May 18, 2012
DSM 5 could mean 40% of college students are alcoholics and more: news roundup
DSM 5 could mean 40% of college students are alcoholics and more: news roundup
Juvenile Justice Reform
- How revision of the state budget could affect San Joaquin County (Record Net) Governor Jerry Brown's revision of the California state budget could mean the Division of Juvenile Justice would continue to operate, but its budget would be cut by $24.8 million. The governor is proposing to charge counties $24,000 per year for each person committed to a state juvenile justice center.
- New Pennsylvania Bar Association chief focuses on youth (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) Thomas G. Wilkinson Jr., the new chief of the Pennsylvania Bar Association will push three priorities, 1) training requirements for prosecutors and public defenders involved in juvenile cases; 2) civics education, so kids understand how government works and the availability of courts to resolve disputes instead of taking disputes into one's own hands; and 3) youth courts to help address the number of kids who get into the juvenile justice system.
- Tackling gang violence (The Crime Report) Toledo, Ohio builds an approach similar to Boston during the late 1990s to tackle violence. The model was developed by David Kennedy, now the director of the Center on Crime Prevention and Control at John Jay College in New York.
- Youth recovery court starts in Winnebago County (WREX) Chief Justice Janet Holmgre describes a holistic approach to providing a comprehensive network of mental health services to help the youth that are involved get out of the juvenile justice system and hopefully stay out of the adult criminal justice system.
- Portland church spearheads effort to keep youth out of justice system (The Portland Daily Sun) Restorative Justice Center in Portland, Maine has won endorsements from the law enforcement community including the Portland Police Department and the Cumberland County District Attorney's Office. "This gives us an additional tool as police officers that we didn't have," said Portland Police Chief Michael Sauschuck.
- Calling in juvenile justice cavalry (Austin American Statesman) Gov. Rick Perry moved Jay Kimbrough from his new position as assistant director for homeland security at the Department of Public Safety to the Texas Juvenile Justice Department to bring some urgently needed safety and security to the agency's youth lockups.
Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment
- DSM 5 could mean 40% of college students are alcoholics (TIME) Most college binge drinkers and drug users don’t develop lifelong problems. But new mental-health guidelines will label too many of them addicts and alcoholics. The DSM 5 will have just one diagnosis for addiction problems, though it will be characterized as mild, moderate or severe.
- Breaking the inter-generational cycle of substance abuse (Join Together) Children raised in a household with one or more parents struggling with a substance use disorder often use compliance as a coping mechanism—a skill that often no longer serves them well in adulthood. Compliance is one key reason so many people with substance use disorders do well while in the criminal justice system, but relapse, often only days after they are released.
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!
March 09, 2012
Internet addiction linked to drug abuse and more: new roundup
Internet addiction linked to drug abuse and more: new roundup
Juvenile Justice Reform
- Study shows youth law project “bridges gaps” for children in need
Fosters
An evaluation study recently completed by the University of New Hampshire reveals that services provided by the New Hampshire Legal Assistance's Youth Law Project result in an overall reduction of recidivism, a goal the agency strives for through providing support and resources alongside juveniles in the court system. - Cook County must reform juvenile justice, national agency says
Chicago Tribune
Cook County should demolish its long-troubled juvenile temporary detention center and needs to address an array of problematic trends in how it detains youths, such as disproportionately high admission rates for African-Americans, according to a national criminal justice research agency report. - Louisiana seeing reduced need for some juvenile justice facilities, chief says
The Town Talk
The number of referrals to Louisiana juvenile detention facilities is down, as are recidivism and funding, the head of the state Office of Juvenile Justice says, so daytime treatment services under her office can be eliminated. - Funding cuts to youth centers would give minor offenders nowhere to go
The Salt Lake Tribune
Lawmakers in Utah are looking at cutting millions of dollars from Juvenile Justice Services, meaning that several rural youth receiving centers will shutter and others statewide will have limited operating hours. - Most Texas juvenile prisoners have mental health problems
CBS
Some 52 percent of young people in Texas’ six youth prison facilities have moderate or high mental health treatment needs, the head of the state juvenile justice department says. - Local juvenile drug court program is having a positive impact on Great Falls
KFBB
Judge Kenneth Neill was tired of seeing kids making bad decisions, so when the Juvenile Drug Court Program began in Cascade County 6 years ago, he saw it as a fresh start for teens who would otherwise be locked up. - In Dakota County, jury of teenage peers offers alternative for juvenile offenders
Pioneer Press
A youth court in Minnesota is giving teens a second chance after learning from their mistakes. - South Carolina bill to deny licenses to dropouts advances
7 On Your Side
Lawmakers are taking aim at South Carolina’s high dropout rate with a bill that would take driving privileges away from students who stop going to school. - House passes overhaul of Georgia juvenile justice system with focus on treatment
The Republic
Juvenile courts would have to conduct an assessment of children's mental health needs before committing them into state custody as part of an overhaul of the juvenile justice code passed Wednesday by House lawmakers. - What life is like for a 14-year-old killer tried as an adult in Indiana
The Indianapolis Star
Should a 12-year-old be tried as an adult? Paul Henry Gingerich was after he helped kill a man two years ago. He faces 10 more years in prison -- unless an appeal convinces a court he should have been tried as a juvenile. - Q&A: James Bell on what to do with California’s youth prisons
KALW
KALW sat down with James Bell, Founder and Executive Director of the Burns Institute, to discuss disproportionate minority contact and realignment in California. - Florida district seeks civil citation program for misdemeanors committed at school
The Ledger
Polk County School District officials said Tuesday they want to implement a civil citation program for students who commit misdemeanors at schools. The program would allow students of all ages who commit a misdemeanor on campus to receive a citation instead of possibly being arrested, run through the court system and possibly taken to jail. - Legal loophole makes some Texas juvenile records public
Houston Chronicle
Personal information about thousands of Texas juveniles cited for truancy, disorderly conduct and other Class C misdemeanors is widely accessible to the public, despite privacy concerns from advocates and parents.
Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment
- Thousands of teens pick up smoking each day, new report says
WBTV
Every day in the U.S., more than 3,800 people under the age of 18 smoke their first cigarette. More than 1,000 of them become daily smokers. They replace the 1,200 people who die each day in the U.S. from smoking.
December 01, 2011
Can restorative justice halt the school-to-prison pipeline?
Can restorative justice halt the school-to-prison pipeline?
Earlier this month I had the opportunity to attend a two-day conference entitled, “Exposing Structural Racism from Within: The Power of Restorative Justice,” sponsored by the Henderson Center for Social Justice at UC Berkeley. Conferences, especially those in an academic environment, usually tend to focus only on the problems, however this time I left with an overwhelmed, yet hopeful, mind. While there was plenty of theoretical discourse on how, and if, restorative justice as a model has the power to dismantle institutional and historical racism within the juvenile and criminal justice systems, there was also a refreshing amount of insight into the practical application of restorative justice, particularly in our schools.
Why begin in the schools?
A common thread throughout the conference was the focus on the school environment, as it is the entry point into the juvenile justice system, for many youth. Our nation’s crime rate has dropped to a rate as low as it was in the early 1970s and school violence rates have been dropping since the 1990’s. However, despite this “crime plunge,” a youth is now more at-risk of being arrested at school than on the street. Panelists stressed that due to over-policing in minority communities, which has resulted in strict zero tolerance laws at school and curfew laws in the streets, the “arrest, prosecute, incarcerate” pattern has been able to continue. Youth experiencing early challenges at school has a significant relationship to their risk for later involvement in the juvenile justice system, for example, 75% of youth in California prisons are high school drop outs. Representatives from Chicago and Denver shared their stories of integrating restorative justice practices in schools to halt the school-to-prison pipeline.
September 23, 2011
Elections, Liquor and Riots -- A Juvenile Justice Adolescent Treatment News Roundup
Elections, Liquor and Riots -- A Juvenile Justice Adolescent Treatment News Roundup
- NYT Editorial: Fewer Teenagers Locked Up in the US
There are 25% fewer incarcerated young people than last decade. Learn more about that federal data from the Research and Evaluation Center at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and sustainability and strategy from Three Strategies for Changing Juvenile Justice, a previous post on www.reclaimingfutures.org. - Restorative Justice: Hot Topic in SF District Attorney’s Race
Candidates debate bringing together offenders, victims and community members to discuss the impact of a crime and help repair the damage through accountability and rehabilitation rather than punishment. - Liquor Store Density Linked to Youth Homicides
U.S. studies find a correlation between the density of alcohol outlets, availability of single-serve alcoholic beverages and violent crime rates among teens and young adults ages 13 to 24.
