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It shouldn't be news that school disciplinary policies can drive youth involvement in the juvenile justice system -- and that it needn't be that way.
For example, a recent analysis of 30 years of federal data on middle school suspensions by the Southern Poverty Law Center showed that zero tolerance policies have led to overuse of suspension as a disciplinary tool (a shocking number of schools suspend over 50% of their students of a given race/ethnicity in a given year), and that suspensions dramatically impact youth of color, setting affected students on a path for school failure. 

Today, we're joining teens, parents, teachers, and scientists across America to kick off National Drug Facts Week by offering up our own shoutout for educating teens (and adults) about drug abuse. Here at Reclaiming Futures, of course, we're especially concerned about adolescent substance abuse among teens in the juvenile justice system, and so we've collected a few items from the "Quick Facts" section of our new website -- chances are, at least some of them will surprise you. (Click on the reference numbers for the citations.)
 

• For four out of five kids aged 10-17 in the juvenile justice system, one or more of the following is true: they are under the influence of alcohol or drugs while committing their crimes; they test positive for drugs; they are arrested for committing an alcohol or drug offense; or they admit to having substance abuse problems.P1

Be sure to grab the "lessons learned" document from a forum focused on the need to integrate substance abuse treatment and general medical care. 
Held in April 2010 by the Treatment Research Institute (TRI) and funded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). the forum brought together leaders and innovators in this area to talk about financing, coordination, barriers, and opportunities. 
According to the authors of the resulting issue brief, here's why integration matters:

Using evidence-based practices in the juvenile justice system reduces delinquency and avoids costs. Those of us in the field hear this regularly – but it can be hard to see their impact on a day-to-day basis. 
How do we know they work? Let's start at the beginning. What we commonly refer to as "evidence-based practices" in the juvenile justice field are based on over 40 years of research regarding what works to reduce juvenile crime. Unlike studies that look at single programs, this research looked at over a hundred studies and found what consistently worked to reduce crime versus what consistently made crime worse. [1]

It's been nearly 10 years since Reclaiming Futures first launched its website focused on its six-step model promoting juvenile justice reform and adolescent substance abuse treatment.
A lot has changed since then. Which is why we've revamped our website at http://www.reclaimingfutures.org/ to help you find what you're looking for more easily.
For example, you can:

Believe in juvenile justice reform? Want to lead a national initiative to disseminate a proven six-step model that allows communities to help teens break the cycle of drugs, alcohol and crime?
Now's your chance.
Back in June, Laura Burney Nissen announced that she would be stepping down as national director of Reclaiming Futures. The job opening has now been posted, and a national search is under way for a new national executive director.  >>Download the application.
P.S. Please share with friends and colleagues you think might be interested. 
 
Photo: capturingJenna.

It's quite common for youth who are put on probation in juvenile court to switch from their drug of choice to alcohol because it's much harder to catch on drug tests.
Why does this matter? Drunk driving, of course. But there's another reason: the younger kids start using alcohol, the more likely they are to develop alcohol dependence as adults. New data from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and presented by the Center for Substance Abuse Research (CESAR) shows that youth who begin drinking at 14 or younger are nearly twice as likely to be dependent on alcohol as adults than youth who begin drinking between 15 and 17, almost four times as likely as youth who begin between 18 and 20, and over six times as likely as young adults who begin drinking past 21. 
There's no question many youth on probation have already been exposed to alcohol by the time they get to court. But this data is all the more reason that it's imperative to help them get treatment.

Having trouble rounding up mentors for youth in the juvenile justice system?
Then you won't want to miss this webinar from the National Reentry Resource Center and the Center for the Advancement of Mentoring titled, "Identifying and Engaging Reentry Mentors for Justice-Involved Youth." (Follow the link to register.)
[UPDATE (Nov. 12): Go here to access the archived webinar and PowerPoint slides.]
The second of two webinars, it's scheduled for 12:30 pm PST / 3:30 pm EST on November 1, 2010. It'll focus on working with family members to identify "pro-social support" for youth, as well as finding and training extended family and other "natural mentors" in each youth's life to support the mentor and help the young person return to the community.
All of which sounds like it would apply to any youth in the justice system, not just those reentering the community from a locked facility.
According to the press release, speakers will include:

• David Altschuler, Principal Research Scientist, Johns Hopkins University Institute for Policy Studies
• Shay Bilchik, Founder and Director, Center for Juvenile Justice Reform, Georgetown University
• Roger Jarjoura, Associate Professor, School of Public and Environmental Affairs, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis; Founder, Aftercare for the Incarcerated through Mentoring
• Dennis Talbert, President, Michigan Neighborhood Partnership

I've already posted about the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's (SAMHSA) call for public input on its eight strategies.
The agency plans to organize its work and funding priorities around these strategies, and wants input (and your votes on input from others) by October 22, 2010. 
I included links in my previous post to information online about the strategies, but here's something else you might find useful: the agency held an open house to talk about the initiatives last Friday. Video of that meeting has been archived, so you can review Q&A about SAMHSA's eight strategic initiatives, which made up a large portion of the event.