By Benjamin Chambers, September 09 2010
Could juvenile justice agencies and Medicaid agencies work together to make sure teens in the juvenile justice system get evidence-based care when it comes to treatment for substance abuse, mental health issues, and medical care?
Could they improve the continuity of health care for youth leaving the justice system for the community?
By Benjamin Chambers, August 31 2010
Adapted from a post by the Addiction Technology Transfer Center Network:
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s (SAMHSA’s) Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT) is pleased to announce the availability of five six new e-learning courses for substance abuse treatment professionals:
- Prescription Medication (Part 1): Misuse, Abuse, and Dependence;
- Prescription Medication (Part 2): Addressing Addiction;
- Organizational Development: Governance and the Board of Directors;
- Organizational Development: Marketing as Collaboration;
- Organizational Development: Using Financial Information as a Nonfinancial CEO; and
- Acamprosate: A New Medication for Alcohol Use Disorders
These courses provide an opportunity for professional growth as well as one continuing education unit per module for maintaining certification or licensure. Learn more.
These courses are a great development. Looking forward to SAMHSA adding more courses -- especially some that are specific to adolescent substance abuse treatment!
By Benjamin Chambers, August 30 2010
Representing America's Youth: Addressing the Juvenile Justice Paradox, a symposium hosted by the National Partnership for Juvenile Services (NPJS), will be held on October 10-13, 2010, in San Antonio, TX. (Hat tip to OJJDP.)
The NPJS is made up of the National Association for Juvenile Correctional Agencies, the National Juvenile Detention Association, the Juvenile Justice Trainers Association, the Council for Educators of At-Risk and Delinquent Youth, and the National Association for Children of Incarcerated Parents.
Workshop training sessions will address:
By Benjamin Chambers, August 27 2010
Last year, we posted about a hugely important study by the Center for Court Innovation. In it, young people reported that they did not receive a clear explanation of the juvenile justice system when they entered. Nor did they -- or their parents and guardians -- learn how their actions affected what happens in juvenile court.
Our Reclaiming Futures site in Orange/Chatham Counties, North Carolina is trying to change this and created the video above for parents/guardians of youth entering juvenile court. Congratulations! (They're also working on a handbook for youth; I'll share it when it's available.)
Has your jurisdiction done something similar? Leave a comment or drop me an email and we'll be glad to post it!
By Benjamin Chambers, August 12 2010
Juvenile Justice Reform in Jeopardy, or Headed for a Golden Age?
By Benjamin Chambers, August 03 2010
Did you know that 60.6% of youths have witnessed violence and 46.3% have reported experiencing physical assault?Chances are, trauma has affected many of the young people you work with in schools, child welfare, the juvenile justice system, or any other place where teens gather.
That's why the Vulnerable Populations Portfolio at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) is taking the unusual step of creating a time-limited online community forum, "Chronic Trauma and the Teen Brain -- foundation staff may direct funding to address the issue and want to know more about it. The goal of the forum is to learn from you—the expert—while connecting you to other experts.
By Benjamin Chambers, August 03 2010
Got a great idea for improving outcomes for children, youth, families, and victims who come into contact with the juvenile court? The National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (NCJFCJ) wants to hear from you.
NCJFCJ will hold its annual conference next year on March 27-30, 2011, in Reno, Nevada -- and would like you to submit your presentation proposal between now and September 15, 2010. Proposals will be entertained on a broad range of topics, including child abuse and neglect, mental health, delinquency, family law, domestic violence, and substance abuse.
If you still have questions, contact Diane Barnette via email, or via phone at (775) 784-6012.
By Kim Johnson, July 19 2010
Making your agency more effective at serving teens who need substance abuse treatment or mental health treatment (or both) is hard work. And even though in the past I’ve posted some of the resources here that we have to help you, such as our free e-learning course on process improvement or our archived webinar on how to increase collections from insurance companies, you might not realize how many other things are available on the recently-redesigned NIATx web site.
By Benjamin Chambers, July 08 2010
Juvenile Justice Reform and Related News
By Benjamin Chambers, June 30 2010
It's not a secret that many youth in juvenile court struggle with symptoms related to trauma, but it can be hard to remember in court, when faced with a defiant youth who's been repeatedly delinquent.
So it's great to see a new publication from the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, 10 Things Every Juvenile Court Judge Should Know about Trauma and Delinquency. (Even though it seems to be aimed only at judges, it's useful for all staff who work with or in juvenile court.)
By Benjamin Chambers, June 11 2010
Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment
By Benjamin Chambers, May 26 2010
The only national conference to focus exclusively on adolescent substance abuse treatment -- the Joint Meeting on Adolescent Treatment Effectiveness -- has extended the deadline for submitting presentation proposal abstracts from June 4, 2010 to July 1, 2010.
You can learn more about the conference on its web site or in our recent posts:
Photo: energeticspell under CC license.
By Benjamin Chambers, May 24 2010
The Joint Meeting on Adolescent Treatment Effectiveness (JMATE) - the only national conference specifically devoted to adolescent substance abuse treatment -- is coming up in December. JMATE has issued a call for papers, registration opens June 1st, and now you can follow JMATE on Facebook.
Reclaiming Futures is one of the co-sponsors, but even if it weren't, I'd be encouraging you to go. I've been to several JMATEs and they were all excellent, informative events. (Also, it's great to be at a treatment conference and never have to ask after a presentation, "Say, does your research apply to teens as well as adults?")
By Benjamin Chambers, May 21 2010
Juvenile Justice System and Adolescent Behavioral Health News
Despite years of attention being drawn to the problem, mental health issues are still rife among teens in the juvenile justice system, according to a post from Center on Juvenile & Criminal Justice. What's more, a recent study in Pediatrics indicates that youth in juvenile detention may be four times more likely to die than youth in the general population, and this risk factor is higher for youth of color and for girls. By Benjamin Chambers, May 06 2010
Juvenile Justice Reform News
By Benjamin Chambers, April 20 2010
Grants from the Bureau of Justice Assistance are now available to "establish or enhance residential substance abuse treatment programs in correctional facilities that include aftercare and recovery supportive services." Grants may be used to treat teens in juvenile detention.
Here's the official description:
FY 2010 Second Chance Act Reentry Demonstration Program Targeting Offenders with Co-occurring Substance Abuse and Mental Health Disorders Program funds may be used for treating co-occurring substance abuse and mental health disorders in prison programs, jails, and juvenile detention facilities, providing recovery support services, reentry planning and programming, and post-release treatment and aftercare programming in the community.
Application deadline is June 3, 2010.
(Hat tip to the National Reentry Resource Center.)
By Benjamin Chambers, March 12 2010
Juvenile Justice System - Grants
Here's links to several funding opportunities and a specific fundor. Not all are juvenile-specific. The pool of plausible applicants for several of these will be quite narrow.
By Kim Johnson, February 15 2010
The NIATx ACTION Campaign II: Financial Strength in a Changing World, offers free process improvement tools for behavioral health care providers -- like adolescent substance abuse treatment agencies -- along with an easy way to get connected with NIATx.
The Campaign features twice-monthly webinars tailored for beginners who are new to NIATx process improvement, or "advanced" webinars for those who have participated in a NIATx project in the past. The Campaign web site also highlights promising practices that we encourage people to try in their own agencies. Join the Campaign here -- it's free!
This month, our promising practices focus on tapping into referral sources and increasing collections from insurance companies. The webinar below is one of the associated events.
[UPDATE: Just follow the link here to access the archived recording and PowerPoints for "Increasing Collections from Insurance Companies" (advertised below). --Ed.]
By Benjamin Chambers, February 10 2010
Want to address mental health issues in your juvenile court?
The Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) is seeking applications that demonstrate a collaborative
project between criminal justice and mental health partners from eligible applicants to plan,
implement, or expand a justice and mental health collaboration program.
Grants will be targeted at anyone -- juvenile or adult -- who:
By Benjamin Chambers, February 01 2010
In the face of growing need for mental health and substance abuse treatment, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Administration for Children and Families (ACF) and Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) are notifying states about how Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) funds can be used to help families in their communities in need of short term mental health or substance use treatment services.
The grant notification includes an explanation of how resources under the TANF Emergency Fund – a provision of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act – can be used to support such services.
The TANF block grant provides states and tribes federal funds and wide flexibility to develop time-limited assistance programs, employment services for parents, and a broad array of specialized services – including mental health and substance abuse services - for struggling families in their communities. For example, a jurisdiction can use federal TANF funds to provide appropriate short-term counseling services such as mental health services.
For pertinent information TANF jurisdictions can contact the Office of Family Assistance on its Welfare PeerTA website. In addition, technical assistance can be obtained through the SAMHSA website.
[Text, slightly abbreviated, from a press release.]