Almost 50 Percent Fewer Youth Arrested in Florida Schools; News Roundup

Juvenile Justice Reform

• Courts making strides in protecting children, vulnerable adults (Lincoln Journal Star)
  Supreme Court Chief Justice Heavican thanked lawmakers for passing legislation last session to enhance the Nebraska Juvenile Service Delivery Project, which is designed to keep children involved in the juvenile justice system from becoming repeat offenders. The project aims to keep children from being jailed while they receive services or treatment.
• Changes made in laws affecting youths (Midland Daily News)
  It’s been years in the making, but now some big changes have been made to laws pertaining to juveniles in court. “The predominant push is the idea that we need to have laws that are geared to juveniles,” Midland County Probate Judge Dorene S. Allen said. “Not use adult laws for juveniles.”
• Almost 50 percent fewer youth arrested in Florida schools (Florida Department of Juvenile Justice)
  The number of youth arrested in Florida’s public schools declined 48 percent in the past eight years, from more than 24,000 to 12,520, according to a study released by the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice. The decline corresponds with a downward trend in juvenile delinquency in all categories across the state.
• Building their future: Youth offenders learn woodworking, life skills in lockup (Waco Tribune-Herald)
  In a small shop building at the state youth lockup in Mart, teenage boys who have gotten into trouble with the law are learning woodworking skills that officials hope can be put to good use for the community.
• Best Of 2012: Juvenile Justice Desk (Youth Radio)
  In 2012, Youth Radio's Juvenile Justice Desk followed some major changes to youth sentencing in California and the nation.

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Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment

• North Carolina Teens Are Not Big Fans of Tobacco, Survey Finds (Join Together)
  More than three-quarters of middle school and high school students surveyed in North Carolina say smoking should not be allowed at home, indoors at work, or in cars, HealthDay reports. The tobacco-growing state has one of the nation’s lowest cigarette taxes, and only recently banned smoking in most restaurants, bars and hotels.
• School-based telehealth brings psychiatry to rural Georgia (Behavioral Healthcare)
  During Sherrie Williams’ time in private practice as a social worker in Georgia, there was such a shortage of child and adolescent psychiatrists that many children she saw who had more severe problems or problems that may have required medication could not access needed treatment.
• Chug! Chug! Chug! Why More Women Are Binge Drinking (Time)
  It’s not unusual for young women ages 18 to 34, as well as high schoolers, to overindulge; 1 in 8 women and 1 in 5 high school girls report drinking to excess. But binge drinking accounts for about 23,000 deaths among women and girls in the U.S. each year.
• 10 over-the-counter medicines abused by teens (Philadelphia Inquirer)
  Is your medicine cabinet a source for a teen’s legal “high?” Because a doctor’s prescription is not needed, many mistakenly believe that over-the-counter (OTC) medicines are safer than prescription medicines and illegal street drugs. They are in fact safe and effective when taken as directed, but even OTC medicines—including herbals—can cause serious and potentially fatal side effects when abused.
• Using Bath Salts: Playing Russian Roulette With Your Brain, Expert Says (Join Together)
  Using the designer drugs known as “bath salts” is like playing Russian roulette with your brain, according to an expert at the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). Michael H. Baumann, PhD, Chief of the Designer Drug Research Unit at NIDA’s Intramural Research Program, recently published a study that explains how bath salts cause dangerous effects in the brain.

David Backes writes the Friday news roundup for Reclaiming Futures and contributes articles about juvenile justice reform and adolescent substance abuse treatment to ReclaimingFutures.org. He has a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Santa Clara University. David works as an account executive for Prichard Communications.