Unlocking the Digital Classroom for Kids in Lock Up; News Roundup

Juvenile Justice Reform

• How Communities are Keeping Kids Out of Crime (CS Monitor)
  Seeing the charge of aggravated robbery involving a gun, a judge at the Lucas County, Ohio, juvenile court held him in pretrial detention for two weeks. Then she found out what weapon he had pulled: a BB gun. Over the next few weeks, while he remained locked up, she learned that Treyvon had a number of characteristics that took him out of the category of high risk for reoffending – a stable home life, his involvement in football and basketball, and a lack of gang involvement. So the judge let him live at home while on probation and take part in a local program that offers mentoring and other social services.

• Md. lawmakers consider housing for youth charged as adults (The Washington Post)
  After 10 years as chief of the St. Mary’s County Detention Center, Capt. Michael Merican is in a situation he says isn’t just difficult, it’s impossible. Merican pays close attention to the needs and well-being of 200 inmates, but one causes him constant worry: a terrified 17-year-old boy.

• White House-sponsored event at UMBC probes help for students in juvenile justice system (Baltimore Sun)
  "We've been doing this work now for decades as we've worked to support children who are first-time offenders," said UMBC President Freeman A. Hrabowski III, "and we believe the model has the potential to help children and families around the country."

• Transforming the Juvenile Justice System (The Take Away)
  Judge Denise Cubbon, the lead judge of the Lucas County Juvenile Court, in Toledo, Ohio, breaks that mold. Along with her Court Administrator, Deborah Hodges, Judge Cubbon has become a champion for change, for some of the country's most vulnerable offenders: Children.
  
• Unlocking the digital classroom for kids in lock up (Marketplace.org)
  Since July 2013, San Diego County Office of Education has spent nearly $900,000 on computers, printers and software for its secure juvenile facilities. Soon every one of the 200 kids here will have access to a Chromebook in class. All the teachers are being trained to run a digital classroom and add tech to the curriculum.
  

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

• For addicted N.J. teens, filming their stories saved their lives (NJ.com)
  The "Boys of Bate" is a story of hope and transformation, and for the 18 New Jersey teenagers who made the movie, work on its filming and production helped them to face their addictions and save their lives.

• Mental health: Gaps remain in juvenile mental health care (Las Cruces Sun News)
  "Nationally, between 60 to 70 percent of kids in the juvenile justice system have a mental health disorder and roughly 90 percent have experienced at least one traumatic event," said Terri Williams, deputy secretary of the Kansas Department of Corrections in a news statement from July 28, 2014.
• All Kinds of Therapy New Website for Behavioral Health and Substance Abuse Treatment Launches Today (WKRG.com)
  All Kinds of Therapy is an innovative, user-friendly website that focuses on providing an interactive directory for residential treatment, wilderness therapy, therapeutic boarding schools, and addiction treatment for clients ranging in ages 10 - 30. Additionally, all residential interventions on the site have a wide variety of specializations including psychiatric assessments, anxiety, ADHD, autism spectrum disorders, severe learning disabilities, drug rehabilitation, failure to launch, adoption, or recovery.