Juvenile Justice and Adolescent Treatment Leaders in New Jersey Learn More About Reclaiming Futures

On November 13 and 15 in Mt. Laurel and Morristown, New Jersey, leaders from around the state of New Jersey and a variety of youth-serving disciplines, gathered to learn more about the national and local problems facing communities and the solutions offered by Reclaiming Futures.
Reclaiming Futures is working with New Jersey Health Initiatives (NJHI), a program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, to conduct a six-month readiness assessment to determine if the Reclaiming Futures model, offering more treatement, better treatment and support beyond treatment, can be implemented in New Jersey, with support and funding through NJHI.
According to national data, almost two million young people ages 12 to 17 need treatment for substance abuse or dependence, but only one in 20 will get treated. That's unfortunate, because effective adolescent substance abuse treatment can help teens stay out of trouble, make our communities safer, and save money.
Young people need to be held accountable when they break the law, but unless they receive treatment when they have a substance abuse problem, they will likely find themselves back in juvenile court again and again.
Please contact Reclaiming Futures at 503-725-8911, or email info@reclaimingfutures.org for more information about bringing Reclaiming Futures to your community.

Photo above: Judge William Hitchcock and Randy Muck help lead the conversation in New Jersey.

 
Susan Richardson is national executive director for Reclaiming Futures. Formerly, she was a senior program officer in the health care division of the Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust in North Carolina, where she led a three-year effort involving the state's juvenile justice and treatment leaders to adopt the Reclaiming Futures model by juvenile courts in six North Carolina counties. She received her B.S. in Public Health, Health Policy and Administration, from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.