Senate Judiciary Approves Criminal Justice Bill with Juvenile Provisions; News Roundup

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

Senate Judiciary Approves Criminal Justice Bill with Juvenile Provisions (Juvenile Justice Information Exchange)
Yesterday the Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act of 2015 cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee. The bill would reform policies for youth in prison, as well as help with the process of re-entry into the community.

Landmark Study Investigates Substance Use and Adolescent Brain Development (Weill Cornell)
National Institutes of Health (NIH) is funding a study by Weill Cornell Medical College of adolescent substance abuse over time. Researchers hope to find new data to inform public policies that may intervene at the stage of adolescence when young people are most at risk.

Native American Youth Tell The White House: Our Schools Are Failing Us (The Huffington Post)
Native American students face an alarming rate of bullying and discrimination in schools, and a new report has collected some of the stories from youth and tribal leaders around the country, as well as recommendations for reform.

New center provides preventive services, calming space for families (Behavioral Healthcare)
The Boston-Suffolk County Family Resource Center (FRC) has opened, as part of a Massachusetts statewide ambition to form a network of family-oriented community resource centers.

Study: Grief, loss can easily push female teens into juvenile justice system (Jacksonville.com)
Jacksonville-based Delores Barr Weaver Policy Center's report, to be presented this week, identifies common life experiences of incarcerated girls and finds untreated grief and loss to be at the center of many issues that lead to involvement in the juvenile justice system.

Dept. of Juvenile Justice and RCSS investigating bullying video (WTOC)
The video that recently went viral of the bullying of a Richmond County middle school student by fellow students on a school bus is now under investigation.

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