Blog: Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment

Adolescent Substance Abuse: CTYF and What's Working for Young People in Recovery

adolescent-substance-abuse-recovery-CTYF-logoMy name's Greg Williams. I'm a young person who's been in long-term recovery since age 17 from alcohol and other drugs. Whenever I tell my story, I always say, “I was whoever I thought my friends wanted me to be.” Throughout my teenage years, my human need for belonging drove me to conform to peer groups around me.

What Brain Science Tells Us about Kids in the Juvenile Justice System and Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment

adolescent-substance-abuse-and-juvenile-delinquency-lecture-videoWhoa. My brain is full.
I just finished watching, "Brain Science as a Means of Understanding Delinquency and Substance Abuse in Youth," a video you can watch online or download to your computer. It records two faculty lectures given at the University of Washington in 2006. The video's about 75 minutes long, but I assure you, it's worth watching. 

Adolescent Substance Abuse Data and ADAM II

adolescent-substance-abuse-data-ADAM-II-report-2008I'm a huge fan of the Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring (ADAM) program, now run by the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP). The program tracks, as you might imagine from its name, drug use among arrestees. Because data is taken from multiple cities around the U.S. -- and variations from city to city can be quite large -- the data's used to track and predict drug use trends over time.
The program was axed in 2003 because of budget constraints, so I was pleased to learn today that ADAM was reinstated in 2007, this time as ADAM II.

Roundup: Assessing Gender-Specific Programs for Girls in the Juvenile Justice System; New Data Center on Kids' Well-Being from Casey; and More

  • juvenile-justice-resources-trainings-and-news_oldTV.jpgInterested in what restorative justice looks like when it's implemented in juvenile court? Here's a long article about two restorative justice programs in Oakland: one uses a peer court to address low-level offenders; the other works with kids leaving detention after many months.
  • Want data on the well-being of kids in your state? Want to know how your state ranks compared with others? Check out the KIDS COUNT Data Center just launched by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, which also released its KIDS COUNT Databook for 2009.

Juvenile Delinquency Report Card Underscores Need for Reclaiming Futures and Early Intervention

[This post was written by Ashley Edwards, Kelly Graves, and Claretta Witherspoon, of the Reclaiming Futures site in Guilford County, NC.]
juvenile-justice-reform-North-Carolina_Old-report-cardNorth Carolina’s Action for Children recently released the 2009 Youth Delinquency Prevention Report Card.  The release of these data will inform service delivery and outreach to adolescents throughout the state, and can be instrumental in helping us advocate for continued investment and expansion of the Reclaiming Futures program. 

Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment Careers: "Imagine Who You Could Save" Video Series

adolescent-substance-abuse-addiction-treatment-careers-video-from-NATTCThe Addiction Technology Transfer Center (ATTC) Network has an amazing number of resources available to help treatment professionals and agencies.
For example, I just found a very interesting set of videos designed to recruit people to work in the field of addictions treatment on the ATTC Network's Facebook page. (For some reason, I had better luck viewing the videos when I used Internet Explorer as my browser, rather than Firefox.)

Roundup: Juvenile Justice Recommendations from the Council of Europe; 13 Myths & Facts about Addiction Treatment; and More

Roundup: Juvenile Justice System Increases Teen Recidivism as Adults; Test "Predicts" Likelihood of Gang Involvement; Heavy Drinking Linked to Teens' Mental Health Problems; and More

  • juvenile-justice-news-adolescent-substance-abuse-news-old-TVTeens in the juvenile justice system are more likely to commit crimes as adults because delinquent behavior is "contagious", according to a 20-year research project in Canada. The solutions? More investments in prevention programs for pre-adolescents, and ending the practice of grouping delinquent youth together in services designed to help them. (No advice on how to accomplish the latter item.)

Roundup: A Guide for Juvenile Defenders in Juvenile Court; New E-Guide for Parents on Adolescent Substance Abuse; and More

  • juvenile-court-adolescent-substance-abuse-news-TVDo too many teens in your juvenile court waive their right to counsel? The Southern Juvenile Defender Center (of the Southern Poverty Law Center) just issued a teen-friendly brochure for Florida teens in juvenile court to convince them not to waive counsel. Best of all: you may be able to have the brochure adapted for your state by contacting Marion Chartoff.  

Adolescent Substance Abuse: Video Advocacy

adolescent-substance-abuse-Connecticut-family-recovery-website"Guys like me don't make it."
That's how the arresting introductory video on the Connecticut Turning to Youth and Families (CTYF) website begins. And what the young man means is that no one expected him to make it. But in spite of his own addiction, he found a way through. (July 15, 2009 update: a different video now greets new visitors to the CTYF site. The video pictured above is here.)

Roundup: Juvenile Justice Reform Gets New Tool; Adolescent Substance Abuse Grants Available; 15% of Teens Think They'll Die Young; and More

juvenile-justice-reform-adolescent-susbstance-abuse-news-old-TVTrainings & Conferences

Confidentiality for Teens in Drug Treatment

juvenile-justice-confdientiality-consent-privacy-guidebook.jpgSuppose you provide alcohol and drug treatment to teens.
What do you do if the mother of an adolescent patient is demanding to see her son’s treatment records, but the son doesn't want your program to discuss his treatment with his mother or to share any records with her?
How do you deal with the relapse of a young teen-age patient? Can your program contact the patient's parents?  Must you?

Roundup: Judge Opens His Own Alternative School; Restorative Justice Pays Off; South African Teens Get High on Anti-AIDS Drug; and More

Effective Mental Health Screening in Juvenile Justice - 10 Key Steps: a Webinar

juvenile-mental-health-screenings-self-portrait-of-teen.jpgYouth Today tipped me off to an upcoming one-hour webinar on conducting mental health screenings and assessments in the juvenile justice system.
It's sponsored by The Council of State Governments' Justice Center and will be held June 30, from 3pm - 4pm EST. Among other things, the webinar will "showcase '10 steps' that have proven to be necessary for effective implementation of mental health screening in juvenile justice settings."
Follow the links to register.

*Photo copyright Adam Foster | Codefor; reposted under Creative Commons license.

Youth Drug Use May Climb

juvenile-drug-use-trends-graph-detailIs drug use among high school-age teens about to soar? Probably, according to an analysis of historical data performed by Carnevale Associates, LLC.
The analysis, which appears in the firm’s policy brief, “Could Youth Drug Use Be Making a Comeback?,” shows that shortly after youth fear and disapproval of marijuana use diminished in the 1990s, teen marijuana use jumped over 30 percentage points between 1992 and 1997. After youth attitudes reversed, teen marijuana use dropped dramatically, falling 29 percent before bottoming out in 2006.

Roundup: PA Detention Facility Owner Pleads Guilty; Evidence for Gender-Specific Programming Still Scanty; and More

Roundup: How States Can Use Automation to Increase Health Coverage for Teens; and More

increase-health-coverage-for-teens.newspaperTraining

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