The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Gives Marquette County Juvenile Court $202,882 to Help Troubled Youth

MARQUETTE, Mich. - The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation today awarded the Marquette County Juvenile Court a $202,882 grant to improve substance abuse treatment and other services for young people in trouble with the law.

"America's juvenile justice system faces a public health crisis," says Laura Burney Nissen, Ph.D., director of Reclaiming Futures, a national program of The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. "As many as four out of five of the two million young people who enter the justice system each year have an alcohol or drug problem. Even though research shows that treating alcohol and drug abuse reduces crime, saves money, and builds stronger communities, the vast majority of young offenders receives no treatment at all."

"We want to change this," says Nissen. "The grants we are awarding today will create plans for model programs in Marquette County and elsewhere in the United States to show how we can reinvent treatment, judicial and social services to meet this urgent need."

Marquette County's effort, called Project Weave, proposes to serve about 290 kids each year in the juvenile justice system, including first-time and repeat offenders, beginning in 2003. Marquette County Juvenile Court's grant is one of 11 totaling $2.59 million awarded to communities nationwide to plan new treatment and other services for delinquent youth.

"The need for Project Weave is clear," says Bruce Suardini, executive director of Great Lakes Recovery Centers. "We know that kids who abuse alcohol and drugs are more likely to behave violently, break the law, or end up in court. We also know that alcohol and drug abuse is a major health problem among juvenile offenders in Marquette County."

Michael J. Anderegg, the presiding judge of Marquette County's Juvenile Court, estimates that 60 percent of the young people who appear before him have alcohol or drug problems.

Marquette County now employs a half-time probation office to exclusively work with youth with histories of alcohol or drug abuse.

"Kids in Marquette County's juvenile justice system with substance abuse problems don't get the treatment and social services they need," says Barry Sullivan, director of the Marquette County Juvenile Court. "Without it, many of them find themselves in trouble with the law again and again."

"This grant will help Marquette County break the costly cycle of substance abuse and delinquency," says Judge Anderegg of the Marquette County Juvenile Court. "We need to reclaim, not throw away, the lives of these young people. We are thrilled to have the support of The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to help us accomplish this."

Marquette County's Juvenile Court's Project Weave was one of 280 applicants. Over the next five years, Project Weave proposes to improve coordination of local treatment services, make educational, social and community services more accessible to youth and families, and pay special attention to young people with both mental health and substance abuse problems. Beginning this month, juvenile court judges and officers, law enforcement officials, treatment professionals, and civic, youth and family leaders in Marquette County and the other communities will spend a year planning their programs. In four following years, communities can apply for up to $250,000 annually to implement plans.

Reclaiming Futures officials say judicial leadership will play a critical part in these efforts and up to two local judges in each community will participate in a two-year fellowship. Thomas L. Solka, Family Division Judge of the Marquette County Circuit Court, and George W. Hyde III, Chief Referee of the Juvenile Division of the Marquette County Circuit Court, will represent Marquette County in the national fellows program.

Reclaiming Futures is a five-year $21 million initiative of The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation based at the Graduate School of Social Work at Portland State University in Portland, Oregon. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation was established as a national philanthropy in 1972 and today is the largest U.S. foundation devoted to health and health care. To learn about its mission and work, see www.rwjf.org.

Marquette, MI and Washington, D.C. – March 29, 2004 – Youth Service America (YSA) today awarded $1,000 to Reclaiming Futures, Project WEAVE Youth Advisory Committee of Marquette, Michigan in collaboration with the Marquette-Alger Regional Educational Service Agency through the State Farm Good Neighbor Service-Learning Awards.

Selected from over 850 applicants, Project WEAVE’s Youth Advisory Committee will use the funds to implement a service project during National Youth Service Day on April 16-18, 2004. Youth Services of America awarded 100 service-learning project grants through the organization’s State Farm Good Neighbor Service-Learning Awards.

As the Presenting Sponsor of National Youth Service Day 2004, State Farm Companies Foundation is making a substantial commitment to Youth Service American’s service-learning initiatives. In addition to financial support, many State Farm® employees and agents and their families will participate in local National Youth Service Day events nationwide. Rod Lizak, Marquette State Farm Agent, supports the initiative of informing the public about juvenile substance abuse and the ways our community can help youth and families.

The Marquette area Project WEAVE Youth Advisory Committee has developed a series of slides to be shown at two Marquette area movie theaters; GKC Royale and the GKC Delft during National Youth Service Day. The main focus of the slides will be statistical information regarding Marquette County juvenile drug and alcohol use. Another slide will ask members of the community to get involved with youth by becoming a mentor.

The Youth Advisory Committee is comprised of six teens ranging in age from 13 to 18; they have been working together for the past two years and are committed to helping teens overcome drugs, alcohol and crime. “We want the public to be aware of what we, the Youth Advisory Committee, are doing. A lot of people go to the movies each week, slides will reach many people informing them of the effects of drugs and alcohol on teenagers.”

“We are so proud of the members of the Project WEAVE’s Youth Advisory Committee,” explains Liz Smith, Director of Project WEAVE. “The teens worked diligently on all aspects of developing this service learning project. They serve as an excellent example of the strengths of our youth in Marquette County.”

For More information or to schedule an interview with youth members please contact Liz Smith at Project WEAVE (906) 228-8176 x 507 or projectweaveglrc@hotmail.com.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 25, 2007

Contact:
Mac Prichard, macp@pdx.edu, 503-725-8921
Mark Nicastre, 202-293-6200 x.222

Michigan State Leaders Urge Adoption of New Approach to Juvenile Justice and Substance Abuse

Lansing, MI (April 25, 2007) – At a forum held today in Lansing, Michigan community leaders, youth advocates and policymakers praised the Reclaiming Futures model for improving juvenile justice and treating teenage substance abuse in Marquette County and urge replication of the successful project throughout the state.

"In the past five years, Marquette County and nine other communities across the country have pioneered a new national standard in juvenile justice," said Kristin Schubert who oversees Reclaiming Futures for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. "In doing so, these communities are showing the rest of the country how teens can escape a cycle of drugs, alcohol and crime."

Schubert spoke at a public forum that brought together state leaders to explain the Reclaiming Futures model, discuss the results it produced in Marquette County and share ideas about how to expand the approach throughout Michigan. Other speakers included Don Allen, director of the Michigan Office of Drug Control Policy, Senator Alan Cropsey, Senator Mike Prusi, Representative Steve Lindberg and Judge Michael Anderegg of the Marquette County Circuit Court.

"Young people in trouble with drugs, alcohol and crime need treatment, better treatment and more than treatment," said Sen. Alan Cropsey. "Reclaiming Futures does this by using evidence-based practices and by providing community assistance through mentors and positive social opportunities."

Schubert told the legislators that Marquette and the other Reclaiming Futures sites have reported significant improvements in the quality of juvenile justice and substance abuse treatment services in 12 out of 13 areas, according to a recent evaluation by the Urban Institute and the University of Chicago's Chapin Hall Center for Children.

"The bottom line?" asked Schubert, "Juvenile justice and drug and alcohol treatment services in Marquette and across the country got better thanks to Reclaiming Futures."

Marquette County is one of 10 communities that piloted the $21 million five-year Reclaiming Futures initiative. The other nine are in Anchorage, Alaska; Santa Cruz, Calif.; Chicago, Ill.; three counties in Eastern Kentucky; the state of New Hampshire; the Sovereign Tribal Nation of Sicangu Lakota in Rosebud, South Dakota; Dayton, Ohio; Portland, Ore. and Seattle, Wash.

About Reclaiming Futures
Reclaiming Futures, an initiative of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, promotes new opportunities and standards of care in juvenile justice. It is housed in the Regional Research Institute for Human Services of the Graduate School of Social Work at Portland State University. For additional information, visit www.reclaimingfutures.org.

About the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation focuses on the pressing health and health care issues facing our country. As the nation's largest philanthropy devoted exclusively to improving the health and health care of all Americans, the Foundation works with a diverse group of organizations and individuals to identify solutions and achieve comprehensive, meaningful and timely change. For more than 30 years the Foundation has brought experience, commitment, and a rigorous, balanced approach to the problems that affect the health and health care of those it serves. For more information, visit www.rwjf.org.

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Contact Information:
Project W.E.A.V.E.
2111 Co. Rd. 554
Marquette, Michigan
(906) 226 – 2150
projectweaveglrc@hotmail.com

Youth Advisory Committee Creates Influential Placemats

According to the National Institute for Alcohol Addiction, children who begin drinking before age 15 are four times more likely to develop problems with drinking compared to those who begin at 21. Project WEAVE's Youth Advisory Committee (YAC) are a group of teen leaders who help to create awareness and education about substance-abuse concerns and offer alternative activities for area teens. The YAC recently received a $2,500 mini-grant provided by the Prevention Network, which is funded through the Michigan Department of Community Health/Office of Drug Control Policy and Michigan State Police, Office of Highway Safety Planning. The teens used the funds to develop placemats that were circulated around area restaurants including Bonanza, Sherri's, Vangos and Walstroms.

The placemats focus on the issue of underage drinking and include local and national statistics that will assist with informing local residents, parents and teens alike, about the problems our community faces with underage drinking. "In researching information we learned that underage alcohol abuse is more likely to kill young people than all illegal drugs combined" says Mara, a Marquette youth member. The best approach is just to be open with teens about drugs and alcohol. "It's statistically proven that talking to your kids every once in a while about drugs and alcohol will help prevent them from substance abuse in the future", states Chace, an Ishpeming youth member. The placemat has fun facts and entertaining word games as well as a powerful message written by a teen from their personal experience with alcohol. These alcohol awareness placemats also include contact information for parents and teens seeking help.

Liz Smith, Project WEAVE Director, is so proud of the efforts of the youth members. "It takes everyone's skills and abilities to brainstorm ideas to address youth substance use, prepare a grant proposal, coordinate activities with community members, evaluate the effectiveness of the project and keep our youth motivated, excited and encouraged. At one meeting, we had two youth on the telephone contacting area restaurants requesting permission to use our placements, two youth designing the layout and graphics, one youth researching local and state statistics about underage drinking and two youth working on the grant proposal. It really was a team effort. There is also a brief survey to help the YAC evaluate the content of the underage drinking placemat.

Reclaiming Futures, Project W.E.A.V.E. (Willingness to Explore Alternatives that Validate and Embrace Youth) is a national demonstrate site of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Project WEAVE assists agencies in developing and enhancing expeditious referral and treatment options for juvenile justice youth with substance abuse issues. We are partnering with the courts, treatment facilities, schools, law enforcement agencies and community to meet the urgent needs of these young people in our juvenile justice system. Project WEAVE helps to expand and improve substance abuse treatment services through mentoring, job coaching and enhanced public service that engages local residents and leaders and builds on the strengths of youth and families.

To get involved or learn more, please call, Project WEAVE at (906) 226-2150.

Click here to see a PDF of the placemat.