The Adolescent Brain and Substance Abuse: Looking the Elephant In the Eye; News Roundup

Juvenile Justice Reform

• Initiative Aims to Improve Hawaii's Juvenile Justice System (HawaiiNewsNow.com)
  The goal of a new initiative launched today is to improve Hawaii's troubled juvenile justice system by reducing crime while cutting costs. Roughly 5,000 youth are currently incarcerated in Hawaii. According to experts, about 80% of them have a substance abuse problem.
• $3.2mil Grant for Program to Encourage Kids to Stay in School (BeatriceDailySun.com)
  Kids with emotional and behavioral disorders are more likely to miss school, fail classes and drop out than any other group of students with disabilities. With support from a $3.2 million grant, University of Nebraska-Lincoln researchers are evaluating a unique new program that uses parent-to-parent support to encourage families to get the help they need to keep kids in school.
• Campaign to get Dropouts to Return to School (KEPRTV.com)
  Getting our most at-risk teens back in school. It was the goal of Kennewick, Washington School District this morning. School officials knocked on the doors of dozens of high school dropouts. Asking them to return to school. Last year, two students graduated from CBC High School Academy as a result of the outreach.

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Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment and Mental Health

• OP-ED: The Adolescent Brain and Substance Abuse: Looking the Elephant In the Eye (JJIE.org)
  "We stand at a pivotal moment in history, knowing more than we ever have about substance abuse and the effects on the developing adolescent brain. The time has come to bring this issue front and center. Too many kids are starting to use alcohol and drugs (at very young ages), addiction rates are soaring and lives are being destroyed. If we are going to get serious, we must look that elephant in the eye and do something now."
• Teen Drug Use Increases When There Are Half-Siblings At Home (HuffingtonPost.com)
  According to a new study, teens who have half-siblings with a different father are much more likely to experiment with drugs and sex before they reach the age of 15 than adolescents who only have full siblings.
• Hispanic Teens More Likely to Abuse Drugs (HealthDay.com)
  Hispanic teens are more likely to abuse illegal and legal drugs than their black or white peers, a new report finds. Fifty-four percent of Hispanic teens surveyed said they had used an illicit drug, compared with 45 percent of black teens and 43 percent of white teens.
• Junk food may Lead to Mental Health Problems in Children (MedicalXpress.com)
  New research suggests that moms with unhealthy diets during pregnancy are more likely to have children with behavioral problems. It has also shown that children with unhealthy diets have increased symptoms of depression and anxiety, as well as aggression and tantrums.

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.