Congress recently allocated $750 million over five years to promote marriage and fatherhood initiatives among low-income groups. As a result, federally-funded marriage promotion programs are springing up around the country, including in Washington, DC. Roshin Mathew, an Emerson Hunger Fellow working with Connect for Kids this year, wondered about the connection between marriage promotion and better lives for low-income children. Here are her findings, and her thoughts.

When you learn that a teen is in foster care, what is your reaction? Empathy? Curiosity? Apprehension? News stories and popular media portrayals of young people involved with the child welfare system, paired with selective statistics about how this population is faring, can feed apprehension at the expense of a more positive view of the strength that can come from overcoming adversity. La Terra Cole, an intern with Connect For Kids, reflects on some recent "mainstream media" portrayals of foster care.

Low-income students who drop out—or are pushed out—of school without a high school diploma face long odds in their search for a path to a successful and stable adult life. In Birmingham, Ala., a former public school teacher is waging a fierce campaign to give such students a second chance. Gin Phillips reports on the World of Opportunity School.

Ice hockey fans are devoted to their sport, unfazed by the game's physical demands, cumbersome equipment, and the red-hot competition for ice time. Massachusetts is one of the centers of hockey fever in the U.S. So it's only fitting that the gradually growing list of hockey clubs for children with special needs now includes The Boston Bear Cubs, which hit the ice in February. Lisa M. Cataldo explains how the Cubs got their start, and what the club means to its players and their parents.

Child poverty is changing, as more low-income parents enter the workforce yet remain impoverished. The Urban Institute has a team of researchers investigating why work is no longer a ticket out of poverty, what that means for kids, and what kinds of programs might help. UI's Gregory Acs, a senior research associate in the Income and Benefits Policy Center, offers this overview.

It's a question that pops out during a ride in the car, at the dinner table, through a recently-slammed door after a fight about finishing up homework: "What good is all this stuff I'm learning in school going to do me in the real world?" Programs that make a strong, direct connection between school learning and future career options can be powerfully motivating for students, even those who eventually choose a different path. Gayle Hargreaves reports on one such program that introduces teens to museum careers.

Youth Communication, the non-profit founded by Keith Hefner in New York City to give young people a voice on the things that matter to them, is now 25 years old—a notable milestone in the notoriously under-funded world of youth media. Lisa R. Rhodes, a former Youth Communication writer herself, looks at how Hefner's organization has grown and thrived, transforming young lives along the way.

Building kites, drawing, creating an on-line community—these are some of the ways that young survivors of Hurricane Katrina are expressing themselves as part of their healing process. Martha Pitts reports on art therapy programs that are helping kids rebound.

College students (and their parents) need to brace themselves: interest rates on federally-subsidized student loans will go up dramatically this summer. Student aid has also been cut. Connect for Kids' Martha Pitts spoke to David Smith of Mobilize.org about the changes, and about the Mobilize.org campaign to raise awareness.

By many measures, girls are on a roll. In terms of academic achievement, college attendance and completion, and the opportunities that are open to them, girls are poised for success. But some experts see worrying signs that girls are also facing new pressures—and responding with violent behavior usually associated with boys. Andrea Grazzini Walstrom takes a look at the issue.