Top 21-25 Juvenile Justice Blog Posts | 2012

This has been quite a year for our juvenile justice blog. Not only has readership more than doubled (thank you!) but we've partnered with a number of great organizations and journalists to provide you with more frequent analysis, research and ideas for reform.
As last year, our articles explaining why "Scared Straight" tactics do more harm than good, continue to be some of our most-read and shared posts. But this year, we also took a look at the effects of trauma on kids, raise-the-age efforts and the Supreme Court decision to ban life without the option of parole for juveniles. 
This week, we're doing a countdown of the top 25 stories from 2012.
25. Mentoring: Best Practices for High Risk Youth
Mentoring has been shown to reduce drug and alcohol use and help justice-involved teens get back on track. Jessica Jones share five best practices for a successful mentoring program.
24. Inside the Juvenile Justice System: A Look at How the System Works
While readers may be familiar with the criminal system through tv shows, the juvenile system is less well-known and understood. The County of San Diego explains the juvenile system.

23. Podcast: Early Trauma, Teen Aggression and the Juvenile Justice System
A recent report examines the relationship between trauma experienced by young people and aggressive behavior, especially in teens in the juvenile justice system.
22. The Adverse Childhood Experiences Study -- the Largest Public Health Study You Never Heard Of
Children with toxic stress live much of their lives in fight, flight or fright (freeze) mode, making it difficult to focus their attention on school. The ACE score allows youth workers to determine the level of toxic stress in kids and develop plans to help them move past the trauma.
21. Your Brain on Bath Salts [infographic]
This infographic takes a look at how bath salts affect the brain.
Stay tuned for our top 15-20 blog posts of 2012.

Liz Wu is a Digital Accounts Manager at Prichard Communications, where she oversees digital outreach for Reclaiming Futures and edits Reclaiming Futures Every Day. Before joining the Prichard team, Liz established the West Coast communications presence for the New America Foundation, where she managed all media relations, event planning and social media outreach for their 6 domestic policy programs. Liz received a B.A. in both Peace and Conflict Studies and German from the University of California at Berkeley. She tweets from @LizSF.
 
 
 
*Photo at top by Flickr user Lincolnian (Brian)