Which Onset Behaviors Best Predict Juvenile Delinquency; News Roundup

Juvenile Justice Reform

• Survey shows police have little training when it comes to juveniles (Boston Globe)
  According to a survey by a Cambridge-based organization that trains police to deal with ­juveniles, little of that training is reaching those at the front lines of confrontations with wayward youth: police officers.
• Study Asks, Which Onset Behaviors Best Predict Juvenile Delinquency? (JJIE)
  A new study in the Journal of Criminal Justice examined the relationship between onset juvenile antisocial behavior and career delinquency, with researchers citing arrests and other police contacts as the most likely indicators of future criminality for adolescents.
• Prison data, court files show link between school truancy and crime (Chicago Tribune)
  Of 182 boys and young men recently locked up in Illinois' three medium-security youth prisons, at least 135 used to miss so much school that they were labeled chronic truants.
• Texas high court to consider whether SCOTUS' Miller ruling on juvie LWOP is retroactive (Grits for Breakfast)
  The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals this week agreed to hear arguments in Ex Parte Terrell to determine whether the Supreme Court's Miller v. Alabama - a case which banned life without parole (LWOP) sentences for juveniles if lesser options weren't offered - applies retroactively in Texas.
• Juvenile justice chief wants more use of civil citations (The News Herald)
  Florida Department of Juvenile Justice Secretary Wansley Walters hosted a town hall meeting Wednesday night to get community feedback on her proposals to reform the way courts address kids who break the law.
• Kids, Cops, and Confessions: Inside the Interrogation Room (Juvenile Justice blog)
  During her ten years practicing in juvenile delinquency court, a juvenile defender is struck by the overwhelming number of cases in which youth readily confess to police — often school resource officers.

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Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment and Mental Health

• Report: Mental Illness Increases Among Juvenile Detention Population (News 92 FM)
  According to a report from the Texas Juvenile Justice Department, 54 percent of teens in detention need mental health treatment.
• Substance Use in 12th Grade Dropouts Greater Than in Teens Who Stay in School (The Partnership at Drugfree.org)
  Teens who are old enough to be in 12th grade, but have dropped out of school, have higher substance abuse rates than their peers who are enrolled in school, according to a new government report.
• Update on Adolescent Mood Disorders (Psychiatric Times)
  In line with adolescents’ interest in interactive video games, Merry and colleagues developed a computerized cognitive-behavioral therapy intervention that is an interactive fantasy game for depressed adolescents.
• Are Drugs Today Really Cheaper, Purer, and More Available Than Ever? (Office of National Drug Control Policy)
  Our national drug problem is substantially smaller than it used to be, and progress continues to be made. 

Related

• 'You Gotta Do Something!' Video Challenge (National Clearinghouse on Families & Youth)
  The “You Gotta Do Something!” Youth Video Contest asks young people under age 21 to finish telling the story of Rob and Ashley, a fictional couple who get into a fight at a party. Youth enter the contest by watching a 14-minute video about Rob and Ashley on YouTube before creating their own video to show what happens next.
• School Safety Takes More Than Guns, It Requires Attention to the Deep Roots of Violence (GOOD)
  Our schools and our children will not be safe until we take a holistic and comprehensive approach to ending violence by increasing mental health services and focusing on social-emotional learning models (SEL) that are proven to decrease problem behaviors and increase academic success.
• For Baltimore Youth, Opportunity Goes Green (SparkAction)
  Corps are comprehensive youth development programs in cities and states that provide young people with job training, academic programming and leadership training through experience in service.
   

David Backes writes the Friday news roundup for Reclaiming Futures and contributes articles about juvenile justice reform and adolescent substance abuse treatment to ReclaimingFutures.org. He has a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Santa Clara University. David works as an account executive for Prichard Communications.