Blog: Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment

PBS Newshour has an in-depth piece out on bath salts: their origins, growing popularity and (adverse) effects. It's particularly interesting to learn how bath salts actually affect the brain. From the article:

Taking bath salts, it seemed, was similar to taking amphetamine and cocaine at the same time. Except for one thing: MDPV is as much as 10 times stronger than cocaine.

Imagine the space between the nerve cells as a kitchen sink and the water as dopamine. In the brain's natural state, the faucet, or nerve cell endings, are always leaking some dopamine, and the drain is always slightly open, vacuuming some of the chemical back into the cell. Methamphetamine turns the faucet on high. Cocaine closes the drain. Bath salts, researchers discovered, do both at the same time. With the faucet on and the drain closed, the water overflows. In other words, the drug was flooding the brain.

Juvenile Justice Reform

• Does the Juvenile Justice System Really Work? (TheCrimeReport.org)
  A five-month-long investigation spearheaded by Ashley Luthern of The Vindicator in Youngstown, Ohio examined the successes and tragedies produced as local courts, probation and schools struggle to address “disproportionate minority contact rates.”
• Frequency Of Kids Sent To Detention Varies Widely (Courant.com)
  Juveniles in the Hartford, Connecticut judicial district who break the law are far more likely to be locked in a pre-trial detention center following arrests or referrals than juveniles from the state's other districts, an analysis of data from the judicial department shows.
• 12 Investigates: Can Brain Injury Lead to Prison? (NBC12.com)
  Are more kids ending up in jail because of a traumatic brain injury? A study underway of Virginia's Juvenile Justice system recently revealed as many as 20% of the children incarcerated right now have a traumatic brain injury.
• Juvenile Justice System Youths Express Themselves in Play (OregonLive.com)
  Over the summer, a group of youths in the Clackamas County, Oregon juvenile justice system prepared a performance that was central to who they are. They received a standing ovation for their show, "Choices," and for their courage in telling their stories.

Many of the 29 Reclaiming Futures sites helping communities break the cycle of drugs, alcohol and crime celebrate Recovery Month, hosted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) each September. They, along with our King County site, which includes Seattle, Washington, are spreading the positive message that prevention works, adolescent substance abuse treatment is effective and people do recover. 
King County convenes a multi-disciplinary planning committee (chemical dependency, mental health and community mobilization) to reach people across cultures and disciplines to reduce the stigma for people in recovery.
They actively develop the Recovery Oriented System of Care model, starting with mental health and gradually including substance use disorders. This year, King County is working with their County Council to include substance abuse disorders in the recovery ordinance so that it becomes a behavioral health recovery oriented system of care. (The recovery ordinance ensures that the publicly funded mental health system in King County is grounded in mental health recovery principles.)

Juvenile Justice Reform

• Illinois to Improve Conditions at Youth Prisons (St. Louis CBS Local)
  Illinois is promising to improve safety at its youth prisons and offer inmates better educational and mental health services. The Department of Juvenile Justice agreed to the improvements after the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois threatened to sue.
• U.S. Families Fret at Juvenile Justice System in Crisis (The Raw Story)
  Relatives of jailed young Americans called Tuesday for reform of a juvenile justice system they say fails to help young people and is biased against youth of color. “More than two million children are arrested every year in the United States and the numbers continue to rise, despite the decreasing incidence of true criminal offenses,” according to the study released by the Justice for Families program at the research organization DataCenter.
• Imprisoned Teens Found More Likely to Re-offend (Jacksonville.com)
  A new report shows that children and teenagers locked up for breaking the law have become 6 percent more likely to commit another crime than they were in 2003. The figures come from a study conducted by the Pew Center on the States at the request of a commission appointed to propose an overhaul to the juvenile-justice system in Georgia.
• GIVING BACK - Troubled Youths get Chance to Serve Community through DJJ Initiative (TheTandD.com)
  A group of local youths spent Friday morning working with officers at the Orangeburg County, SC Department of Juvenile Justice as part of Restoring Carolina Through Youth Service. The program is a statewide initiative that gives young people who have made poor choices an opportunity to give back through community service.
• Juvenile Court Records can Follow Kids to College (The Morning Call)
  Juvenile court records could begin following youthful offenders to college after a state appeals court decision in the child pornography case of a Whitehall Township teen. The Pennsylvania Superior Court upheld a Lehigh County judge's decision to notify the boy's university that he had admitted looking at and trading child pornography over the Internet.
• Michael Griffiths: The TT Interview (The Texas Tribune)
  Michael Griffiths never really retired after 15 years as head of juvenile services for the Dallas County Juvenile Department. He taught online courses at his alma mater, Sam Houston State University, and consulted on juvenile issues, and he even handed out programs at Texas Rangers games. On Monday, Griffiths will become the new executive director of the Texas Juvenile Justice Department.

In honor of Recovery Month, I'm sharing the Road to Recovery's latest video on the importance of community-based organizations. Reclaiming Futures is a huge believer in connecting young people with long-term community supports so that teens don't find themselves in the same situations that got them in trouble. 

From the Road to Recovery:

Juvenile Justice Reform

• [OPINION] With Volunteers' Help, Teens at Halfway House will Continue to Soar (Statesman.com)
  "The Texas Juvenile Justice Department (formerly the Texas Youth Commission) has been embroiled in difficult discussions with legislators and community leaders about policy, politics and performance for as long as most of us can remember. But what people like you and I often forget, or never think about, is that there are kids at stake."
• Clark County Juvenile Justice System Processing Fewer Teens (OregonLive.com)
  The number of teenagers entering Clark County's juvenile justice system has dropped by half in the last five years, leading those involved in the system to wonder why. In 2007, schools, police and other agencies referred to the county justice system a total of 3,575 juveniles who had committed misdemeanor and felony offenses. So far this year, the number is 1,584.
• A Roadmap to the Future of Juvenile Justice (NewAmericaMedia.org)
  Juvenile justice is transforming throughout America. Though there is a long road ahead to reform these systems into effective, rehabilitative programs that no longer make children worse, there is great promise in jurisdictions across the country, that are changing how they work with youth.
• Juveniles Entitled to Hearing Before Being Moved to State Prison, N.J. Court Panel Rules (NJ.com)
  Unruly juveniles housed at any of New Jersey's facilities for young offenders are entitled to a hearing before they're transferred to a state prison, a state appeals court panel ruled today. Teens under the jurisdiction of the state Juvenile Justice Commission need more than same-day notice of the transfer, the court said.
• Register Wants to Hear your Juvenile Justice Experiences (DesMoinesRegister.com)
  According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, there were arrests of nearly 1.3 million people under age 18 in the United States in 2010. Despite public perception of teens being especially dangerous, less than 1 percent of the arrests were for murder, manslaughter or forcible rape.
• Summer Program Teaches Teens Basics of Farm Work (Missoulian.com)
  The Youth Harvest project is run in partnership with Missoula’s Youth Drug Court, Human Resource Council and Willard School. Some of the Youth Harvest members are referred through court, others through their teachers or counselors. All must apply and interview for the job.

Juvenile Justice Reform

• Bike Donation Makes Difference at Youth Facilities (UTICAOD.com)
  Residents of four upstate juvenile justice facilities operated by the New York State Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS) now have refurbished bicycles to ride. They were donated by Community Bikes, a Hamilton-based organization which refurbishes and “upcycles” unused bicycles to those who need them.
• NC to Examine Racial Disparities in Criminal Justice System (HispanicBusiness.com)
  North Carolina has formed an interim commission to begin studying racial disparities in the criminal justice system. The move follows The Fayetteville Observer's report in June that a task force for defense lawyers found that blacks and Hispanics are "systematically searched at much higher rates than whites."
• Juvenile Offender Program Working (TBO.com)
  A program to keep first-time juvenile offenders out of Hillsborough County, Florida's criminal justice system recorded a 91 percent success rate after one year, county commissioners learned Thursday.

SAMSHA recently published a presentation, “Change, Challenge, & Opportunity-Substance Abuse and Addiction in a Changing Health Care Environment,” detailing the changes in teen substance abuse and addiction over the past several years. The presentation, available free online in PowerPoint format (direct download link), offers thorough data and several charts examining these changes, both positive and negative.
Key takeaways include:
Improvements

• Overall alcohol use dropped from 28.8 to 26.3 percent between 2002 and 2010
• Binge drinking dropped from 19.3 to 17.0 percent between 2002 and 2010
• Heavy drinking dropped from 6.2 to 5.1 percent between 2002 and 2010
• Methamphetamine users dropped by about half between 2006 and 2010
• Cocaine users dropped from 2.4 million in 2006 to 1.5 million in 2010

Juvenile Justice Reform

• Teens Get a Second Chance (SouthBendTribune.com)
  It is not mission impossible for the Juvenile Justice Center teens enrolled in the first year "Mission Possible" program at the South Bend Kroc Center. According to the Childrens and Youth Ministries Manager Jacqueline Davis, the mission is to try to give struggling teens a new direction.
• Federal Grant to Help Study Minorities in Juvenile Justice (WyandotteDailyNews.com)
  U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom reported that a $400,000 federal grant to the Kansas Juvenile Justice Authority will help evaluate disproportionate minority contact in the juvenile justice system.
• ROCA Selected for New Social Investment Program (Chelsea Record)
  Massachusetts will be the first state to implement the ‘pay for success’ model of social financing through a Juvenile Justice contract and ROCA of Chelsea will help lead the effort with two Social Innovation Financing (SIF) contracted partners.
• New Texas Juvenile Justice Priorities Could be in Jeopardy (PublicNewsService.org)
  Recent improvements to the long-troubled juvenile justice system in Texas are already in jeopardy, if a just-released survey of officials in 73 county youth probation departments is any indication.
• Feds: Mississippi County Runs 'School-to-Prison Pipeline' (CNN.com)
  Officials in Lauderdale County, Mississippi, have operated "a school-to-prison pipeline" that violates the constitutional rights of juveniles by incarcerating them for alleged school disciplinary infractions, some as minor as defiance, the U.S. Department of Justice said Friday.
• Memphis Begins Reforms of Beleaguered Juvenile Court (TheCommercialAppeal.com)
  Shelby County, Tennessee court officials say they will move the juvenile defense system from Juvenile Court oversight and place it under the office in charge of defending adults.
• Juvenile Justice Sets up Tip Line (The Augusta Chronical)
  The Atlanta, Georgia De­part­ment of Juvenile Jus­tice has a new investigative tool: a Web site where people can report suspicious activities at the state’s youth detention centers and court-services offices.