Roundup: Your Feedback Wanted on Federal Juvenile Justice Policy

Juvenile Justice Reform and Related News

• The Coordinating Council on Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention wants your input by August 9, 2010 on federal policies and practices in these areas:
  • education and at-risk youth
  • juvenile reentry and transitions into adulthood
  • racial/ethnic disparities in juvenile justice and related systems
  • tribal youth and juvenile justice.

The Council has published a detailed request and guidelines in the Federal Register.
Here's the tricky part: to submit your comments, type "Juvenile Council" into the search box here labelled "Enter Keyword or ID." You'll likely get more than one search result, but look for the one that says, "Request for Public Comments - Coordinating Council on Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention." Don't click on it if you're ready to comment; instead, look over to the right, where you'll see a "Submit Comment" link. Click on that, and you'll be able to type in your comments. You can also scan other comments already submitted to the site. (If you can't submit your comments electronically, there are instructions in the guidelines for how to mail them in.)

• New York Law School just issued a volume of papers on addressing the school-to-prison pipeline. You may find the set of recommendations on making sure school police are effective and not overused interesting, as well as "The School-to-Prison Pipeline . . . and Back: Obstacles and Remedies for the Re-Enrollment of Adjudicated Youth," which recommends protecting the due process rights of returning youth; amending the No Child Left Behind Act to rate schools on relative achievement gains rather than absolute test scores; and creating state statutes and regulations to support youth returning from the juvenile justice system. And there's an intriguing case study with suggestions on how to sue successfully in cases where youth (particularly those of color) are being unfairly excluded from schools because of zero tolerance and related disciplinary policies. (Hat tip to Youth Today.)
• The National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (NCJFCJ) has created a new  diversity listserv to "encourage dialogue and information sharing on diversity issues that affect the court’s response to children and families across the nation." Follow the link for more information.
• New York state staved off a federal takeover of its juvenile justice system by agreeing to federal oversight, a change in policies, and a significant expansion of mental health services (including substance abuse treatment) at four of its youth prisons. Annie Salsich of the Vera Institute, who has blogged for us in the past on the state of New York's juvenile justice system in New York, commented on the latest developments and called for a "rigorously systemic response" to assure that New York's entire juvenile justice system is reformed.  
• Meanwhile, youth detained at Washington D.C.'s New Beginnings facility appear to be benefitting from one of the best school programs in a juvenile correctional facility -- a "remarkable" turnaround for a school that as recently as 2006 was "racked by violence, disorder and chronic student absenteeism and lacked any functional administrative infrastructure."

Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment Resources

• The Legal Action Center -- a nationally recognized expert on confidentiality issues -- now offers online, self-paced courses on confidentiality with continuing education credits.  (Hat tip to Randy Muck at SAMSHSA.) Related: Sally Friedman of the Legal Action Center posted about confidentiality for teens in drug treatment here last year; and back in February, I wrote about how federal confidentiality law is under attack.
• Got a juvenile drug court? Want training in an evidence-based treatment? The National Drug Court Institute (NDCI) is offering training in MET CBT 5 for drug courts willing to go through the certification process. (Hat tips to Christa Myers, project director of Reclaiming Futures Hocking County, OH; and Marilyn, project director of Reclaiming Futures Greene County, MO.)

Conferences - Calls for Presentations

• Reminder: the Coalition for Juvenile Justice  is seeking proposals for its fall conference on Disproportionate Minority Contact (DMC). 
• You can also submit presentation proposals to the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (NCJFCJ) for next year's National Conference on Juvenile and Family Law, which will be held March 27-30, 2011 in Reno, NV. Proposals are due September 15, 2010.