By Liz Wu, May 16 2012
Speaking at the New Schools - Aspen Institute Summit 2012 last week, David Domenici challenged educators to embrace troubled (and often challenging) students and to keep them in school, instead of calling the police.
(watch David's short talk at the 29:45 mark)
He listed 4 focus areas:
Topics: Juvenile Justice Reform, No bio box, schools
By Brooke Preston, May 16 2012
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has created a new annual health initiative called National Prevention Week. This year’s event will span May 20-26, with the theme: “We are the ones. How are you taking action?”
SAMHSA’s mission is to reduce the impact of substance abuse and mental illness on America's communities. This national observance celebrates the work that community organizations and individuals do year-round to prevent substance abuse and promote mental, emotional, and behavioral wellbeing, while serving as an opportunity for community members to learn more about behavioral health issues and get involved in prevention efforts throughout the year.
The event’s dates were strategically selected to coincide with the beginning of summer, a season filled with celebrations and recreational activities that can potentially be linked to substance use and abuse (such as graduation parties, proms, weddings, boating and camping excursions); it is also timed to allow schools to take part in a prevention-themed event before the school year ends, raising awareness in students of all ages.
By Shannon Kluss, May 15 2012
Actions that once sent students to the principal’s office to be handled by teachers and faculty are now getting Massachusetts students pulled from school entirely and sent to juvenile court in handcuffs, according to a recent report by Citizens for Juvenile Justice. Research shows that police officers are increasingly stepping in to handle behavior such as foul language, hallway misconduct and disrupting public assemblies, which has led to a significant spike in student arrests.
Data from Springfield, Boston and Worcester, three of Massachusetts’s largest school districts, shows children as young as 11 were subject to arrest and were faced with criminal records for minor offenses during the 2007-08, 2008-09 and 2009-10 school years. Although students should be held accountable for their actions, using police and court resources instead of existing school disciplinary practices could pose severe consequences for their future. One alarming statistic noted by the report states that, “students who are arrested at school are three times more likely to drop out than those who are not.”
Criminalizing children for these minor offenses not only limits their educational and career opportunities, but it is also costly for schools and taxpayers. Springfield schools have armed officers permanently stationed at selected schools for the entire duration of the school day, contributing to a hefty payroll percentage that could be spent on staff leadership and disciplinary training.
Topics: Massachusetts, No bio box, schools
By Liz Wu, May 14 2012
An integral part of Reclaiming Futures' six step model is connecting troubled young people with positive and caring adult mentors. In Forsyth County, North Carolina, Wake Forest Law School students are volunteering their time to mentor teens and provide that positive influence.
Our very own judicial fellow Judge William B. Reingold spearheaded the partnership between the Pro Bono Project and Reclaiming Futures. He recruited students by sharing the benefits of being a mentor while detailing the great need in Forsyth County.
Writing in the Pro Bono Project's blog, law student Ramie Shalabi explains the partnership:
The Wake Forest University School of Law students meet at least once a week with their mentees and participate in activities such as bowling, prom dress shopping, and playing basketball. The mentors are required to write “contact notes,” which they submit to Advanced Placement monthly, to help ensure that the program is running effectively.
Although law students make a one-year commitment to the program, most of this year’s mentors have expressed their desire to remain involved in their mentee’s lives. Kelsey Baird (’13), a mentor, called her experience “valuable as it is fulfilling . . . and one of the best programs I’ve been involved in at Wake Forest.”
By Lori Howell, May 11 2012
Juvenile Justice Reform
Youth court steers first offenders to the right path (Livingston County News) Teenage volunteers are trained to serve as judges, attorneys, juries and other court officers empowered with determining a community service “sanction” for the young offender to complete.
Justice deptartment moves to engage public in juvenile court remedy (Tri-State Defender) U.S. Department of Justice officials on Wednesday (May 9) confirmed plans for their own town hall meeting designed, in part, to help make sure that “people understand the next steps” in bringing Shelby County Juvenile Court up to federal standards.
Opinion: Trying youths as adults hurts families and taxpayers, but not crime (Christian Science Monitor) Most youth cases that end up in adult court, get there automatically – a result of laws, for instance, that set the age for adult trial at 16 or 17. These youths are not afforded the benefit of any kind of judicial hearing or case review by a juvenile court judge.
Fewer Texas kids in discipline schools (Austin American-Statesman) The number of Texas children in schools for those previously expelled because of disciplinary problems declined by nearly 40 percent over five years, a top juvenile justice official told lawmakers Monday.
Teen Court program designed to steer youths away from crime (Gazette.net) Teen Court is a program run by the Prince George’s County state’s attorney’s office that allows first-time juvenile offenders to avoid the juvenile justice system by being granted a second chance by a “jury” of their peers.
By Liz Wu, May 11 2012
We're spending the week in San Antonio for the Reclaiming Futures Leadership Institute (which you may already know if you're following @RFutures on Twitter). For those not on Twitter, we'll be posting updates here on the blog and on Facebook.
Here are our takeaways from Day 2:
Cora Crary, Learning Collaborative Manager, Reclaiming Futures
Liz Wu, Blog Editor, Reclaiming Futures
Topics: No bio box, Reclaiming Futures
By Liz Wu, May 10 2012
We're spending the week in San Antonio for the Reclaiming Futures Leadership Institute (which you may already know if you're following @RFutures on Twitter). For those not on Twitter, we'll be posting updates here on the blog and on Facebook.
Here are our takeaways from Day 1:
Cora Crary, Learning Collaborative Manager, Reclaiming Futures
Liz Wu, Blog Editor, Reclaiming Futures
Topics: No bio box, Reclaiming Futures
By Liz Wu, May 09 2012
We're spending the week in San Antonio for the Reclaiming Futures Leadership Institute (which you may already know if you're following @RFutures on Twitter). For those not on Twitter, we'll be posting updates here on the blog and on Facebook.
This afternoon, local teens from SACADA (San Antonio Council on Drug and Alcohol Abuse)'s HYPE group (Helping Youth Prevention through Entertainment) used choreographed hip hop dances to promote their healthy, drug-free lives. One dance featured one teen's struggle to resist peer pressure to use drugs and alcohol and ended with him saying a powerful NO and walking away. It was followed by a lighter number where they taught our treatment, judicial, community and program fellows how to do the electric slide!
When asked to share their reasons for joining the group, HYPE members mentioned the importance of being substance free and how good it felt to be making a difference for their peers and younger students. Reclaiming Futures isn't their normal audience. HYPE can often be found dancing for local elementary schools and speaking with students about the dangers of drugs and alcohol.
HYPE members received not one, but TWO, much deserved standing ovations. Check them out!
Topics: No bio box, Positive Youth Development
By David Chura, May 09 2012
Like most teachers I've gotten some praise from my high school students over my 26 years of teaching -- a lesson "wasn't bad," or a particular class was "sorta interesting." I've even been told that I was a "pretty good teacher." High praise coming from teenagers.
But the truth is I wasn't a "good teacher." I was a "failure," at least according to America's "education reformers" -- that "odd coalition of corporate-friendly Democrats, right-wing Republicans, Tea Party governors, Wall Street executives, and major foundations" as Diane Ravitch aptly defines them -- because the kids I taught consistently lagged behind their peers in every measure, performing well below grade level, failing state standardized tests.
Given the present state of teacher evaluations, with a significant portion allotted to student performance on mandated tests, I'd be in big trouble if I hadn't left teaching recently. I certainly wouldn't get any bonus pay. If it were up to the Obama Administration I might not even have a job, since I would be one of those teachers who, as the president noted in his 2012 State of the Union address, "just aren't helping kids." And if I still taught in New York I'd be facing the prospect of having my name and ratings published in newspapers and on the internet if the legislature gets its way in what the New York State Union of Teachers called the "name/shame/blame game."
But I know that I wasn't a "failure," and more importantly, that the hundreds of kids I've taught weren't either. My students were mostly young people of color, living in neighborhoods and families destroyed by poverty and substance abuse, racism and violence, physical and sexual abuse. Overall, life -- shaped by their mistakes and by conditions they couldn't control -- left them little time for, or interest in education. Frequently that lack of time and interest led to trouble which led to repeated suspensions, expulsions and in some cases, incarceration. But sometimes trouble translated into being placed in a small community alternative high school or the jailhouse classroom in the county penitentiary, both places I taught in.
Topics: No bio box, schools
By Laura Nissen, May 07 2012
Just finishing up an IRB this morning to submit to PSU to get permission to proceed with a new research project I’ve been committed to doing for several years now. Most excited to jump into it this summer. Here is the brief required narrative from my proposal:
Substance abuse remains a formidable problem in the U.S. Until recently, adolescent substance abuse treatment frameworks and related research about them was under-developed. However in the last ten years, there has been significant development in both treatment models and research in the area (Carter Narendorf & McMillan, 2010). Simultaneously, there has been a movement in motion regarding the “recovery” process which is associated with, but tends to follow, formal treatment (Sheedy & Whitter, 2009). What happens when people leave treatment and begin a new life in “recovery?” This research will fill a gap in the addiction recovery literature by centering youth perspectives on their unique developmental view of the process of recovery from addiction as they experience it. Research questions include:
By Lori Howell, May 04 2012
Juvenile Justice Reform
By Liz Wu, May 04 2012
We know how to break the cycle of drugs, alcohol and crime, writes National Executive Director Susan Richardson at Join Together. And now is an important time to do so.
She explains:
Almost two million American youth need treatment for alcohol and other drug use or abuse. But only 1 in 20 will receive treatment.
Research shows that teens with substance abuse problems are more likely to break the law, behave violently or drop out of school. In fact, 4 out of 5 young people in the juvenile justice system commit crimes while under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
Young people need to be held accountable when they break the law. Unless they receive treatment for a substance abuse problem that helped them get in trouble in the first place, they will often find themselves back in juvenile court again and again.
By Leonard Witt, May 01 2012
Bart Lubow, who has been working for more than 20 years to reduce the number of youth being sent to detention centers, told a gathering of approximately 700 conference attendees last week that now “may prove to be a unique moment in juvenile justice history, a time when, as a nation, we shed some of the system’s worst baggage—including our unnecessary and often inappropriate reliance on secure confinement” of youth.
The conference attendees were in Houston for the Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative conference, which as its name implies is working to reduce the number of youth sent into detention and instead aims to provide community-centered alternatives. The conference is hosted by the Annie E. Casey Foundation.
Apparently the 19-year quest is working. Lubow, director of the Juvenile Justice Strategy Group at the Casey Foundation, told the gathering that “JDAI sites have reduced reliance on secure detention overall by 42 percent, with numerous jurisdictions posting reductions in excess of 50 percent.” All of this happening without compromising public safety, he said.
The quest in the end means, in Lubow’s words, “We need to detain the right kids, but only the right kids.”
Topics: Juvenile Justice Reform, No bio box, Texas
By Liz Wu, April 30 2012
In case you missed it: last night's 60 Minutes included a segment on addiction, how drugs affect the brain and why it can be so difficult to quit.
The segment follows Dr. Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, and explores her work on treating addiction as a disease, not a character flaw.
By Lori Howell, April 27 2012
Juvenile Justice Reform
Ex-Police Chief: Reform Juvenile Justice
Omaha World-Herald
Former Omaha Police Chief Thomas Warren on Wednesday called for comprehensive reform of the state juvenile justice system, in response to a new study showing widespread racial disparities in how cases are handled.
Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment
Teen Use of Ecstasy and Speed Linked with Developing Depression
Join Together
A new study links teenagers’ use of Ecstasy and speed (methamphetamine and/or amphetamine) with a higher risk of developing depression.
Reclaiming Futures Opportunity Board.
The job listings and webinars below are from the Reclaiming Futures Opportunity Board. Please share these postings and events with your colleagues working in the juvenile justice, adolescent substance abuse and teen mental health areas. It's free to browse and post!
Jobs
Lecturer in Criminal Justice at Colorado Mesa University
Grand Junction
CO
Closes 5/4/2012
Program Officer at Open Society Institute
Baltimore
Maryland
Closes 5/4/2012
Juvenile Justice Consultant Title IV-E at Unificare, Ltd.
Dallas
TX
Closes 5/13/2012
Executive Director at Oklahoma Board of Juvenile Affairs
Oklahoma City
Oklahoma
Closes 5/25/2012
Community Justice Educational Program Coordinator at AmeriCorps
Providence
Rhode Island
Closes 6/24/2012
Juvenile Probation Officer III at Travis County
Austin
TX
Closes 8/15/2012
By Liz Wu, April 27 2012
Our friends at the Juvenile Justice Information Exchange (JJIE) spent this week at the Kids Behind Bars: Where's the Justice in America's Juvenile Justice System? conference in New York, discussing the juvenile justice system and the role of the media in reporting facts (good) and sensationalizing stories (bad).
Their takeaways are relevant for journalists and bloggers but also for readers of this blog, many of whom work with(in) the juvenile system. During day 1 of the John Jay Symposium, speakers discussed:
By Liz Wu, April 26 2012
Speaking at this year's annual JMATE conference, the Office of National Drug Control Policy's David Mineta stressed the Administration's priority on drug prevention, treatment and diversion programs. "Addiction can be overcome and recovery is absolutely possible," he said. "And we need to make sure our young people have the brightest future possible. It's personal for us."
With the recent release of the 2012 National Drug Control Strategy [pdf], it's clear that the Administration plans to follow up Mineta's remarks with a strong policy strategy for reducing drug use and its consequences. In particular, the Strategy recommends diverting non-violent drug offenders into treatment, supporting reentry programs to help offenders rejoin their communities and bolstering innovative enforcement programs.
Writing in the White House Blog, Health and Human Services Secretary Sebelius, U.S. Attorney General Holder and ONDCP Director Kerlikowske explain their multi-agency approach to reducing drug use and supporting recovery efforts:
Our emphasis on addressing the drug problem through a public health approach is grounded in decades of research and scientific study. There is overwhelming evidence that drug prevention and treatment programs achieve meaningful results with significant long-term cost savings. In fact, recent research has shown that each dollar invested in an evidence-based prevention program can reduce costs related to substance use disorders by an average of $18.
But reducing the burden of our Nation’s drug problem stretches beyond prevention and treatment. We need an all of the above approach. To address this problem in a comprehensive way, the President’s new Strategy also applies the principles of public health to reforming the criminal justice system, which continues to play a vital role in drug policy. It outlines ways to break the cycle of drug use, crime, incarceration, and arrest by diverting non-violent drug offenders into treatment, bolstering support for reentry programs that help offenders rejoin their communities, and advancing support for innovative enforcement programs proven to improve public health while protecting public safety.
In recognizing the potential of the criminal justice system in deterring/reducing/treating drug and alcohol addiction, the Strategy praises Reclaiming Futures for its work in addressing substance abuse and mental health problems among youth in the juvenile system:
By Jeanette Moll, April 26 2012
This week, several schools and districts are grappling with the issue of when—if ever—it is appropriate for police officers to get involved with school discipline issues.
The Albuquerque school district, for example, is currently the defendant in a class action lawsuit over referring students to law enforcement for allegedly minor offenses. When a student was talking to her friend and refused to return to her seat, her teacher called the police.
In contrast, a Georgia six-year-old throwing a violent tantrum—which included destruction of property and assault, according to published reports—was arrested and taken away in a police cruiser. She was also put in handcuffs while in the cruiser, according to standard department policy, but to the outrage of many.
Topics: Georgia, Juvenile Justice Reform, New Mexico, No bio box, schools
By Liz Wu, April 25 2012
In case you missed it: The Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs and Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention are looking for communities interested in implementing the Reclaiming Futures model. And they have $1.325 million (over 4 years) in funding to give away.
From the request for proposals:
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Office of Justice Programs (OJP), Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) is pleased to announce that it is seeking applications for funding under the FY 2012 Juvenile Drug Courts/Reclaiming Futures program. This program furthers the Department’s mission by building the capacity of states, state and local courts, units of local government, and Indian tribal governments to develop and establish juvenile drug courts for substance abusing juvenile offenders.
The deadline is May 16, 2012, so apply today! We look forward to working with you!
By Liz Wu, April 24 2012
I've just seen a sneak peak of Recovery Month's "Road to Recovery: Partnering with Youth and Young Adults in Behavioral Health to Live Happy, Healthy and Productive Lives" and wanted to share it with you! In the clip, host Ivette Torres (Associate Director for Consumer Affairs, Center for Substance Abuse Treatment) speaks with experts and young people about teens in recovery.