Mental Health Week: Some Numbers to Remember; News Roundup

Juvenile Justice Reform

• Juvenile Justice in Illinois: A Data Snapshot [PDF] (Chicago Youth Justice Data Project)
  Nationally, there’s been a steady decrease in the rate of violent crime committed by juveniles over the past fifteen years.
• Webinar | Using Social Impact Bonds to Improve Juvenile Justice Outcomes (NJJN.org) 
  Find out what has been learned about social impact bonds and how they should be structured for best results in our May 27, 2014 webinar, "Using Social Impact Bonds to Improve Juvenile Justice Outcomes," presented by John Roman, Ph.D., a national expert on social impact bonds.
• Removing Youth From the Adult Criminal Justice System: A Win-Win Situation (NCCD.org)
  Incarcerating youth in adult jails and prisons is the most expensive option for the juvenile justice system and unfailingly produces the worst results.
• Local Juvenile Probation GED Program Shows Higher Success Rate (WacoTrib.com)
  McLennan County students who stay at the Bill Logue Juvenile Justice Center for longer than 90 days have a higher chance of graduating with a GED or earning high school credit than the majority of incarcerated students across the country, according to a Southern Education Foundation report.

Jobs, Grants, Events and Webinars

• Please share the Reclaiming Futures Opportunity Board with your colleagues in the juvenile justice, adolescent substance abuse and teen mental health areas. It's free to browse and post!

Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment and Mental Health

• News Coverage of Teen Suicides May Have Ripple Effect (Philly.com)
  Graphic newspaper accounts of a teenager's suicide may play a role in copy-cat cases, a new study suggests.
• Mental Health Problems Mediate Link Between Childhood Trauma, Aggression (Healio)
  Data from a study conducted by Machteld Hoeve, MD, of the University of Amsterdam, and colleagues demonstrate that mental health problems mediate the link between childhood maltreatment and aggression.
• Mental Health Week: Some Numbers to Remember (The Courier-Tribune)
  National Children’s Mental Health Awareness Week is being celebrated this week through May 10.
• Commentary: Paving The Way to Change for Adolescent Substance Abuse (Drugfree.org)
  Recent media reports of young people dying from overdoses calls attention to the devastating effects of addiction – which has reached epidemic proportions.
• 2014 National Drug Court Month Resource Center (NADCP.org)
  This May, Drug Courts around the country will honor National Drug Court Month by holding events with the theme “Celebrating 25 years of Drug Courts.”

Ashley Heinonen writes the Friday news roundup, opportunity board roundup, and contributes articles featuring information about juvenile justice reform to ReclaimingFutures.org. She graduated from Loyola Marymount University and is currently an assistant account executive for Prichard Communications.