Epidemic of HIV Among Youth Needs Structural Repair; News Roundup

Every week Reclaiming Futures rounds up the latest news on juvenile justice reform, adolescent substance abuse treatment, and teen mental health. 

Epidemic of HIV Among Youth Needs Structural Repair, Experts Believe (Youth Today)
Youth Today reports with videos and a discussion with experts on ways to repair an existing system that has led to an epidemic of HIV infection in youth - often youth who have spent time in juvenile detention centers.  Many experts who work with teens want more sex education before teens become sexually active, in order to address the threat of HIV and AIDS before it becomes a reality. Although, some studies and data show the epidemic is due to lack of access to health care, rather than lack of sex education.

How we killed Kalief Browder: The brutality and Kafkaesque bureaucracy of Rikers Island are out of sight, out of mind (New York Daily News)
Errol Louis, host of Inside City Hall, stresses that what happened to Browder as a teenager at Rikers is evidence that New York should move toward permanent closer of Rikers in favor of a new system. Louis agrees with Glenn Martin of JustLeadershipUSA that it is leaders, who haven't made effort to change the system, who should actually be blamed for Browder's death - rather than simply blaming an abstract criminal justice system.

High-tech helpline for teens in crisis (CBS News)
 Nancy Lublin, CEO of the online youth community DoSomething.org, just left her position in order to focus full-time on a ground-breaking resource that helps teens in crisis: Crisis Text Line (CTL).  Counselors at CTL are taught "new techniques designed to foster intimacy through the keyboard." Texting for help is made easy, and CTL compiles the texting data in order to find a deeper understanding of despair in youth.

Study: Juvenile incarceration yields less schooling, more crime (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
MIT News Office reports on a new study which shows that incarcerated teens "tend to have substantially worse outcomes later in life than those who avoid serving time for similar offenses."

Jailing juveniles isn't justice (Newsday)
The president and chief executive of Family and Children's Association in Mineola, Jeffrey L. Reynolds, argues against New York and North Carolina's practice of prosecuting all youth over the age of 15 as adults. He notes the harm that comes to youth who are handled like adult career felons. Reynolds says that juvenile justice reform is long overdue, and that placing adolescents in the criminal justice system is ultimately bad for the youth, as well as for public safety and taxpayers.

Recognizing and Treating Child Traumatic Stress (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration)
SAMHSA posted a video earlier this week, encouraging those who work with children and adolescents to recognize and understand signs of trauma. They also have new information up on their site describing traumatic stress and its impact on youth, and what families and caregivers can do to help.

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. We encourage you to browse, and to post!