On Tuesday, June 26th, the Advancement Project, Gay-Straight Alliance Network and the Alliance for Educational Justice are hosting a Twitter chat on bullying. In particular, they will explore strategies that schools can take to end bullying. They will also discuss zero-tolerance and school-to-prison pipeline policies.

The three organizations are also releasing a policy report on bullying and zero-tolerance disciplinary measures.

To join the conversation, use the #bullychat hashtag on Twitter and RSVP on Facebook for the opportunity to submit questions ahead of time.

Shay Bilchik (founder and Director of the Center for Juvenile Justice Reform at Georgetown University's Public Policy Institute) is at Portland State University this afternoon to discuss the juvenile justice system. I'll be liveblogging his talk here, so tune in!

"If We Knew Then, What We Know Now: Implications for Juvenile Justice Policy in America"

4:45pm Dr. David Springer (upcoming Dean of PSU's School of Social Work): I've had the pleasure of serving with Shay on a juvenile justice panel in Austin about a year ago, and we're all in for a real treat.

4:50pm Bilchik: We're launching work with Multnomah and Marion counties' juvenile justice systems...

Oregon has demonstrated a vision that shows the possibility of serving children and families in a great way. The multi-system juvenile justice system here is the best in the country. 

4:55pm Bilchik: We're primed to build a better and smarter juvenile justice system. It's no longer just the juvenile justice field, youth development field, education fields.. we're now working across systems. As Dr. Laura Nissen says, "these are boundary founders" who are working across multiple fields. To put it simply, we want to provide love, opportunity and hope to the children who come in contact with the juvenile justice system.

5:05pm Bilchik: We need to make sure that none of our children fall through the cracks and too often we don't do that. Too often these kids are without power (living in impoverished communities) and kids of color.

So what would we have done differently if we knew then what we know now?

Juvenile Justice Reform

• Georgia bill would make smuggling cell phones, cigarettes into youth detention centers a felony
  JJIE
  Smuggling cellphones or cigarettes into a Georgia youth prison would become a felony under a bill approved without opposition Thursday by the Georgia Senate. Under the bill, which still must pass the House of Representatives, violators could be sentenced to up to four years in prison upon conviction.
• Kentucky Department of Juvenile Justice conducts comprehensive needs assessment
  SurfKy News Group
  The Kentucky Department of Juvenile Justice recently completed an 18-month study of its training academy, thought to be the country’s first comprehensive job task analysis and needs assessment of a juvenile justice training program.
• Los Angeles City Council unanimously approves changes to daytime curfew law
  KPCC radio
  L.A. City Council unanimously voted this morning in favor of changes to the city's daytime curfew law to improve how the city deals with its truant students.
• Opinion: Make youth justice a safer situation
  Austin Statesman
  Recent Texas Tribune-New York Times revelations of ongoing safety concerns in Texas' juvenile justice system only confirm what the leading national research shows: Secure juvenile facilities are a taxpayer burden, work against rehabilitation and can make youths' problems worse.
• California Governor Jerry Brown’s plan to end juvenile justice division faces fight San Francisco Chronicle:
  A group of criminal justice leaders are preparing to fight a plan by Gov. Jerry Brown to entirely phase out the state's Division of Juvenile Justice over the next three years and return the most violent and troubled youths to county facilities, despite support for the proposal by some experts.
• Recent increases in drug arrests were for possession, not sales
  Jeffrey A. Butts
  Between 1991 and 2006, arrests for drug sales and manufacturing actually dropped 6 percent while arrests for possession climbed 139 percent. The same pattern was observed for arrests involving offenders of different ages, but the growth in drug possession arrests was sharpest among juveniles.

Adolecscent Substance Abuse Treatment

• Teens driving under the influence of marijuana
  Join Together at Drugfree.org
  According to a recent study, nearly one in five (19 percent) of teens say they have gotten behind the wheel after smoking marijuana.

• Why Are All the Black Kids in Special Ed?
  Minority students (and especially Black students) are disproportionately diagnosed with disabilities and placed in special education or lowest-level courses. The Public Interest Law Center of Philadelphia makes the case for seeking a second opinion.
• Lasting Drop in Smoking, Delinquency, Drug Use
  Study shows that tenth-graders in towns using Communities That Care, a prevention system developed by University of Washington researchers, are less likely to have tried drinking or smoking compared with teens living in towns that had not adopted the system. Delinquent behavior, including stealing, vandalism and physical fights, decreased too.
• Kids-for-Cash Sentencing Set for November 4
  Robert J. Powell, the former co-owner of two juvenile detention centers in Pennsylvania who testified he paid kickbacks to two judges, may serve 21 to 27 months in prison for failing to report a felony and abetting tax evasion.