Locking up Juveniles may Plant Seeds of More Crime; News Roundup

Juvenile Justice Reform

• Seven Officers at Georgia RYDC Removed after “Egregious Policy Violations” (JJIE.org)
  Georgia’s Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) announced that seven employees at the DeKalb County Regional Youth Detention Center have been removed, following findings from a three-week investigation. According to Jim Shuler, an official DJJ spokesman, three of the officers, among them the facility’s night shift sergeant, resigned while the review was still being conducted.
• Locking up Juveniles may Plant Seeds of More Crime (The Chicago Tribune)
  Joe Doyle was still a grad student at the University of Chicago in the late 1990s when he went to watch the proceedings in Cook County's juvenile court. He sat there while inexperienced lawyers argued over the fate of young offenders, mostly young black men. He witnessed judges who had to instruct those inexperienced lawyers on procedure at the same time that they, the judges, had to render life-altering decisions.
• OP-ED: Breaking the Cycle of Hyper-Recidivism (JJIE.org)
  "Is reform a means to cut the budget or is cutting the budget a means to reform? It’s like which came first–the chicken or the egg? For Georgia, I think money is part of the equation, and ultimately becomes part of the outcome, but it’s definitely not the primary objective despite it’s appearance."
• Charlottesville Forum Focuses on Racial Disparities in Juvenile Justice (The Daily Progress)
  Gloria Newman remembered a son’s troubles as a teen and the message she received. “I was looking for help,” Newman said Tuesday at a Charlottesville Commission of Children and Families task force forum. “I was told, he’s not in the system, he can’t get help. There needs to be a preventative measure to get help before they get in the system.”

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Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment and Mental Health

• New Survey Finds That Parents Who Support Marijuana Legalization Expect Strict Regulation of Its Availability to Kids (Drugfree.org)
  A new, nationally representative survey released today by The Partnership at Drugfree.org confirms that parents who support legalization of marijuana expect strict regulation of the substance’s availability to kids and teens. While 40 percent of adults say they are in favor of legalizing marijuana for recreational purposes, a majority of them oppose any form of legal marijuana for use among kids and teens.
• Green Country Teen Says Mental Health Screening Saved Her Life (NewsOn6.com)
  Mental health experts in the Tulsa, Oklahoma area are trying to reverse a tragic trend. Teen suicides are way up. Three per year is average, but 10 local teens have already taken their lives over the last year.
  One teen says a simple test saved her life.
• Family Conflict Leads to Aggression and Drug Abuse for Boys (CounselHeal.com)
  A family is supposed to be a safe group of people where one can turn to for support. Unfortunately for some, the image of a perfect family is fair from real. Studies have found that children from families where domestic violence and abuse are prevalent are more prone to high-risk behaviors, such as using illegal drugs.
• Teen Health, Mental Health has Declined in Last Decade (MedicalXpress.com)
  Adolescents' self-rated health and mental health worsened over the last decade, according to a study published July 3 in the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Preventing Chronic Disease.
   

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.