Internet addiction linked to drug abuse and more: new roundup

Juvenile Justice Reform

• Study shows youth law project “bridges gaps” for children in need
  Fosters
  An evaluation study recently completed by the University of New Hampshire reveals that services provided by the New Hampshire Legal Assistance's Youth Law Project result in an overall reduction of recidivism, a goal the agency strives for through providing support and resources alongside juveniles in the court system.
• Cook County must reform juvenile justice, national agency says
  Chicago Tribune
  Cook County should demolish its long-troubled juvenile temporary detention center and needs to address an array of problematic trends in how it detains youths, such as disproportionately high admission rates for African-Americans, according to a national criminal justice research agency report.
• Louisiana seeing reduced need for some juvenile justice facilities, chief says
  The Town Talk
  The number of referrals to Louisiana juvenile detention facilities is down, as are recidivism and funding, the head of the state Office of Juvenile Justice says, so daytime treatment services under her office can be eliminated.
• Funding cuts to youth centers would give minor offenders nowhere to go
  The Salt Lake Tribune
  Lawmakers in Utah are looking at cutting millions of dollars from Juvenile Justice Services, meaning that several rural youth receiving centers will shutter and others statewide will have limited operating hours.
• Most Texas juvenile prisoners have mental health problems
  CBS
  Some 52 percent of young people in Texas’ six youth prison facilities have moderate or high mental health treatment needs, the head of the state juvenile justice department says.
• Local juvenile drug court program is having a positive impact on Great Falls
  KFBB
  Judge Kenneth Neill was tired of seeing kids making bad decisions, so when the Juvenile Drug Court Program began in Cascade County 6 years ago, he saw it as a fresh start for teens who would otherwise be locked up.
• In Dakota County, jury of teenage peers offers alternative for juvenile offenders
  Pioneer Press
  A youth court in Minnesota is giving teens a second chance after learning from their mistakes.
• South Carolina bill to deny licenses to dropouts advances
  7 On Your Side
  Lawmakers are taking aim at South Carolina’s high dropout rate with a bill that would take driving privileges away from students who stop going to school.
• House passes overhaul of Georgia juvenile justice system with focus on treatment
  The Republic
  Juvenile courts would have to conduct an assessment of children's mental health needs before committing them into state custody as part of an overhaul of the juvenile justice code passed Wednesday by House lawmakers.
• What life is like for a 14-year-old killer tried as an adult in Indiana
  The Indianapolis Star
  Should a 12-year-old be tried as an adult? Paul Henry Gingerich was after he helped kill a man two years ago. He faces 10 more years in prison -- unless an appeal convinces a court he should have been tried as a juvenile.
• Q&A: James Bell on what to do with California’s youth prisons
  KALW
  KALW sat down with James Bell, Founder and Executive Director of the Burns Institute, to discuss disproportionate minority contact and realignment in California.
• Florida district seeks civil citation program for misdemeanors committed at school
  The Ledger
  Polk County School District officials said Tuesday they want to implement a civil citation program for students who commit misdemeanors at schools. The program would allow students of all ages who commit a misdemeanor on campus to receive a citation instead of possibly being arrested, run through the court system and possibly taken to jail.
• Legal loophole makes some Texas juvenile records public
  Houston Chronicle
  Personal information about thousands of Texas juveniles cited for truancy, disorderly conduct and other Class C misdemeanors is widely accessible to the public, despite privacy concerns from advocates and parents.

Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment

• Thousands of teens pick up smoking each day, new report says
  WBTV
  Every day in the U.S., more than 3,800 people under the age of 18 smoke their first cigarette. More than 1,000 of them become daily smokers. They replace the 1,200 people who die each day in the U.S. from smoking.

• Internet addiction linked to drug abuse
  ABC News
  Parents already panicky about the amount of time their teenage children spend online may now have something new to worry about: All those hours spent Web surfing, chatting, gaming, texting and posting to Facebook could be a warning sign of substance abuse, according to a new study in the March issue of the Journal of Addiction Medicine.
• Public health groups: convenience stores and tobacco companies entice kids to smoke
  Join Together
  A new report by three public health groups charges tobacco companies have made convenience stores important partners in enticing minors to smoke through marketing and fighting policies that reduce tobacco use.
• Young people turn to AA to break the grip of alcohol and drugs
  The Kansas City Star
  At a time when binge drinking remains at epidemic levels, and as tens of thousands of high school and college students begin packing for spring break destinations where alcohol flows freely, thousands of other young people nationwide will flow into meetings of Alcoholics Anonymous.

Webinars

• The Road to Juvenile Justice: The Intersection of Restorative Justice and Disproportionate Minority Contact
  Practitioners in the juvenile justice system must seek additional ways to provide effective services for youth affected by Disproportionate Minority Contact (DMC), while continuing to be mindful of public safety. Restorative Justice practices implemented at various points of the "nine points of contact" can be effective tools in reducing DMC. This webinar will examine strategies - including Circles and Conferences - used in both rural and urban settings. It will consider how careful implementation of these strategies can help in local DMC-reduction efforts.
  When: March 14 at
• Data Collection and Analysis 
  The final webinar in the series Assessing Project Performance: Building Blocks of Evaluation and Performance Measurement addresses both the collection and use of program data. The presentation will explain processes associated with data collection and analysis, including techniques to ensure data collection is both uniform and systematic. Presenters will also provide strategies for presenting the results of program data analysis, and discuss the internal and external usefulness of program data for improvement and sustainability.
  When: March 22 at

Lori Howell is a Senior Associate at Prichard Communications. She is a seasoned public affairs practitioner with a background in public policy, fundraising, and education. Lori helps clients with online editorial services, media relations, and publications. Before joining Prichard Communications, she served as chief of staff for Greg Macpherson, a former Oregon state legislator, an account executive for the Northwest Evaluation Association, a nonprofit educational testing consortium, and once taught English in Choshi, Japan.