Roundup: National Drug Court Month Field Kit and More

Juvenile Drug Court News & a Webinar

• Got a juvenile drug court? This May, drug courts around the country will honor National Drug Court Month by holding events with the theme "All Rise: Putting Drug Court Within Reach of Every Person in Need.” Want help or ideas on how your jurisdiction can celebrate? Download the National Drug Court Month Field Kit from the National Association of Drug Court Professionals -- there's even a national "commencement" day on Thursday, May 20, 2010. (Hat tip to Christa Myers, project director of Reclaiming Futures Hocking County, OH.)
• While this webinar isn't specifically for juvenile drug court practitioners, it has obvious application: on May 4, 2010, the Council of State Governments' Criminal Justice/Mental Health Consensus Project is offering a webinar sponsored by the Bureau of Justice Assistance, titled,  "Working with Data for Mental Health Court Practitioners." It'll be held from 2pm - 3pm EST. Follow the link to register. For inquiries about this webinar or other webinars in the series, please email Elizabeth Meyer or call her at (646) 383-5718.

News from Reclaiming Futures Sites

• A cornerstone of implementing Reclaiming Futures is communicating with your community about youth struggling with alcohol and drugs who are in trouble with the law -- what works, what doesn't, what you're doing, and how the community can help. So we're very pleased to learn that Reclaiming Futures El Paso just put out the first issue of its newsletter for its local Reclaiming Futures initiative, describing the goals of its work, some of its training in evidence-based treatment, and writings from youth in the juvenile justice system. Way to go, El Paso! 

News from the Juvenile Justice System and Addiction Treatment Fields

• You've probably heard by now, but just in case: Tom McLellan will resign as deputy director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) this summer. McLellan formerly directed the Treatment Research Institute (TRI), helped create the Addiction Severity Index assessment tool, and was lead author on the seminal article in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) that made the case that addiction is a chronic disease. Why is he leaving ONDCP? "There's no deep dark secret here," he has said, according to Join Together, "I'm just ill-suited to government work."
• John Kelly of Youth Today shares some interesting information from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) on state compliance with the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA). Apparently, an unusually high number of states (five) are currently out of compliance. (Wyoming, which doesn't participate, would make six.)  
• Perhaps you saw the editorial in The New York Times supporting a bill in its state legislature that would reverse current funding incentives that actually make it less expensive for communities to send teen offenders away, rather than treating them in their own communities where they'll be more successful. Thinking perhaps along the same lines, the state of New York is offering $4 million to treat juvenile delinquents in their own communities.

Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment - Related News

• You may have heard of communities sponsoring prescription drug "take-back" events, like one in Utah recently, which netted 892 pounds of pills. The idea is to keep old, unused drugs out of the water supply -- and out of the hands of teens and others who are abusing them at record rates. No take-back event planned in your area? The National Commujnity Pharmacists Association has launched a web site called "Dispose My Meds," which helps you locate pharmacies that will accept returns of old prescription drugs (hat tip to @portprevent). No events planned and no pharmacies nearby that will take your expired pain pills? TIME magazine has some ideas.
• Be sure to check out "Technology and the Adolescent: Pairing Modern Media and Technology with Mental Health Practice," a white paper developed for the Universityy of Maryland's Center for School Mental Health. Among other things, it contains suggestions from actual practitioners who have implemented technology as a way to supplement in-person therapy, and as a substitute for it (e.g., online cognitive behavioral therapy). One of the biggest issues the authors see on the horizon? Changing billing practices for these new applications. Plus, the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) just launched an online community for for adolescents and young adults struggling with mental health issues called www.strengthofus.org. (Hat tips to Paul Savery.)
• You're no doubt aware that a recent federal law requires insurance companies to provide addiction and mental health treatment coverage at levels commensurate with other medical coverage -- so-called "parity." Now, the National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare asks: Is Your Insurer in Compliance with the Parity Act? (Hat tip to @nationalcouncil.)