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A growing body of research is constantly giving fuel to the issue of childhood trauma and toxic stress—specifically, how they impact health outcomes in the future, and the critical need for juvenile and family courts to become trauma-informed in order to effectively treat these issues. The latest effort to make trauma-informed courts widespread is from the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (NCJFCJ), which has released “Preparing for a Trauma Consultation in Your Juvenile and Family Court,” a guide for juvenile and family courts to become more trauma-informed.

The guide outlines why courts need to be trauma-informed and how they approach building a framework, including:

• Elements of a comprehensive and successful trauma-informed framework
• Questions to ask to determine if your juvenile or family court is ready for a trauma consultation
• How to prepare for a consultation
• What to expect during a consultation
• How to put consultation recommendations into action

ACEs Too High, an online news site dedicated to adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), regularly reports on the need for more trauma-informed courts that are reflected in this NCJFCJ guide. A recent article by writer Ed Finkel reports on local courts who are adopting models of trauma-informed care, and other tools available, such as the Think Trauma curriculum for staff members in juvenile correctional facilities.

Finkel also reported on the trauma-informed approach used by judges to administer sustainable solutions for at-risk youth. The article interviews several judges to gain their perspective on trauma-informed courts.

Most recently, Pediatrician and ACEs leader Nadine Burke Harris brought ACEs to the forefront once again on a national stage during her TEDMED talk emphasizing the health impact of childhood trauma, indicating that those who have experienced high levels of this kind of toxic stress are four times more likely to become depressed, and 12 times more likely to attempt suicide.

The NCJFCJ guide is more timely than ever, as more and more public health leaders are adding to existing evidence that emphasizes the need for trauma-informed care. A trauma-informed court can be a safe and effective point of intervention to vulnerable youth and families, and can help coordinate support or treatment to improve outcomes and get young people on a positive path.

Cambiar, the Spanish word for change, was appropriately chosen as the name of a program in New Mexico that is attempting to transform the juvenile justice system and the young people in the system along with it.

Featured in a recent Daily Beast article “How to Curb Our Mass Incarceration Epidemic,” the Cambiar program at the J. Paul Taylor Center focuses on reform over punishment for inmates, who the center refers to as “clients.”

This transformation to reform, rather than punish, is modeled after Missouri’s juvenile justice system where most teen offenders are in prison schools or work programs, with access to family therapy. Reports indicate that 75 percent of Missouri’s youthful offenders get a year of education each year they are incarcerated—three times the national average. This has led to a startling improvement: 65 percent of offenders in that system are not rearrested within three years of release.

The Cambiar program is aiming for the same positive results—all of its clients have access to education and mentors, something that Reclaiming Futures champions, implements and sees results with:
“The staff here mentors students, teaches real high school classes, provides a clear system of rewards and punishments that excludes extreme approaches like solitary confinement—all tactics that resulted from a 2006 agreement with the ACLU that sheds light on systematic abuses endemic in juvenile systems.”
The Center also strives to provide an environment that nurtures positive peer culture, with the teens learning to do everything together as a unit. Having a support system, the Center believes, is key towards reforming young people:
“They [the Taylor Center] changed to smaller units where the kids were in groups of 12 rather than in large pods. They worked toward regionalization to try to get the kids closer to their families so they could have support from their families,” Sandra Stewart, director of Juvenile Justice Services in New Mexico, said.
Stewart also emphasized that the transformation of the Taylor Center is due to its focus on learning, mental health counseling, and mentoring over lockdowns and punishments.

The author of this article, Soledad O’Brien, interviewed several clients at the Taylor Center as part of her documentary film “Kids Behind Bars,” which airs Sunday, April 12 at 7 p.m. PST on Al Jazeera America:
“’Honestly, like, I've always liked to learn. It was always there but I never actually took the time to sit down. I never had the will. I never had someone to push me and when I came here, like I said, some staff here helped me out with that,” he said. Since I interviewed him, he got out and has completed a 90-day probationary period.”
Learn more about the Cambiar program on the State of New Mexico Children, Youth and Families Department (CYFD) website.

Susan Richardson has recently announced her plans to leave the position of national executive director of Reclaiming Futures to return to her home state of North Carolina, and we are grateful for her years of excellent leadership. Yesterday, Reclaiming Futures appointed Mr. Evan Elkin as national executive director, effective May 11, 2015.

There are 2.5 million alcohol-related deaths worldwide every year. Approximately nine percent, or 320,000 of those deaths, are among young people aged 15-29.

April is Alcohol Awareness Month, and there are many ways to get involved to help create awareness and encourage individuals and families to get help for alcohol-related problems.

The National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (NCADD) has sponsored Alcohol Awareness Month every April since 1987 and provides all the information and resources you’ll need to support this cause.

The theme for this year’s 2015 NCADD Alcohol Awareness Month was chosen to highlight the pervasive impact that alcohol, alcohol-related problems and alcoholism have on individuals, on families and children, in the workplace and in our communities: "For the Health of It:  Early Education on Alcoholism and Addiction."

The NCADD provides many resources that help bring light to this issue and we are all encouraged to share them widely:

Drinking Too Much Too Fast Can Kill You

NCADD's Self-Test for Teenagers

Facts About Underage Drinking

"I Wasn't Having Fun Anymore"

Stories of Recovery

Underage and College Drinking

Ten Tips for Prevention

Family History and Genetics

Alcohol Energy Drinks

Local NCADD Affiliates as well as schools, colleges, churches, and countless other community organizations will sponsor a host of activities to support this cause.

Many organizations have already joined in and are doing their part to raise awareness, including the following:

• National Institutes of Health (NIH)
• The National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN)
• National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)

If you’re interested in hosting an event or spreading the word, NCADD also has an “Organizer’s guide” to make it easy and effective in your community! The Organizer’s guide includes:

• Theme, History, Stigma and Links to Additional Resources
• Sample Proclamation
• Sample Media Advisory and News Release
• Sample PSA scripts
• Sample Op-Ed Newspaper article
• Sample Letter to Editor
• Suggested Grassroots Community Activities:  States, Communities, Schools,
• Students, Colleges, Media, Religious Organizations and Parents

For more information, visit the NCADD website.

Below you’ll find a selection of the latest grants, jobs, webinars and events posted to our Opportunity Board. Please share the Reclaiming Futures Opportunity Board with your colleagues in the juvenile justice, adolescent substance abuse and teen mental health areas. It’s free to browse and post!

Webinars

The Center for Juvenile Justice Reform (CJJR) at Georgetown University‘s McCourt School of Public Policy has announced that the application window for the 2015 Reducing Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Juvenile Justice Certificate Program is now open through May 15, 2015.

The Reducing Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Juvenile Justice Certificate Program, held August 3-7, 2015, is an intensive training designed to support local jurisdictions in their efforts to reduce racial and ethnic disparities in their juvenile justice systems. The program is operated jointly by the Georgetown Center for Juvenile Justice Reform and the Center for Children's Law and Policy.

The three primary goals of the certificate program are to help jurisdictions reduce:

1. Overrepresentation of youth of color in the juvenile justice system;
2. Disparate treatment of youth of color as compared to white youth within the juvenile justice system; and
3. Unnecessary entry and movement deeper into the juvenile justice system for youth of color.

Through the examination of the key decision points in the juvenile justice system, the program’s curriculum provides participants a better understanding of the disparate treatment of youth of color may be experiencing as compared to white youth within the juvenile justice system.

The program will also focus on the relationship between disproportionality in the juvenile justice system and disparate treatment in other child serving systems, including child welfare and education.

After completing the program, participants will be responsible for the development of a capstone project – a set of actions each participant will design and undertake within their organization or community to initiate or continue collaborative efforts to reduce racial and ethnic disparities in the juvenile justice system.

Visit the CJJR website where you will find further information about the program, including how to apply, tuition, and available subsidies for those with financial need. Questions can be sent to jill.adams@georgetown.edu.

Emerging leaders age 17-25 interested in juvenile justice reform will convene at the 2015 Juvenile Justice Youth Summit, co-hosted by The Coalition for Juvenile Justice (CJJ) and the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) (OJJDP).

The two-day summit—"The Time is Now: Creating Change with Young Emerging Leaders"—takes place July 23-24, 2015 in Washington, DC.

According to the event announcement, “these next generation leaders gain a better understanding of the current juvenile justice system, examine trending reform topics, and participate in various skill-building, hands-on activities.” Agenda topics include: juvenile justice 101; keeping young people out of adult courts, jails, and prisons; and positive youth development. Additional interactive activities will connect these young leaders with key influencers:

• Hill Day on July 23, 1:30pm - 3:30pm ET - Attendees receive training on legislative advocacy, develop talking points, and visit their members of Congress or their staff to discuss juvenile justice reform and urge them to act on the issue.

• Job Shadowing on July 24, 1:40pm - 3:40pm ET - Attendees will be matched with a juvenile justice professional who is working in a role/issue of their interest. Attendees will shadow the professional for a few hours to get a sense of what a career might look like in that field.

Help identify emerging leaders in juvenile justice, and encourage them to register for the 2015 Juvenile Justice Youth Summit. We can help foster the next generation of leaders who will ultimately impact the future of juvenile justice.

Registration Details

Registration is now open. Register by April 30 for get the early bird discount rate.

• Early registration period: March 12 - April 30, $65 -- All
• Regular Registration Period: May 1 - May 31, $85 -- CJJ Member, $105 -- Non-Member
• Late Registration Period: June 1 - June 26, $110 -- CJJ Member, $120 -- Non-Member

Accommodations

All participants that register during the early registration period or using the non-member rate will receive a complimentary CJJ membership.

CJJ has a room block reserved at The Liaison Hotel for $189/night. To make your reservation you can call (866) 233-4642 or click here. Please reference the "Coalition for Juvenile Justice" group when making reservations or provide the following reservation ID: 15CJJ.

Questions?

Contact Jonathan Litt, CJJ's Field Relations Associate, at litt@juvjustice.org.

Translational research is concerned with moving basic (“bench”) research to clinical and ultimately practical benefit (“bedside”). If research can in fact demonstrate beneficial outcomes, then it may even lead to policy changes.

Juvenile Justice Reform

• How Prison Stints Replaced Study Hall (Politico)
  In 2012, the U.S. Department of Justice filed suit to stop the “taxi service” in Meridian’s public schools, where 86 percent of the students are black. The DOJ suit, still unresolved, said children were being incarcerated so “arbitrarily and severely as to shock the conscience.”

• Crime & Delinquency Council selects S.D. for ‘Pay for Success’ (Times of San Diego)
  “NCCD strongly believes that Pay for Success creates a real possibility for sustained, positive change in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems,” said Kathy Park, acting president of NCCD. “We are proud to work with these three extremely dynamic programs to see if this innovative financing will work for them.

• New Bill Would Change How Minors are Tried as Adults (News 4 Jax)
  A bill making its way through the state legislature would cut down on how often State Attorneys can charge juveniles as adults. Under the proposal, it would take a grand jury to charge anyone under the age of 13 as an adult. Prosecutors would only be able to charge 14 and 15 year olds as adults in cases of murder, manslaughter, and sexual assault.

Jobs, Grants, Events and Webinars

• Please share the Reclaiming Futures Opportunity Board with your colleagues in the juvenile justice, adolescent substance abuse and teen mental health areas. It's free to browse and post!

Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment and Mental Health

• Teens in Detention Centers Find Voice, Rehab in Youth Theater (Herald Media)
  On a small stage, seven local teens stood in scrubs -- their backs to an audience of about 75. One by one, they turned around, each somber or angry or both as they told stories of juvenile lockdown and the reasons that got them there. Drugs, truancy, rules, respect, depression and decisions … each story is laced with regret -- each author feels misunderstood -- and most tell of trouble at home.
• Medical College awards $250,000 to reduce youth alcohol, drug abuse (BizTimes.com)
  The Advancing a Healthier Wisconsin (AHW) Endowment awarded $250,000 over two years to reduce the prevalence of alcohol and other drug abuse among youth in northwest Wisconsin’s Rusk County. The Medical College of Wisconsin is the steward of the AHW Endowment as it works to catalyze health improvement within the state.

• New Data: Ind. Teens Trying Pot More Often Than Alcohol and Cigarettes (WNDU.com)
  Dr. Elmaadawi is concerned mainly for teen use. He says there is proven research marijuana can be healing to cancer patients and others suffering from chronic pain, but use for teens is dangerous. He says those who try the drug before age 18 are 67% more likely to continue using. The number drops to 27% for adults who try it for the first time.