youth

The second ENGAGE Summit will be held this weekend in Casper with a focus on how young people can help build the Wyoming that they want to live in.

Kids in the Cody area will soon have more recreational opportunities thanks to $250,000 grant from the Daniels Fund. The grant was written by the Yellowstone Recreations Foundation in collaboration with various community organizations. Amy Woods, the Foundation Manager and Grant Writer for the Yellowstone Recreations Foundation, said the grant was written with a focus on winter recreation.

“Seeing as how we are in winter 12 months out of the year, it seems, that’s a huge area where youth programs can thrive, and we just need the funding to do it,” Woods said.

Wyoming’s top two youth volunteers were recognized in the nation’s capital this week. Laura Harris of Green River and Trinity Rich of Douglas are the Prudential Spirit of Community Award winners. Among other things, Rich helps the elderly and neighbors with chores and tasks, and Harris helps raise money to grant the wishes of sick children.

Volunteers in grades 5 through 12 were encouraged to apply, and Wyoming had one of the youngest winners in the country. Trinity Rich is just 11 years old and is in fifth grade at Douglas Upper Elementary School.

Wyoming’s economy is growing, but the state has not made up for job losses from 2009 and 2010. And that’s hit Wyoming’s young adults especially hard.

A report from Wyoming’s Department of Workforce Services found that the number of young adults working in the state has declined 22 percent over the past decade.

Wyoming is locking up fewer young people than it did nearly 15 years ago according to a new report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation.  

The Foundation analyzed federal census data of incarcerated youth from 1995 to 2010. The results show a marked decrease of over 40% fewer youth in confinement across the country with no decrease in public safety.  Wyoming’s rate is down by 12% since 1997.

KidsCount Director Marc Homer says while the new numbers are positive, the state is still lagging when it comes to implementing effective reform.

The Centers for Disease Control has released the 2011 Youth Risk Behavior survey.  

The C-D-C finds that the students from Wyoming align with the rest of the nation when it comes to Drug and Alcohol use, and are better than the national average in areas such as physical fitness, risky sexual behavior and diet,  but are worse in areas surrounding violence, unintentional injury and tobacco use.