Santa Cruz, CA - News Detail

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Gives Santa Cruz County $250,000 to Help Troubled Youth

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. - The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation today awarded the Santa Cruz County Probation Department a $250,000 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 model programs in Santa Cruz County and elsewhere in the United States to show how we can reinvent treatment, judicial and social services to meet this urgent need."

Santa Cruz County's project, called Juntos Para el Futuro, (Together for the Future), proposes to serve 150 young people with substance abuse problems annually, including 50 in residential treatment, beginning in 2003. The grant is one of 11 totaling $2.59 million awarded to communities nationwide for new treatment and other services for delinquent youth.

"The need for Juntos Para el Futuro is clear," says John Rhoads, chief probation officer of Santa Cruz County. "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 Santa Cruz County."

According to a local study in 2000, 45 percent of Santa Cruz County's juvenile cases were substance use related offenses and 67 percent of the young people involved had an alcohol or drug problem. Another local study in 1999 of high-risk offenders found that local youth heavily involved with alcohol and drugs were five times more likely to break the law again within six months.

"Santa Cruz County has worked hard to develop a rich continuum of drug and alcohol services for kids in the juvenile justice system," says Rhoads. "Even so, drug and alcohol abuse keeps too many of our kids recycling through the system. This grant will allow us to coordinate and utilize these services more effectively to intervene in the cycle and give these kids a another chance."

"This grant will help Santa Cruz County break the costly cycle of substance abuse and delinquency," says John Salazar, presiding juvenile court judge of the Santa Cruz County Superior 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."

Santa Cruz County's Probation Department was one of 280 applicants. Over the next five years, Juntos Para el Futuro proposes to create new treatment services based on the principles of balanced and restorative justice, change local policies to support this approach, and provide local decision-makers with data about results of the new system.

Beginning this month, juvenile court judges and officers, law enforcement officials, treatment professionals, and civic, youth and family leaders in Santa Cruz County and the 10 other communities will spend a year planning the new programs. In four following years, communities can ask for up to $250,000 annually to implement the plans.

Reclaiming Futures officials say judicial leadership will play a critical part in these efforts and local judges in each community will participate in a two-year fellowship. John Steven Salazar, Presiding Juvenile Court Judge of the Santa Cruz County Superior Court, will represent Santa Cruz County in the national 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.

Santa Cruz, CA - News Detail

Santa Cruz County receives $1 million grant to help teens overcome drugs, alcohol and crime

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. – Santa Cruz County has received a $1 million grant from The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Reclaiming Futures national program in order to improve drug and alcohol treatment for local teenagers in juvenile court.

"We are fortunate to have this wonderful resource in Santa Cruz County," says Chief Probation Officer Judy Cox of the Santa Cruz County Probation Department, the lead agency for the grant. "This money will help us support local public safety as we pioneer a new approach to helping young people caught in the cycle of substance abuse and crime as part of a national effort to improve the standard of care in juvenile justice."

Santa Cruz officials will use the award to serve youth in the juvenile justice system that need intensive support, particularly after completing residential treatment. The four-year project will increase parent and family involvement, connect the young people to "natural helpers" and community activities, teach teens skills to resist drugs and alcohol, and develop youth leaders. In 2002, Reclaiming Futures gave Santa Cruz County a $250,000 grant to plan the project.

A system in crisis

"America's juvenile justice system faces a public health crisis," says Laura Burney Nissen, Ph.D., director of Reclaiming Futures, which awarded the million-dollar grant to Santa Cruz County and nine other communities. "As many as four-out-of-five of the two million young people who enter the justice system nationally each year have an alcohol or drug problem. Even though research shows that treating alcohol and drug abuse reduces crime, saves money, and builds safer communities, the vast majority of young offenders receive no treatment at all."

"We want to change this," says Dr. Nissen. "Our grants will create model programs in Santa Cruz and elsewhere in the United States to show how we can reinvent treatment, judicial and social services to meet this urgent need."

Local officials say that 67 percent of Santa Cruz County’s juvenile offenses in 2000 involved young people with alcohol or other drug problems. A 1999 study found that local youth involved with alcohol and drugs were five times more likely to break the law again six months later.

National in scope
According to Dr. Nissen, the Reclaiming Futures grants to pilots in Santa Cruz and nine other communities are the first of their kind. "Our model is unique: we are not only seeking to improve drug and alcohol treatment in juvenile justice," she says, "but also to better coordinate social services, and find "pro-social" opportunities all while holding teens accountable."

Dr. Nissen adds that while each of the 10 Reclaiming Futures sites has different strategies, they all share three common goals: reduce drug and alcohol abuse by teenagers in the juvenile justice system; improve public safety, reduce justice system costs and increase accountability among young people; and engage communities and inform the public dialogue.

Community involvement
"Community involvement is the key to our success," says Santa Cruz probation chief Cox. The project was created by a group of local leaders and representatives from many local public agencies and organizations, including the Santa Cruz Probation Department, the Juvenile Court, the Office of the District Attorney, the Santa Cruz County Law Enforcement Chiefs Association, the Public Defender’s Office, County Alcohol and Drug Programs, County Children’s Mental Health, Criminal Justice Council of Santa Cruz, County Office of Education, Family Partnership, Barrios Unidos, Community Action Board Program, Pajaro Valley Prevention and Student Assistance, and Youth Services. Cox says this group spent the past year developing a strategic plan that served as the proposal for this grant.

The Reclaiming Futures project in Santa Cruz also sponsors a Community Partners Network for youth, parents, people who work with teens and families, and others. The network is an important way to involve the community in project planning and evaluation.

About Reclaiming Futures
Reclaiming Futures is a new approach to helping teenagers caught in the cycle of drugs, alcohol and crime. A five-year, $21 million initiative launched by The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Reclaiming Futures promotes new opportunities and standards of care in juvenile justice for young people with drug and alcohol problems. For more information, visit www.reclaimingfutures.org.

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Santa Cruz, CA - News Detail

News alert

Event Date: Monday, September 19, 2005

What: Reclaiming Futures Santa Cruz County's "Cara y Corazon: Family Strengthening," with Jerry Tello

Time: 9 a.m. Opening ceremony

10 a.m. – 4 p.m. Jerry Tello training with 250 attendees

Where: Henry J. Mello Center for the Performing Arts Watsonville High School, corner of Lincoln and East Lake

Details: Reclaiming Futures Santa Cruz County will host "Cara y Corazon (Face and Heart): Family Strengthening," with nationally acclaimed, cultural-based family strengthening expert Jerry Tello.

The day-long event already has more than 250 family members, substance abuse treatment professionals, probation and parole officers, and community members signed up to attend. They will learn how to strengthen families through a community mobilization approach that assists parents and other members of the extended family to raise and educate their children from a positive bicultural base.

Supported by: Latino Affairs Commission, Migrant Education Program, PVUSD Adult Education and Seniors Council.

Contact: Yolanda Perez-Logan, Project Director, (831) 454-3845, prb285@co.santa-cruz.ca.us

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Rosebud, SD - News Detail

October 24, 2006
Contact: Diane L. Wilson
818.1842; diane@art-tribes.com

Judges Call for Community Responses to Juvenile Substance Abuse

A report by a team of judges, including Judge Stephen Siegel from Santa Cruz County, recommends judicial action to help teens in trouble with drugs and alcohol avoid a life of crime

Portland, OR (October 24, 2006) — A national group of judges is recommending that judicial officers nationwide take a more active role in helping youth in the juvenile justice system overcome their drug and alcohol problems. The team, which includes Hon. Siegel from Santa Cruz County is part of the Reclaiming Futures program funded by The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

The judges issued their call to action as part of their jointly written monograph A Model for Judicial Leadership; Community Responses to Juvenile Substance Abuse. The report was just published by the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges in its Juvenile and Family Court Journal, Summer 2006, Volume 57, Number 3.

"Research shows that teens who use drugs and alcohol are more likely to end up in the justice system, where treatment services are often unavailable or uncoordinated," said Laura Nissen, Reclaiming Futures national program director. "We believe these young people deserve appropriate screening, treatment, care and community support, and that judges have the knowledge, influence and obligation to drive this change."

The judicial monograph, written by a team of judges with extensive experience in juvenile justice, outlines practical steps for other judges to follow in order to build a collaborative model for change within their own juvenile justice systems. These steps include inviting and convening stakeholders to participate; identifying the needs for youth services; achieving consensus; focusing on performance measures and outcomes; educating the judiciary and public; partnering with the community; and listening to youth.

The report concludes with 10 recommendations for judicial action, such as: judges must ensure youth in the system are screened and assessed; judges must be educated on the current state of practice in the substance abuse field; and judges must help identify or create positive pro-social influences for youth such as mentors, jobs or volunteer opportunities.

"This guide is written by judges and intended to be used by other judges, court administrators, government entities, community leaders and interested citizens," said Judge Stephen Siegel, "to improve the juvenile and family court system." A Model for Judicial Leadership can be read in its entirety at http://www.reclaimingfutures.org/resource.asp?rcid=5 or in the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges' Juvenile and Family Court Journal, Summer 2006, Volume 57, Number 3.

Reclaiming Futures is a $21 million initiative located in the 10 communities of Anchorage, Alaska; Santa Cruz, Calif.; Chicago, Ill.; three counties in Eastern Kentucky; Marquette, Mich.; the state of New Hampshire; Rosebud, South Dakota; Dayton, Ohio; Portland, Ore.; and Seattle, Wash. In its fourth year, early research conducted by the Urban Institute and the University of Chicago indicates the program has significantly improved the coordination of juvenile justice and substance abuse treatment services in its 10 communities.

About Reclaiming Futures
Reclaiming Futures is a new approach to helping teenagers caught in the cycle of drugs, alcohol and crime. The mission of Reclaiming Futures, a $21 million initiative of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, is to promote 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. When it comes to helping Americans lead healthier lives and get the care they need, the Foundation expects to make a difference in your lifetime. For more information, visit www.rwjf.org.

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Santa Cruz, CA - News