Middle Schools Add a Team Rule: Get a Drug Test and More; News Roundup

Juvenile Justice Reform

• Does the Juvenile Justice System Really Work? (TheCrimeReport.org)
  A five-month-long investigation spearheaded by Ashley Luthern of The Vindicator in Youngstown, Ohio examined the successes and tragedies produced as local courts, probation and schools struggle to address “disproportionate minority contact rates.”
• Frequency Of Kids Sent To Detention Varies Widely (Courant.com)
  Juveniles in the Hartford, Connecticut judicial district who break the law are far more likely to be locked in a pre-trial detention center following arrests or referrals than juveniles from the state's other districts, an analysis of data from the judicial department shows.
• 12 Investigates: Can Brain Injury Lead to Prison? (NBC12.com)
  Are more kids ending up in jail because of a traumatic brain injury? A study underway of Virginia's Juvenile Justice system recently revealed as many as 20% of the children incarcerated right now have a traumatic brain injury.
• Juvenile Justice System Youths Express Themselves in Play (OregonLive.com)
  Over the summer, a group of youths in the Clackamas County, Oregon juvenile justice system prepared a performance that was central to who they are. They received a standing ovation for their show, "Choices," and for their courage in telling their stories.

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Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment

• Black Youths Exposed to More Alcohol Advertising, Study Finds (Open Channel on NBCNews.com)
  A new study puts some fresh data behind long-standing concerns about alcohol marketing to black kids. Young African Americans ages 12 to 20 see far more alcohol ads on television and in magazines than youths in general, according to the report published Thursday by the Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
• Recovery Month Guest Blogger: Congressman Tim Ryan (PhoenixHouse.org)
  According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 23.5 million people aged 12 or older needed treatment for an illicit drug or alcohol abuse problem in 2009, and only 2.6 million (11.2 percent of those who needed treatment) received it at a specialty facility.
• New Party Bus Law Aims to Restrict Underage Drinking, Raise Penalties in Wake of Santa Cruz Woman's Death (Santa Cruz Sentinel)
  Party buses with alcohol and any underage passengers will require chaperones and ID checks starting in January as part of a new law signed Sunday by California Gov. Jerry Brown.
• Mental Care Is Covered (Professional.WSJ.com)
  Coping with a mental-health condition can be daunting and costly, but a recent law is aiming to ease the burden. As of last year, some health plans that offer mental-health and addiction coverage are required to offer it at an equal level to the medical coverage they provide. That means no limits on the number of visits per year to a psychiatrist, for instance, if there aren't such limits on visits to, say, an oncologist.
• Middle Schools Add a Team Rule: Get a Drug Test (The New York Times)
  As a 12-year-old seventh grader, Glenn and Kathy Kiederer’s older daughter wanted to play sports at Delaware Valley Middle School here. She also wanted to join the scrapbooking club. One day she took home a permission slip. It said that to participate in the club or any school sport, she would have to consent to drug testing.

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.