Falling enrollment, financial troubles doom Catherine Ferguson Academy

Falling enrollment, financial troubles doom Catherine Ferguson Academy

A school that served generations of pregnant and parenting teens in Detroit is closing at the end of this month.

The Catherine Ferguson Academy for Young Women has received national attention for the services it provided mothers and for its award-winning farm, where students cared for animals and grew produce.

“What are teen parents going to do now?” she said.

ANSWER:  FOSTER CARE

A teen is not an "of age" legal adult, unless that teen is emancipated through the courts.  Therefore, a teen who is pregnant legally falls under the purview of Child Protective Services.

Under the CPS doctrines, a parent has engaged in the act of child neglect for allowing the under aged adult to procreate.

I am willing to bet, without any data to back me up, that 100% of these pregnant teens come from low-income households, or rather, Medicaid eligibility.

This automatically, through judicial determination, opens the proverbial flood gates for access to federal funding to provide child welfare services to the teens and the soon to be newborns through Targeted Case Management.

Under Michigan policy, kids who have kids will automatically come under the jurisdiction of the state as there does not exist any wraparound policies for youth parents in its care.

There is already a major issue with child mortality in Detroit which has yet to be properly addressed.

Michigan is also in the process of "gaming the system" to maximize its Medicaid funding.

This is why the Catherine Ferguson Academy will shutter its doors.  The funding is in child welfare, not education.

This is a grand opportunity for the state to participate in national discussions of redesigning the way society "cares for its children".


Voting is beautiful, be beautiful ~ vote.©