Rikers to Ban Isolation for Inmates 21 and Younger; News Roundup

Juvenile Justice Reform

• Program Strives To Keeps Kids Out Of Jail, Link Them To Services Instead (Hartford Courant)
  "The longer a child stays out of the juvenile justice system, the better the outcome is for that child," said Bernadette Conway, who is the state's chief administrative judge for juvenile matters." Avoidable school-based arrests needlessly deprive children of an optimum education and all too often grossly compromise a child's ability to succeed in life."

• Grassley Lists Juvenile Justice As a Top Priority (JJIE)
  U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley, the new chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, lists juvenile justice among his top legislative priorities, heartening juvenile justice advocates.

• Rikers to Ban Isolation for Inmates 21 and Younger (New York Times)
  New York City officials agreed on Tuesday to a plan that would eliminate the use of solitary confinement for all inmates 21 and younger, a move that would place the long-troubled Rikers Island complex at the forefront of national jail reform efforts.

• Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Launches National Mentoring Resource Center (PR NewsWire)
  The Office of Justice Program's Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) announced today the launch of the National Mentoring Resource Center. OJJDP established the Center to support effective youth mentoring programs and healthy youth development.

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

• This Is What Happens When We Lock Children in Solitary Confinement (Mother Jones)
  While in isolation, Kenny—who was diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder prior to the sixth grade—wrote to his mother, Melissa Bucher, begging her to make the two-hour drive to visit him. "I don't feel like I'm going to make it anymore," he wrote. "I'm in seclusion so I can't call and I'm prolly going to be in here for a while. My mind is just getting to me in here."

• Teens Influenced by Misconceptions of Their Peers (Medical News Today)
  Research published in Developmental Psychology suggests that teenagers tend to overestimate the amount of drugs and alcohol that their peers use, as well as underestimating the amount of studying and exercise they do.

• Eight Local Health Providers, UWM Respond to Gun Violence at Schools (BizTimes.com)
  Through a federal grant created to help communities respond to gun violence at schools, eight regional behavioral health providers and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee are working to strengthen trauma and substance abuse counseling services for youth.

• Heroin-Linked Deaths Surge 39 Percent, CDC Finds (Huffington Post)
  Overdose deaths linked to heroin jumped 39 percent in 2013 from the year before, according to data released Monday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.