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September, 2007
Louise and her son came to the Open Door Shelter, the only one in the city that takes mothers under 18, after being forced to leave her aunt's house. (Photo by Mary Hanlon)
Seventeen-year-old Emily and her 1-year-old son, Jeremiah, are caught between the expectations of others and the reality of their own lives. On the one hand, the thinking goes, Emily and other teen mothers should live at...
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September, 2007
The number of babies born to Chicago teenagers dropped by 8 percent during the past five years, with white teens experiencing the biggest drop at 38 percent and black teens following at 33 percent. Meanwhile, the number of Latino teenagers having babies dropped by 8 percent. Still, predominantly Latino and black neighborhoods in the city see the most teens having babies.
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September, 2007
Among teenagers, Latinos have the highest birth rate in the state, while in the city the rate is slightly less than for black teens.
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September, 2007
When Tyrone McGhee began missing classes at Austin Community Academy High School halfway through his junior year, few noticed. The tall, quiet young man said not one teacher or counselor called his house or tracked him down.
"Some of the students cared," he said. "My friends were like, –˜Hey, where's Tyrone?'"
McGhee was a ward of the state, and the official guardian listed on his...
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September, 2007
The officials who work most closely with foster children disagree on the accuracy of the data used in this investigation. But none tracks, or can provide, comparable numbers.
Beginning in July, The Chicago Reporter and CATALYST: Voices of Chicago School Reform requested information from the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services on how well foster children perform in school and...
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September, 2007
The news: A controversial billboard on Rush Street drew complaints over its slogan: "Life's short. Get a divorce." The ad, placed by Chicago attorney Corri Fetman, was taken down just days after it debuted on May 1. But it has gotten a second life with truckmounted ads.
Behind the news: African Americans were the most likely to be divorced, but the least likely to be married, according to a...
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September, 2007
It was less than a year ago when David Anderson got the call from a 2-year-old's mother. Mentally ill, homeless and about to check herself into drug rehab, she had no place to put her son while she recovered. Not wanting him to become a ward of the state, she contacted LYDIA Home Association, an agency on the city's North Side that provides temporary housing for families going through trauma...
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September, 2007
The news: Kleo Barrett, a Cook County sheriff's deputy and daughter of prominent African- American minister T.L. Barrett, was killed in a possible murder-suicide allegedly perpetrated by her ex-boyfriend.
Behind the news: While domestic violence homicides in Chicago have declined, they still occur more frequently in some black neighborhoods. From 1995 through 2004, Chicago averaged 49...
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September, 2007
Monica has worn the same necklace everyday for the past three years. And she wears the jewelry with pride.
Like many 11-year olds, Monica is full of energy and curiosity. She can be found bouncing from the drums, to guitar, to art, to sports at the after-school program she attends near her home in the Austin neighborhood on Chicago's West Side. She keeps her necklace hidden beneath her...
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