ATLANTA (AP) — When families are evicted, it can lead to major disruptions to their children’s schooling.

Federal law includes provisions to help homeless and evicted kids stay at their schools, but families don’t always know about them — and schools don’t always share the information. Beyond the instability that comes with losing their home, relocating also can deprive kids of networks they rely on for support.

AP followed the year-long quest of one Atlanta mother, Sechita McNair, to find new housing after an eviction. The out-of-work film industry veteran drove extra hours for Uber and borrowed money, eventually securing a lease in the right neighborhood so her eldest son could stay at his high school. At $2,200 a month, it was the only “semi-affordable” apartment in the rapidly gentrifying Old Fourth Ward that would rent to a single mom with a fresh eviction on her record.

Even so, her son was not thriving. McNair considered a homeschooling program before re-enrolling him at the coveted high school. Despite continuing challenges, McNair is determined to provide her three children with better educational opportunities.

Here are some key takeaways from AP’s year following McNair’s journey.

Evictions often lead families to schools with fewer resources

Like many evicted families, McNair and her kids went from living in a school district that spends more money on students to one that spends less.

Atlanta spends nearly $20,000 per student a year, $7,000 more than the suburban district the family moved to after they were evicted from their apartment last year. More money in schools means smaller classrooms and more psychologists, guidance counselors and other support.

Thanks to federal laws protecting homeless and evicted students, McNair’s kids were able to keep attending their Atlanta schools, even though the only housing available to them was in another county 40 minutes away. They also had the right to free transportation to those schools, but McNair says the district didn’t tell her about that until the school year ended. Once they found new housing, their eligibility to remain in those schools expired at the end of last school year.

Support systems matter, too

The suburban neighborhood where the family landed after the eviction is filled with brick colonials and manicured lawns. McNair knows it’s the dream for some families, but not hers. “It’s a support desert,” she said.

McNair, who grew up in New Jersey near New York City, sees opportunities in the wider city of Atlanta. She wants to use its libraries, e-scooters, bike paths, hospitals, rental assistance agencies, Buy Nothing groups and food pantries.

“These are all resources that make it possible to raise a family when you don’t have support,” she said. “Wouldn’t anyone want that?”

It’s tough to find safe, affordable housing after an eviction

It took months for McNair to scrape together funds and find a landlord in her gentrifying neighborhood who would rent to her in spite of her recent eviction.

On Zillow, the second-floor apartment, built in 2005, looked like a middle-class dream with its granite countertops, crown molding and polished wood floors. But up close, the apartment looked abused. Her tour of the apartment was rushed, and the lease was full of errors. She signed anyway.

Shortly after — while she was still waiting for the landlord to install more smoke detectors and fix the oven and fridge — McNair’s keys stopped working. The apartment had been sold in a short sale.

The new owners wanted McNair to leave, but she consulted with attorneys, who reassured her she could stay. Eventually, she even moved some of the family’s belongings to the apartment.

But a new apartment in their preferred neighborhood doesn’t solve everything. At night, McNair’s 15-year-old son, Elias, has been responsible for his younger brothers while she heads out to drive for Uber. That’s what is necessary to pay $450 a week to rent the car and earn enough to pay her rent and bills.

While McNair is out, she can’t monitor Elias. And a few days after he started school, Elias’s all-night gaming habit had already drawn teachers’ attention. As she drove for Uber one night, she couldn’t stop thinking about emails from his teachers. “I should be home making sure Elias gets to bed on time,” she says, crying. “But I have to work. I’m the only one paying the bills.”

Consistency is important for a teen’s learning

McNair attributed some of Elias’s lack of motivation at school to personal trauma. His father died after a heart attack in 2023, on the sidelines of Elias’s basketball practice. Wounded by that loss and multiple housing displacements, Elias failed two classes last year, his freshman year. His mother feared switching schools would jeopardize any chance he had of recovering his academic life.

But after Elias started skipping school this fall, McNair filed papers declaring her intention to homeschool him.

It quickly proved challenging. Elias wouldn’t do any schoolwork when he was home alone. And when the homeschooling group met twice a week, McNair discovered, they required parents to pick up their children afterward instead of allowing them to take public transit or e-scooters. That was untenable.

McNair considered enrolling her son in the suburban school district, but an Atlanta schools official advised against transferring if possible. He needs to be in school — preferably the Atlanta school he has attended — studying for midterms, the official said.

Now, with Elias back in school every day, McNair can deliver food through Uber Eats without worrying about a police officer asking why her kid isn’t in school. If only she had pushed harder, sooner, for help with Elias, she thought.

But it was easy for her to explain why she hadn’t. “I was running around doing so many other things just so we have a place to live, or taking care of my uncle, that I didn’t put enough of my energy there.”

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The Associated Press’ education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) Director Daniel Rogers, during a rare public appearance Thursday, said nearly one in 10 of the agency’s terrorism investigations include at least one person under the age of 18, an alarming trend driven by online extremism.

Since 2014, there have been nearly two dozen violent extremist attacks in Canada resulting in 29 deaths and at least 60 injuries, according to Rogers.

Worryingly, he said, nearly one in ten terrorism investigations at CSIS, the country’s domestic spy agency, include at least one “subject of investigation” under the age of 18.

In August, a minor was arrested in Montreal for allegedly planning an attack on behalf of the terrorist group Daesh, according to Rogers.

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Just a few months earlier, a 15-year-old Edmonton-area minor was charged with a terrorism-related offense, after Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) investigators feared the teen would commit serious violence related to COM/764, a transnational violent online network that manipulates children and youth across widely accessible online platforms.

Rogers also noted two 15-year-olds were arrested in Ottawa for allegedly conspiring to conduct a mass casualty attack targeting the Jewish community in Canada’s capital in late 2023 and early 2024.

“Clearly, radicalized youth can cause the same harms as radicalized adults, but the societal supports for youth may help us catch radicalization early and prevent it,” Rogers said. “These tragic numbers would have been higher if not for disruptive actions taken by CSIS and our law enforcement partners.”

The CSIS joined the RCMP and intelligence partners from the U.S., United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand in releasing a joint public report in December, highlighting the evolving issue of young people and violent extremism. 

The report provides advice to parents, guardians and others with information to help them identify early concerns and address youth radicalization before it’s too late. 

“Since 2022, CSIS has been involved in the disruption of no fewer than 24 violent extremist actions, each resulting in arrests or terrorism peace bond charges,” Rogers said. “In 2024, CSIS played an integral role in the disruption of two Daesh-inspired plots. 

“In one case, a father and son were allegedly in the advanced stages of planning an attack in the Toronto area. In another, an individual was arrested before allegedly attempting to illegally enter the United States to attack members of the Jewish community in New York. In these examples, and in many others I can’t discuss publicly, our counter-terrorism teams have partnered with law enforcement and saved lives.”

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He attributed the radicalization to “eroding social cohesion, increasing polarization and significant global events,” which he said “provide fertile ground for radicalization.”

“Many who turn to violence radicalize exclusively online, often without direction from others,” Rogers said. “They use technology to do so secretly and anonymously, seriously challenging the ability of our investigators to keep pace and to identify and prevent acts of violence.”

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Rogers also noted the CSIS collects intelligence and defends against transnational repression, previously focusing on transnational repression by the People’s Republic of China, India and others. 

“In particularly alarming cases over the last year, we’ve had to reprioritize our operations to counter the actions of Iranian intelligence services and their proxies who have targeted individuals they perceive as threats to their regime,” he said. “In more than one case, this involved detecting, investigating and disrupting potentially lethal threats against individuals in Canada.”

By&nbspEuronews

Published on
13/11/2025 – 17:00 GMT+1

Italy’s Chamber of Deputies Justice Commission has approved an amendment to the sexual violence bill to include mandatory consent, in a shift from previous law that focused on physical coercion or threats.

The amendment, presented by Michela Di Biase of the Democratic Party (PD) and Carolina Varchi of Brothers of Italy (FdI), was backed directly by party leaders Elly Schlein and Giorgia Meloni following contacts in recent days, according to parliamentary sources.

“This is an important step forward for the Italian penal code,” Di Biase said during commission proceedings.

“This new text represents a great cultural change, because too often we have witnessed women being forced to justify themselves even in the face of the violence they have suffered. Sex without consent is rape,” she explained.

The new text states that anyone who commits or induces sexual acts without the free and current consent of the other person will face six to 12 years imprisonment.

Consent is defined as a “free, conscious and unequivocal manifestation of the person’s willingness to participate in the sexual act” valid for the entire duration of the act and revocable at any time.

Consent obtained by coercion, abuse of authority, threat, deception or by taking advantage of a condition of physical or mental vulnerability is not valid under the amendment.

The change updates Article 609-bis of the Criminal Code, which was introduced by Law No 66 of 1996 and moved sexual violence from the sphere of public morality to crimes against the person.

Law No 69/2019, known as the Code Red, raised penalties from six to 12 years and introduced specific aggravating circumstances.

The definition aligns with the Istanbul Convention and jurisprudence from Italy’s Supreme Court, which has recognised sexual violence even in the absence of physical resistance.

The amendment is scheduled to be passed to the Chamber of Deputies next Monday before moving to the Senate.