Roundup: Promoting Public Safety

• Above is a one-minute video from the Campaign for Youth Justice (CFYJ) on jailing kids in adult prisons (follow the link and scroll to last item) that was picked up by 191 broadcasters, according to Youth Today. Congratulations to CFYJ on getting the message out.

• Interested in using evidence to promote public safety? Follow the link to find a "box set" of whitepapers from the Crime and Justice Institute and the National Institute of Corrections on implementing evidence-based practices in the criminal justice system. Though focused on the adult side rather than the juvenile side, many of its lessons do apply to the juvenile justice system. Individual papers are aimed at different target audiences, including judges, prosecutors, defense attorneys, and so on. Looking them over, I was pleasantly surprised to see one authored by a friend that should be of interest to treatment professionals: "Effective Clinical Practices in Treating Clients in the Criminal Justice System." (Hat tip to the National Reentry Resource Center.)

 
 Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment and Public Policy Resources

• There's still time to submit an abstract for a presentation at the 2010 Joint Meeting on Adolescent Treatment Effectiveness (JMATE). For ideas and resources, check out the JMATE Facebook page. For example, here's a cool resource JMATE offered: an online tutorial from the Kaiser Family Foundation on how to conduct your own public health research, using primary data. Ideal for small organizations with no data analysis capacity.
• The National Family Dialogue -- parents and family members of teens affected by substance abuse and co-occurring disorders -- is holding its fourth webinar, "Building and Honing Your Public Education Skills," on Wednesday, June 23, at 2pm - 3:30 pm PST / 5:00 pm - 6:30 pm EST.  (Follow the link to register; if you just want to dial-in, call 1-888-453-4221, passcode 453075#. Questions? Email Sharon Smith. No confirmation email after registering for the webinar? Email Beth Cohen.
• Be sure to bookmark Policy for Results, a web site run by the Center for the Study of Social Policy to promote "results based" policymaking. You can find step-by-step guides to setting effective policy, child and family data for your state, learn what other jurisdictions are doing, and get help finding "financing, policy and oversight strategies that work." On top of that, they run a top-notch blog, Twitter feed, and Facebook page. Recent posts include recommendations on how states can reduce unwanted teen pregnancies and a link to a report on meeting the educational and employment needs of disconnected youth.