The Supreme Court Updates Miranda Warnings for Teens; Plus Six Conferences and 40 Years of Drug War: a Roundup

This week, I've got a monster roundup of news, grant opportunities, and conferences related to the juvenile justice system and (a little) about adolescent substance abuse treatment and behavioral healthcare for kids. Here goes:

• Reclaiming Futures Nassau County: Football Star Andrew Quarless Speaks to Juvenile Drug Court Graduates
• U.S. Supreme Court Says Age Matters When it Comes to Miranda Warnings
  Miranda warnings must be given by police when a suspect is being interrogated in a custodial setting. What's considered custody or the degree to which a suspect is being restrained are what matters here: in this case, a 13-year-old in North Carolina was interrogated on school grounds by a police officer about alleged crimes committed off-campus. He was not read his Miranda rights; his lawyers argued that his subsequent confession was therefore inadmissible. North Carolina's Supreme Court said his age wasn't relevant -- arguing, as I understand it, that the youth was not in a custodial situation and could have left. In a 5-4 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court disagreed, writing that, “It is beyond dispute that children will often feel bound to submit to police questioning when an adult in the same circumstances would feel free to leave.” (Hat tips to the Juvenile Law Center and the National Juvenile Justice Network.)

• Forty Years of the War on Drugs: Success or Failure?
  On the 40th anniversary of President Nixon's "War on Drugs," Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP) has issued a report blasting it; yet the Office of National Drug Control Policy's (ONDCP) 2010 Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring Report argues that the nation's drug problem must be addressed as both a public health problem and a community safety problem. 
• Trauma-Informed Services (Part 3)
  The Addiction Technology Transfer Center (ATTC) Network published part three of its series on trauma-informed services, which contains interviews with professionals whose agencies have integrated trauma-informed care into their services.  In case you missed them: Part 1 - The Hidden Aspect of Addiction; and Part 2 - Assessments and Interventions.
• Trends and Challenges in Juvenile Justice Reform (PDF)
  A recent webinar put on by the Children’s Law Center highlighted advances in juvenile justice reform in three states: Connecticut, California and Texas. Even if you  missed, it, you should check out the PDF of the presentation. (Hat tip to John Kelly at Youth Today.)
• Crime, Violence, Discipline, and Safety in U.S. Public Schools: Findings from the School Survey on Crime and Safety: 2009-2010
  The Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) has a report that includes information about rates of violent incidents, gang-related crimes, bullying, conduct problems, and other issues. (Hat tip to findyouthinfo.gov.)
• Juvenile Justice System Improvement Project Kicks Off in Four States
  The Center for Juvenile Justice Reform at Georgetown University has selected the four states it will be working with in its first round of its Juvenile Justice System Improvement Project. The project uses a tool developed by researcher Mark Lipsey and his colleagues (which is in turn based on Lipsey's staggering meta-analysis of over 700 evaluations of what works in juvenile justice). You can learn more here.

 
Funding

• Family Connection Grants - Using Family Group Decision-making to Build Protective Factors for Children and Families
  Ready to do a demonstration project using family group decision-making to keep kids out of foster care? These grants might be for you. "Projects will engage families in building protective factors and reducing risk factors for children and families, and will address related domestic violence, mental health, and substance abuse issues." Deadline: July 27, 2011. (Hat tip to findyouthinfo.gov.)
• Funding Opportunity: Integrating Trauma-Informed and Trauma-Focused Practice in Child Protective Service (CPS) Delivery
  This is a chance for your child welfare system to adopt an evidence-based or "evidence-informed" trauma-focused approaches. Funded activities "may include, but are not limited to training, installation, implementation, and evaluation." Deadline: July 25, 2011.  (Hat tip to findyouthinfo.gov.)

Conferences

• 74th NCJFCJ Annual Conference
  It's happening July 24-27, 2011, in New York. And of course, "NCJFCJ" stands for "National Council on Juvenile and Family Court Judges," of course. According to their website, "The mission of the Annual Conference is to provide cutting-edge information and tools to juvenile and family courts to support their efforts to improve case processing and outcomes for children, youth, families, victims, and communities with whom they work." They're also doing a great blog series on the what the conference has to offer.
• American Probation and Parole Association To Host Training Institute in Chicago
  The APPA will hold its 36th Annual Training Institute, July 24-27, 2011 (yep, same days as the NCJFCJ conference), "featuring more than 60 workshops for community corrections professionals. Workshops topics include disproportionate minority contact, mentally ill offenders and community corrections, law enforcement traumas, electronic monitoring in domestic violence cases, juvenile reentry, overcoming barriers in management, and more." (Hat tip to JUVJUST.)
• OJJDP's 13th National Enforcing Underage Drinking Laws (EUDL) Leadership Conference
  The conference will be held August 10th-12th, in Orlando, FL; this year's theme is "Spotlighting Community Solutions to Underage Drinking."
• Putting the Pieces Together for Children and Families: The National Conference on Substance Abuse, Child Welfare and the Courts.
  Scheduled for September 14-16, 2011, in National Harbor, MD, the conference will focus on "family based models, the effects of health care reform, ensuring sustainability of effective programs in the midst of a changing fiscal climate and the role of substance use disorders as a central issue in child protection and related child serving agencies." (Hat tip to the Partnership at Drugfree.org.)
• National Conference on Juvenile and Family Law 2012
  Also sponsored by the National Council on Juvenile and Family Court Judges (NCJFCJ), this one will be held in Las Vegas, March 21-24, 2012. It sounds like its focus is a little different from the 2011 74th Annual NCJFCJ conference being held in July, as this one will "feature innovations in programming and practice and provide new opportunities for courts and communities to improve outcomes for children, youth, families, and victims. Diverse educational sessions will focus on the challenges faced by many children and families, such as child abuse and neglect, mental health, delinquency, custody, immigration, domestic violence, and substance abuse." Questions? Email Crystal Kelley, or phone her at (775) 784-6920.
• Joint Meeting on Adolescent Treatment Effectiveness (JMATE) 2012
  If you've ever been able to attend a JMATE conference, you know how great they are for anyone concerned with adolescent substance abuse treatment. (You can follow the link to learn about the 2010 conference.) Sponsored by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), it's the only national conference exclusively devoted to juvenile treatment. So write down these dates on your calendar, in ink: April 10-12, 2012, in Washington, D.C. If you think you won't be able to afford it, bear in mind that SAMHSA usually makes travel stipends available -- we'll just to keep an eye on that.  Also: committees are being created for the 2012 JMATE. So if you want to serve, email JMATE-info@jbsinternational.com.