This report, a product of The National Council of La Raza and the Campaign for Youth Justice, examines recent information about Latino youth in the justice system with a specific focus on youth tried as adults. In addition to providing a detailed overview of racial disparities and structural racism in the justice system, this report looks at a variety of national initiatives that have been successful at reducing racial inequities in detention facilities among Latino youth.

Historically, residential segregation constrained where minorities could live, contributing to disparities in education, employment, and wealth. Researchers interested in the well-being and future prospects of low-income working families have not yet explored how their residential patterns may vary across racial and ethnic lines or considered the implications of these patterns. Therefore, this paper explores differences in neighborhood characteristics among white, black, and Hispanic low-income working families. The findings suggest that policies aimed at reducing the persistent disadvantages facing minority low-income working families need to address the ways the neighborhoods in which minorities live may be compounding these disadvantages.

New Yorkers are living with the effects of poverty in every part of New York City, but the
experience of poverty remains closely tied to place. Half of the city’s 1.4 million poor
people live in neighborhoods where the poverty rate is at least 24.8 percent (compared
to a citywide rate of 19.2 percent), and one-quarter live in neighborhoods where the rate
is at least 34.1 percent. The maps reveal that there is more to the geography of poverty in New York
City than is revealed by a glance. Poverty interacts in important ways with other factors,
such as immigration, which are distributed in a different way than poverty itself. And
the effects of poverty can be modified or mitigated by resources, such as subsidized
housing, that also have their own geographic patterns.

The Annie E. Casey Foundation has issued policy recommendations for reforming juvenile justice, reducing poverty, rebuilding the child welfare system and improving data. On juvenile justice, the Foundation says the federal Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act should be reauthorized with enhanced provisions to reduce racial disparities, strengthen core protections against confining status offenders and mingling juveniles with adult offenders.

CFK Reports From: Paths to Success: A Forum on Young African-American Men
Event: Forum
Organized By: Kaiser Family Foundation , The Washington Post and Harvard University
Where/When: Barbara Jordan Conference Center; July 18, 2006

Comedian Bill Cosby, armed with sunglasses and a tell-it-like-it is approach, joined a 16-member panel made up of politicians, educators, activists, and young men to discuss the issues and challenges facing young black men, and the strategies to help overcome the obstacles.

Founded by a 1960's-era Chicano activist, Escuela Tlatelolco continues to put social justice and respect for children's cultural roots at the center of its approach to teaching and learning. Robert Ebisch profiles a school that seems light-years away from the national obsession with raising test scores--yet successfully sends most of its low-income, predominantly minority students on to college.

It would take a lot more than the 28 days of February to explore the new Web-based teaching tool on African-American migration from the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. Rob Capriccioso reports on the recently unveiled “In Motion: The African-American Migration Experience.”

The notion of a dedicated time for black history instruction dates from 1926, when educator Carter Godwin Woodson created Negro History Week in a bid to promote a better understanding of the contributions of blacks. In 1976, Congress changed the week into a full month. Educators are now debating whether such lessons should be confined to one month or, instead, incorporated into class work all year long. Writer E. Jeanne Harnois reports on arguments that weaving black history, along with other minority contributions, into lessons throughout the year is better for all students.

In a society that prides itself on opportunity and equal access to education, the soaring costs of college are out of reach for many -- particularly among the 40 percent of students who are non-white.

Not everyone celebrates the same holidays. Here are some ideas for teachers
who want to make holiday time a time to celebrate different cultures and
their traditions.