State must be smart on youth crime and more; news roundup

Juvenile Justice Reform
OPINION: State must be smart on youth crime
Richmond Times-Dispatch
Juvenile crime has been dropping for many years in a row. That's good news because it means fewer victims and safer neighborhoods. One interesting factor in the falling crime rate has been that we lock up fewer juveniles. That's right — the crime rate is dropping at the same time we are putting fewer youngsters behind bars. And that makes sense once you think about it.
PODCAST: Stanford Law professor on California’s criminal justice realignment  Stanford Law Professor Joan Petersilia discusses the realignment of California’s criminal justice system, realignment’s impact on county jails, the need for comprehensive realignment research and analysis, and the importance of researcher-practitioner partnerships.
Preckwinkle: “Blow up” juvenile jail and put kids in smaller regional centers
Cook County Reporter
When Cook County Bord President Toni Preckwinkle was asked if she agreed with the report’s recommendation that the juvenile detention center be closed, Preckwinkle said: “Of course. I said that from the beginning. I think I said we should blow it up.”
Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment
National Inhalant Prevention Coalition: Stop encouraging kids to huff helium
Join Together
Huffing helium is not safe, and adults must stop encouraging children to do it, according to the National Inhalant Prevention Coalition
NIPC, a group that promotes awareness and recognition of inhalant use.

A star is rehabbed
NYT
Kristin Johnson puts her star power behind teens in recovery. The stats: One in three American teenagers meets the medical criteria for addiction. Eighty percent of rehabilitated teenagers who return to a regular high school will relapse within 90 days. At a recovery school, 70 percent of them will graduate clean and sober. “The fact that there are 25 of these schools across the country and that New York doesn’t have one,” Johnston said, “is just such a wrong.”
Children ages 10 to 12 ambivalent about smoking and drinking, suggests study
Join Together
Children ages 10 to 12 feel ambivalent about smoking and drinking, suggests a new study. They have both positive and negative associations with alcohol and cigarettes at this age, according to PsychCentral.

 

Lori Howell is a Senior Associate at Prichard Communications. She is a seasoned public affairs practitioner with a background in public policy, fundraising, and education. Lori helps clients with online editorial services, media relations, and publications. Before joining Prichard Communications, she served as chief of staff for Greg Macpherson, a former Oregon state legislator, an account executive for the Northwest Evaluation Association, a nonprofit educational testing consortium, and once taught English in Choshi, Japan.