We're spending the week in San Antonio for the Reclaiming Futures Leadership Institute (which you may already know if you're following @RFutures on Twitter). For those not on Twitter, we'll be posting updates here on the blog and on Facebook.

Here are our takeaways from Day 2:

Cora Crary, Learning Collaborative Manager, Reclaiming Futures

• People are inclined to believe stories - with or without data.
• However, if you share data without the story people are uncomfortable believing it (as an example read through any Harper's index and see if you believe everything you read) 

Liz Wu, Blog Editor, Reclaiming Futures

Although I grew up in North Carolina, over the last 4 months I have had the opportunity to travel to parts of the state I had never seen. I have met so many incredible leaders along the way who have welcomed and helped orient me to Reclaiming Futures.

Leadership is a critical component of the Reclaiming Futures model, at the state level in the form of the State Champions Advisory group, the national program office and at the local level.

Each Reclaiming Futures site has a change team of five key leaders (or Fellows) who work to make the project successful. Many more leaders are participating in the local efforts to get court-involved youth screened, engaged in treatment and connected with long-term community supports.

The local fellowships include:

Project Directors—They help guide the change team to plan and implement the model.

Judicial Fellows—Judges help influence the substance abuse treatment that teens receive.

Juvenile Justice Fellows—Court counselors and ad- ministrators help guide youths and their families through the system.

Treatment Fellows—Providers help youths get the treatment they need to overcome drug and alcohol problems.

Community Fellows–Community agencies or organizations connect youth with positive supports in their community to ensure ongoing services after completion of treatment and probation.

We know how to break the cycle of drugs, alcohol and crime, writes National Executive Director Susan Richardson at Join Together. And now is an important time to do so.

She explains:

Almost two million American youth need treatment for alcohol and other drug use or abuse. But only 1 in 20 will receive treatment.

Research shows that teens with substance abuse problems are more likely to break the law, behave violently or drop out of school. In fact, 4 out of 5 young people in the juvenile justice system commit crimes while under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

Young people need to be held accountable when they break the law. Unless they receive treatment for a substance abuse problem that helped them get in trouble in the first place, they will often find themselves back in juvenile court again and again.

Read the full piece here.

Speaking at this year's annual JMATE conference, the Office of National Drug Control Policy's David Mineta stressed the Administration's priority on drug prevention, treatment and diversion programs. "Addiction can be overcome and recovery is absolutely possible," he said. "And we need to make sure our young people have the brightest future possible. It's personal for us."

With the recent release of the 2012 National Drug Control Strategy [pdf], it's clear that the Administration plans to follow up Mineta's remarks with a strong policy strategy for reducing drug use and its consequences. In particular, the Strategy recommends diverting non-violent drug offenders into treatment, supporting reentry programs to help offenders rejoin their communities and bolstering innovative enforcement programs.

Writing in the White House Blog, Health and Human Services Secretary Sebelius, U.S. Attorney General Holder and ONDCP Director Kerlikowske explain their multi-agency approach to reducing drug use and supporting recovery efforts:

Our emphasis on addressing the drug problem through a public health approach is grounded in decades of research and scientific study. There is overwhelming evidence that drug prevention and treatment programs achieve meaningful results with significant long-term cost savings. In fact, recent research has shown that each dollar invested in an evidence-based prevention program can reduce costs related to substance use disorders by an average of $18.

But reducing the burden of our Nation’s drug problem stretches beyond prevention and treatment. We need an all of the above approach. To address this problem in a comprehensive way, the President’s new Strategy also applies the principles of public health to reforming the criminal justice system, which continues to play a vital role in drug policy. It outlines ways to break the cycle of drug use, crime, incarceration, and arrest by diverting non-violent drug offenders into treatment, bolstering support for reentry programs that help offenders rejoin their communities, and advancing support for innovative enforcement programs proven to improve public health while protecting public safety.

In recognizing the potential of the criminal justice system in deterring/reducing/treating drug and alcohol addiction, the Strategy praises Reclaiming Futures for its work in addressing substance abuse and mental health problems among youth in the juvenile system: