According to the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System, over half a million children in the United States are in living in foster care—some in group homes, some with relatives, and many in placements with individual families. What kinds of roles can communities play in supporting children in care? As Foster Care Month gets underway, Michelle A. Ziner looks at how some people in Cabarrus County, N.C., have stepped forward to help.

In 1957, Dorothy Counts was one of four black students to enter previously all-white schools in Charlotte, North Carolina. In 1971, Charlotte became the first city in the country to use court-ordered busing to fully desegregrate its schools. Andrea Cooper reports that students who lived through the first wave of busing now have school-aged children of their own, and wonder when this struggle will end.

In Charlotte, North Carolina, the Family Independence Initiative/Even Start program is bringing the community together to help low-income parents and their children get ahead. Caitlin Johnson reports.

UCAN's mission is to provide communities with avenues for growth opportunities for success, a voice for justice and a hand to hold. UCAN will identify, train, nurture, link, mobilize and provide resources as well as opportunities on behalf of children, families, and communities.

The Hill Center transforms students with learning differences into confident, independent learners. Using a research-based, multi-sensory methodology, The Hill Center teaches high potential students with learning differences in a model half-day academic program. Equally committed to helping students who cannot attend The Hill Center, Outreach and Professional Development programs extend the succ

The mission of KidsPeace is to give hope, help & healing to kids in crisis.

The mission of CIS is to champion the connection of needed community resources with schools to help young people successfully learn, stay in school, and prepare for life. CIS believes every child deserves a one-on-one relationship with a caring adult, a safe place to learn and grow, a marketable skill to use upon graduation, a chance to give back to the community, and a healthy start.

Based on the averaged freshman graduation rate, a new measure the U.S. Dept. of Education is using to assess more accurately and comprehensively how many students are graduating from high school, 11 states drastically overestimate the number of students who graduate from their high schools. The biggest offenders include North Carolina, New Mexico, Mississippi, Indiana and South Dakota, according to the Alliance for Excellent Education summary. New Jersey, North Dakota and Wisconsin graduated the highest percentages of their high school students on time, while Washington, DC, South Carolina and Georgia had the lowest graduation rates.

Mathematica gives good marks in its report to Congress on the State Children's Health Insurance Programs (SCHIPs) that offer health care coverage to children in families with incomes up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level and beyond. In almost all areas examined—outreach, enrollment and access to services—the programs are succeeding. In the 10 states studied, programs were put in place quickly, and overall, families were satisfied with the ease of enrolling children, many of whom remained enrolled for 12 months, depending on the state.

As national concerns over the quality of child care increase, nonprofit organizations are taking the lead in developing innovative programs to improve early care and education. This Urban Institute research brief looks at North Carolina's TEACH initiative, which is a model for other states.