Blog: Adolescent Mental Health

Every week Reclaiming Futures rounds up the latest news on juvenile justice reform, adolescent substance abuse treatment, and teen mental health. 

Senate Judiciary Committee Approves JJDPA Update (Juvenile Justice Information Exchange)
The Senate Judiciary Committee has now approved the federal Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Reauthorization Act of 2015, a bipartisan bill which has the ability to increase protections for youth within the criminal justice system. The legislation would update the law to reflect new understandings of best practices in juvenile justice.

The findings are staggering, if not disturbing.

• 31 percent of girls in the juvenile justice system had been sexually abused, four times higher than the rate of boys.
• 45 percent of girls in the system have an adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) of five or more, placing them at a much higher risk for chronic health issues.

A new report out by Rights4Girls, in conjunction with the Ms. Foundation for Women and the Georgetown Law Center on Poverty & Inequality, reveals how the “Sexual Abuse to Prison Pipeline” strikes girls especially hard. It concludes that there is a direct cause-and-effect connection between the sexual abuse of girls at a young age and their involvement in the juvenile justice system.

Now through August 21, 2015, The Center for Juvenile Justice Reform (CJJR) at Georgetown University‘s McCourt School of Public Policy is accepting applications for its 2015 Multi-System Integration Certificate Program.

The program is designed to support local jurisdictions’ efforts to improve outcomes for youth who have been involved in both the child welfare and juvenile justice systems (also known as “crossover youth”) by implementing integrated, multi-disciplinary solutions.

Every week Reclaiming Futures rounds up the latest news on juvenile justice reform, adolescent substance abuse treatment, and teen mental health. 

Clinical Conversations about Cannabis: Using Elicit-Provide-Elicit (ATTC Network)
Given the current climate of conflicting messages and changing policy related to marijuana, counselors need both sources of reliable information and effective strategies to guide their interventions as they talk with clients about this controversial subject. The purpose of this article is to describe how Motivational Interviewing (MI) strategies can inform clinical conversations about cannabis use, with a focus on the Elicit – Provide – Elicit (EPE) model as one potentially useful tool.

Below you’ll find a selection of the latest grants, jobs, webinars and events posted to our Opportunity Board. Please share the Reclaiming Futures Opportunity Board with your colleagues in the juvenile justice, adolescent substance abuse and teen mental health areas. We encourage you to browse and post!

Every week Reclaiming Futures rounds up the latest news on juvenile justice reform, adolescent substance abuse treatment, and teen mental health. 

Assessing Trauma in Kids Just Got A Little Better (Psych Central)
A research team at Case Western Reserve University  proposed and tested a new method to assess trauma in youth. It would be especially relevant for assessment within the juvenile justice system.

The Washington Post,  LA Times and Aces Too High posted stories regarding the lawsuit filed against the Compton School district for allegedly not responding to students’ learning and mental health needs specifically related to complex trauma. The statutory framework for this lawsuit is Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and American Disabilities Act. The Washington Post article provides the actual lawsuit and all three articles offer synopses of the trauma experienced by youth named in the lawsuit.  The lawsuit describes and alleges that these young people experienced numerous traumas both on and off school property such as homelessness, physical and sexual abuse, violence, witnessing shootings, unsafe school conditions, and familial behavioral health issues.  Three Compton School district teachers are named for the prosecution alleging that their requests to provide youth with the appropriate behavioral health services were ignored by the district.  For those of us that work in the juvenile justice or behavioral health fields these stories seem all too common. Decades of research and practice have shown that trauma has profound negative effects on an individual’s overall health (e.g., neurological, biological, psychological, social).  One of the more well-known studies, which is being used to support this lawsuit, is the Adverse Childhood Experiences ( ACEs) study. The major findings from the ACEs study show trauma can impair an individual’s social, emotional, and cognitive abilities and functioning.

But, what is complex trauma?

Every week Reclaiming Futures rounds up the latest news on juvenile justice reform, adolescent substance abuse treatment, and teen mental health. 

House Proposal Would Eliminate Key JJDPA Funding (Juvenile Justice Information Exchange)
This past week the House Appropriations Committee, Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Sciences & Related Agencies, released their FY'16 Appropriations proposal, causing alarm in the juvenile justice community. Juvenile justice funding that goes to states, under the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act, would be eliminated under the new proposal. For more information you can  check out this JJIE story by Gary Gately,  and also follow National Juvenile Justice Network for updates.

Juvenile Justice Reform

• How Curfews Have Changed Through History (TIME)
  In light of recent events in Baltimore, Lily Rothman, Archive Editor of TIME.com, examines the historical reasons for and effects of curfews, and why emergency curfews should be thought of differently than permanent juvenile curfews