Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment

Community leaders in Snohomish County, Washington, are helping teens overcome drugs, alcohol, mental health issues and crime.
They have a lofty goal: To have a caring adult help every teen.
The Herald of Everett, Washington, recently highlighted mentors who spoke out on behalf of young people involved in the juvenile justice system: 

"They're not bad kids. A detour has taken them off the road to success," Litzkow says, repeating a mantra favored by Snohomish County Superior Court Judge Bruce Weiss. Weiss presides over the juvenile drug court at the Denney Juvenile Justice Center. He also is a champion for the county's Reclaiming Futures project. The pilot program was launched in 2010 in the county's juvenile court system. It's modeled after a national initiative aimed at providing effective treatment for drug- and alcohol-addicted teens, and caring for their needs once they're out of the criminal justice system. A large part of that initiative is connecting kids with positive role models.

Deena Eckroth, 49, believes young people need support regardless of some of the bad decisions that they may make. "They've had enough people abandon them," Eckroth said. The Mukilteo mother of two grown children recently was paired up with a 15-year-old girl. Eckroth said she was compelled to volunteer with at-risk youth in part because of her experience as a human resources manager. She has had to turn people away for jobs because of their past mistakes. "It made me wonder what happened in their life and what could have helped that person turn around," she said. "This really makes sense for me." Eckroth now is recruiting co-workers and others to become mentors.

This effort builds on the success of the Promising Artists in Recovery program that is still going strong in Snohomish County. 

Note: this article originally appeared on JJIE.org and is reprinted with their permission. 
EAST HARTFORD, Conn. — On a recent grey Saturday morning, a quiet fell over the sparse audience seated in a vocational school assembly hall as Kimberly Beauregard stepped up to the stage. She was introducing the movie to a small audience of three dozen, who had endured a brutally cold morning and a wicked ice storm.
After a few words greeting the crowd and thanking them for their intrepid spirit braving the treacherous conditions to make it to the screening, she praised the movie they were about to see. After that Beauregard, the president of InterCommunity, an East Hartford-based health organization that provides addiction and mental health care, bowed her head and collected herself for a moment. And then she told the crowd something she had never spoken of publicly before: She was one of the Anonymous People.
“I have never said that before in public,” she said, her voice cracking. “And after you see the movie you will understand why I am.”
The movie was “The Anonymous People,” a spunky profile of the burgeoning grassroots drug and alcohol recovery movement by a 30-year-old first time feature length filmmaker named Greg Williams, who himself has been in recovery since he was 17-years-old.
After a few moments, the lights dimmed and the movie began.

Earlier this month, the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), published a guide detailing a drug abuse approach that goes way beyond "Just Say No!" The guide, "Presents research-based principles of adolescent substance use disorder treatment; covers treatment for a variety of drugs including, illicit and prescription drugs, alcohol, and tobacco; presents settings and evidence-based approaches unique to treating adolescents." Via the report:

People are most likely to begin abusing drugs—including tobacco, alcohol, and illegal and prescription drugs—during adolescence and young adulthood.
By the time they are seniors, almost 70 percent of high school students will have tried alcohol, half will have taken an illegal drug, nearly 40 percent will have smoked a cigarette, and more than 20 percent will have used a prescription drug for a nonmedical purpose.1 There are many reasons adolescents use these substances, including the desire for new experiences, an attempt to deal with problems or perform better in school, and simple peer pressure. Adolescents are “biologically wired” to seek new experiences and take risks, as well as to carve out their own identity. Trying drugs may fulfill all of these normal developmental drives, but in an unhealthy way that can have very serious long-term consequences.
Many factors influence whether an adolescent tries drugs, including the availability of drugs within the neighborhood, community, and school and whether the adolescent’s friends are using them. The family environment is also important: Violence, physical or emotional abuse, mental illness, or drug use in the household increase the likelihood an adolescent will use drugs. Finally, an adolescent’s inherited genetic vulnerability; personality traits like poor impulse control or a high need for excitement; mental health conditions such as depression, anxiety, or ADHD; and beliefs such as that drugs are “cool” or harmless make it more likely that an adolescent will use drugs.

Get the full publication on DrugAbuse.gov >>

Many teens are not aware of the serious risks drugs and alcohol pose to their health, success in school and future. What can communities do to effectively educate teens about the risks of drug abuse? One way is for school staff, parents, and students to work together to get the truth out.
During this year’s National Drug Facts Week (NDFW), a national health observance designed to arm communities with the materials and tools they need to counteract the myths about drug abuse, science teachers, health teachers, guidance counselors, social workers, drug prevention programs, and community support programs will use science-based information, available free from NIDA, in their curriculum, school assemblies, PTA meetings, and evening workshops.
Inspired by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), part of the National Institute of Health, NDFW is in its fourth year, and will be held from January 27 through February 2, 2014.
In the wake of new recommendations from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Commission to Build a Healthier America, the time is ripe to encourage communities and leaders to work together to improve the health of our nation by investing in children.
Close to 1,000 events are planned this year to focus on communicating with teens about drug use and its consequences. Some examples include:

• Addiction-themed art contests
• Trivia nights
• School assemblies
• Panel discussions
• Government proclamations

Using ideas and resources provided by NIDA, there is a way for everyone to learn the facts and help shatter myths about drug abuse during National Drug Facts Week and beyond.
For more information, visit the National Drug Facts Week website or email drugfacts@nida.nih.gov.

 Note: this post originally appeared on JJIE.org and is reprinted with their permission.
One of the most effective and long-running efforts to change both policies and practices in juvenile justice is Reclaiming Futures, housed at the Regional Research Institute for Human Services of the School of Social Work at Portland State University in Oregon. The organization began in 2001 with a $21 million grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and initially went to work in 10 communities.
Now they are active in 39 communities in 18 states. Their six-step model tracks various phases of youth involvement with the justice system and brings together “judges, probation officers, substance abuse treatment professionals and community members” to provide the services that kids need to address their needs and make the community safer.
The main focus of the approach is treating substance abuse, a behavior strongly linked to youth crime and delinquency. The six steps seek to identify drug and alcohol use early on in the youth’s encounter with the justice system, then ensure quality treatment, support and transition back to everyday life.
Since its beginning, Reclaiming Futures has been dedicated to data collection and evaluation, and independent analysis of the founding communities has shown improvement in quality of service, improved efficiency of service delivery, improved outcomes for kids and an overall savings when compared to more traditional approaches.
The current director, Susan Richardson, wrote a post last week entitled “How to Help More Kids in 2014.” She writes: “Did you know that 343,000 teens are arrested each year in the United States for drug and alcohol related crimes, yet only one in 16 teens who need treatment receive it?” Problems like this are at the heart of what Reclaiming Futures seek to change. All too often the facts have little to do with how youth crime and delinquency are addressed.
With a commitment to processes and interventions that work, and that are both trackable and repeatable, Reclaiming Futures has made a deep and sustainable impact on the communities where their approach has been implemented. Let’s hope their work is spread further around the country in the coming year.

In 2008, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) convened the Commission to Build a Healthier America to find better ways to improve the health of our nation.
In their search for solutions, the Commissioners found that where we live, learn, work, and play profoundly influences our health.
The new recommendations, released January 13, are aimed at improving health now and for generations to come, and specifically highlight the need to:

• Prioritize investments in America's youngest children.
• Encourage leaders in different sectors to work together to create communities where healthy decisions are possible, with a particular emphasis on community development.
• Challenge health professionals and health care institutions to expand their focus from treating illness to helping people live healthy lives.

Reclaiming Futures supports RWJF's effort and continues to unite juvenile courts, probation, mental health treatment, adolescent substance abuse treatment, and the community to reclaim youth.
We'd love to hear from you. How can the Commission's recommendations change the way communities invest in young people? Please share your suggestions in the comments section below. 

Note: this piece originally appeared on Huffington Post
Abuse of prescription (Rx) medications, particularly of Rx opioids (medicines that treat pain), continues to be one of the nation's most concerning health problems. Mistakenly, many adolescents believe that Rx opioids are safe because they are prescribed by a doctor. But when abused, they can be as potent and as deadly as heroin. In fact, many teens and young adults who abuse Rx opioids move on to heroin abuse. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention calls prescription drug abuse an "epidemic," and we see it as a public health issue that disproportionately impacts our kids.
But Rx opioid or heroin abuse does not have to be lethal. There are behavioral and pharmacological treatments that can save lives and bring even seriously addicted kids into long-term recovery. The problem is that many treatment programs have chosen to either rely on only behavioral treatments or only medications; and most physicians do not have sufficient training in either medication or behavioral therapy to provide effective treatment. So, when parents find themselves at the critical crossroads of what to do for an opiate-addicted child, what can they do to get help? What are our doctors providing, or even offering, to them?
While no one treatment approach is right for every teen, it is clinically sensible -- but not easy -- to find comprehensive care. We tell families to look for three things: First, the availability of professional counseling; second, medications and regular monitoring for the affected teen; and finally, family therapy to help that teen.
Teens who abuse opioids require professional counseling, combined with regular monitoring, as a minimum requirement of effective treatment. Their families can also benefit from professional therapy, helping them better understand the basis of their teen's addiction. This therapy can help both them and their child create a practical plan to recovery.

Juvenile Justice Reform

• Juvenile Justice Redefined (BostonHerald.com)
  Times change. And science changes. And however belatedly sometimes the law needs to change to take all of that into account. In reaction to some admittedly horrific crimes, lawmakers — here and around the country — rewrote laws that allowed juveniles to be sentenced in adult courts to some very adult penalties, including life in prison without the possibility of parole.
• 2014 Brings Change to the Georgia Juvenile Justice System (WALB.com)
  Georgia is making some changes when it comes to juvenile offenders, a new law will be put in place to reduce the number of minors in lockup and help save the state thousands of dollars. Starting this year, only those who commit serious offenses will be held in custody and as for those accountable for minor offenses, they will be placed in community based programs instead.
• Looking Back: A Year in Juvenile Justice (JJIE.org)
  As 2013 concludes and 2014 begins, JJIE has compiled a selection of some of our most compelling stories from the last year. Collectively, these articles tell of issues in juvenile mental health, improvements in alternative forms of treatment, the danger of stop and frisk, and more.

Juvenile Justice Reform

• Black Girls Disproportionately Confined; Struggle for Dignity in Juvenile Court Schools (New Pittsburgh Courier)
  African American girls continue to be disproportionately over-represented among girls in confinement and court-ordered residential placements. They are also significantly over-represented among girls who experience exclusionary discipline, such as out-of-school suspensions, expulsions, and other punishment.
• Teen-Produced Video Highlights Campaign to ‘Raise the Age’ (JJIE.org)
  Last summer, a group of teens enrolled in a program at the New York Center for Juvenile Justice decided to take on what they see as an unfair practice in a recently released video called “Because I’m 16.”
  “Because I’m 16, I can’t drive at night,” a teen says as the video begins. It lists other things you can’t do as a 16-year-old -- drink, smoke, buy a lottery ticket, see an R-rated movie.
• Reforming the Juvenile Justice System Could Save Hawaii Millions (CivilBeat.com)
  Hawaii is spending nearly $200,000 per bed per year to house juvenile offenders, most of whom got in trouble for non-violent low-level crimes. But the state could save millions of dollars a year by focusing only on the most serious offenders and putting the savings back into the community to help with mental health and substance abuse programs for young offenders, juvenile justice experts say.
• Confronting Bias in the Juvenile Justice System (JJIE.org)
  In the ABC News video, the white youth and the black youth both appear to be trying to do the same thing: steal a bike in broad daylight in a community park. But the two actors playing thieves, both filmed by hidden cameras at different times, get decidedly different reactions from passers-by.

Juvenile Justice Reform

• At Thanksgiving, Reflecting on Justice for Native Americans (YouthToday.org)
  “Native Americans and Juvenile Justice: A Hidden Tragedy,” is an article from the 2008 issue of Poverty and Race, and covers the intersection of this historically disadvantaged group with the modern justice system.
• OP-ED: Life-Saving Suicide Prevention Resources Address Critical Need in Juvenile Justice System (JJIE.org)
  When it comes to high risk for suicide, youth in contact with the juvenile justice system stand out. It is alarming. Fortunately, staff within the system can play a crucial preventive role by working collectively to provide guidance, support and access to needed care.
• Holidays in the Juvenile Justice System (JJIE.org)
  "My wife, Mary Jo, and I were snowbound in Michigan while working on a building project so we lost Thanksgiving with our families in southern Illinois. Missing a holiday with the dozens of brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, cousins, aunts and uncles got me to wondering – what is the holiday experience for a kid in detention?"