10 pages of instruction) and confusing to someone who doesn’t know anything about the pardon process or criminal history records, it is actually fairly straightforward, just complicated. Completing the form takes a lot of effort, attention to detail, and gathering many official documents from several different locations. Words may be misunderstood (for example, “incident date” is not the same as “arrest date” even though it is an arrest record). Errors (transcription, spelling, and even failing to put “N/A” in every box that doesn’t apply) routinely result in rejection. And, even if the application is perfectly completed, “it takes approximately (3) years for an application to be merit reviewed from the date the application was officially filed,” as the form itself warns with emphasis.

Pardon Hubs
While lawyers can be very helpful, they are out of reach for most people with modest family incomes. What’s needed is to provide information, guidance, help and support along the way, and this can be done by anyone who has been trained, who is not afraid of government forms, and who has the desire to help others.

The Pardon Project partners PLSE with existing social service organizations that are already trusted in the community: communities of faith, workforce development agencies, CDCs, FQHCs, United Way agencies, or any other non-profit. What’s required is that the organization have staff and volunteers who can be trained to coach, space for training that is connected to the internet, and an aligned mission to serve. At those locations (called “Pardon Hubs”), PLSE will hold community education programs on the creation, dissemination and destruction of criminal records, conduct intakes for expungement services, and train the Hub’s staff and their volunteers. Those people, in turn, will be present and available in the community as resources to not only help people complete the forms, but encourage them to do the kinds of things that the Board of Pardons look for at the “merit review”: employment stability, community service, and personal growth and control (especially for those whose crimes involved diagnoses of drugs, alcohol or psychological impairment). As their numbers grow, the Pardon Hubs will become resources for each other – connected by geography, mission or faith, sharing what works and best practices, and allowing the Pardon Project to reach its potential as a community-driven initiative. PLSE will provide ongoing training and expertise to the Hubs and, for the applicants who need them, volunteer lawyers to provide a final review of the application, help in preparing for the investigative interview with the Department of Probation and Parole, and, still later, the public hearing in Harrisburg.

The Vision
Today, the Board of Pardons merit reviews only 600 applications per year from across the whole state. PLSE envisions a system where the Board receives thousands of well-written applications each year just from low-income Philadelphians, where the state responds more efficiently and successfully with investigative strategies better suiting the variety of situations presented in the applications, and where a realistic hope of civic forgiveness within a reasonable period can be offered to all those who have demonstrably transformed their lives, regardless of race, ethnicity, or economic status. PLSE sees this not only as a matter of social justice, but as a crucial component of community economic development in a city that desperately needs all its residents producing at their highest and best abilities.

If your Agency is interested in becoming one of UWGPSNJ’s inaugural Pardon Hubs, contact Tobey Oxholm at oxholm@plsephilly.org, PLSE’s Executive Director, 215-783-2329.

Location: South Philly Branch of the Free Library of Philadelphia, 1700 S. Broad Street, Phila., PA 191456

Juveniles for Justice will hold a community event Wednesday, December 19th at the South Philadelphia Free Library to share both the report, Broken Bridges, and their recommendations for reform.

Please join Juveniles for Justice youth advocates at South Philly Branch of the Free Library of Philadelphia as they launch their newest project, Broken Bridges. This publication features their stories and experiences in juvenile/institutional placement, and offers strong reform recommendations (https://jlc.org/resources/broken-bridges-how-juvenile-placements-cut-youth-communities-and-successful-futures).

We want to invite community members and other interested folks to attend a reading from the youth advocates. We’ll also have an update on the broad #SafelyHomePhilly work Juvenile Law Center is part of to fight for youth placed in institutions.

We’ll have some food and drink available, and the event is free and open to the public.

“The most shocking part of this project is that these experiences didn’t seem out of the ordinary initially for the youth advocates,” said Cathy Moffa, Youth Advocacy Program Manager of Juvenile Law Center, who staffs the program.

“They had been treated so horribly for so long in placement that this behavior seemed normal. That should be shocking to everyone who reads this. Imagine every teenager that you know experiencing what these teenagers have experienced.”

Read more >>