Blog: Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment

As many students graduated across the county in May and June, the Honorable Anthony Capizzi congratulated youth during a different kind of commencement. On May 15, 2014, Montgomery County Juvenile Court celebrated the journey to sobriety of 15 youth along with their families. Judge Capizzi indicated that for some youth and families, the journey was lengthy with many obstacles; for others, the goal of completing Drug Court was swift and certain. Regardless of the path traveled by youth to their graduation date, Judge Capizzi, the Drug Court case managers and counselors never gave up on them. More importantly, the youth and families never gave up on themselves. Two families gave testimonials that Montgomery County Juvenile Drug Court not only facilitated their children’s sobriety but also directly impacted or led to the parents’ sobriety at the same time.
Singer/community activist Vaughn Anthony Stephens was the guest speaker for graduation. Vaughn Anthony has traveled the world singing background for his brother, John Legend. He has also performed solo and collaborated with stars such as Rick Ross, Robin Thicke, Ghostface, Estelle and many others. Currently Vaughn Anthony is launching his own non-profit corporation, the “Be About it Movement,” in his hometown of Springfield, Ohio. Vaughn Anthony provided an inspirational and encouraging message for youth to remain disciplined and focused on their sobriety.
As a special surprise for graduation, Ohio Governor John Kasich and Lieutenant Governor Mary Taylor sent representatives to recognize the accomplishments of Montgomery County’s Drug Court youth. Assistant Senior Policy Advisors Angie Lee and Lisa Hayes presented all graduating youth with Certificates of Achievement signed by Governor Kasich and Lieutenant Governor Taylor. A special recognition was also presented to Judge Anthony Capizzi for his commitment to Drug Court and the youth of Montgomery County. The Resolution presented to Judge Capizzi from Governor Kasich and Lieutenant Governor Taylor recognizes his unwavering support of the Drug Court program.
The Montgomery County Juvenile Drug Court, led by Judge Anthony Capizzi, the Drug Court case managers and staff, and the families and friends of the youth in the program are commended for their work to make their community a safer place to live, work and raise a family.
 
 
 
 
 

Juvenile Justice Reform

• Juvenile Justice in Illinois: A Data Snapshot [PDF] (Chicago Youth Justice Data Project)
  Nationally, there’s been a steady decrease in the rate of violent crime committed by juveniles over the past fifteen years.
• Webinar | Using Social Impact Bonds to Improve Juvenile Justice Outcomes (NJJN.org) 
  Find out what has been learned about social impact bonds and how they should be structured for best results in our May 27, 2014 webinar, "Using Social Impact Bonds to Improve Juvenile Justice Outcomes," presented by John Roman, Ph.D., a national expert on social impact bonds.
• Removing Youth From the Adult Criminal Justice System: A Win-Win Situation (NCCD.org)
  Incarcerating youth in adult jails and prisons is the most expensive option for the juvenile justice system and unfailingly produces the worst results.
• Local Juvenile Probation GED Program Shows Higher Success Rate (WacoTrib.com)
  McLennan County students who stay at the Bill Logue Juvenile Justice Center for longer than 90 days have a higher chance of graduating with a GED or earning high school credit than the majority of incarcerated students across the country, according to a Southern Education Foundation report.

Juvenile Justice Reform

• PACE Embracing the Needs of Girls, Looks to Expand Beyond Florida (JJIE.org)
  PACE Center for Girls was called "the most effective program in the nation for keeping adolescent girls out of the juvenile justice system” by the Annie E. Casey Foundation in its 2008 Kids Count report.
• Inside Calif. Juvenile Hall, Rare Glimpse at Solitary Confinement Cells (The Center for Investigative Reporting)
  Although solitary confinement for extended periods is considered one of the most psychologically damaging forms of punishment – particularly for teenagers – no one knows how many juveniles are held alone in cells in California.
• Juvenile Justice System Not Meeting Educational Needs, Report Says (Education Week)
  Many of the teenagers who enter juvenile-justice systems with anger problems, learning disabilities, and academic challenges receive little or no special help for those issues, and consequently fall further behind in school, a report released Thursday concludes.

Did you know that Reclaiming Futures has a LinkedIn group? Becoming a member lets you stay on top of the latest news related to juvenile justice reform and adolescent substance abuse treatment, participate in thought-provoking discussions, and connect with peers and thought leaders in the industry. All you have to do is visit our Juvenile Justice Reform and Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment LinkedIn group and request to join.
Our group will be especially beneficial if you are a:

• Policy maker or legislator
• Professional in the field of juvenile justice or adolescent substance abuse treatment
• Family or youth advocate

Community leaders in Snohomish County, Washington, are helping teens overcome drugs, alcohol, mental health issues and crime.
They have a lofty goal: To have a caring adult help every teen.
The Herald of Everett, Washington, recently highlighted mentors who spoke out on behalf of young people involved in the juvenile justice system: 

"They're not bad kids. A detour has taken them off the road to success," Litzkow says, repeating a mantra favored by Snohomish County Superior Court Judge Bruce Weiss. Weiss presides over the juvenile drug court at the Denney Juvenile Justice Center. He also is a champion for the county's Reclaiming Futures project. The pilot program was launched in 2010 in the county's juvenile court system. It's modeled after a national initiative aimed at providing effective treatment for drug- and alcohol-addicted teens, and caring for their needs once they're out of the criminal justice system. A large part of that initiative is connecting kids with positive role models.

Deena Eckroth, 49, believes young people need support regardless of some of the bad decisions that they may make. "They've had enough people abandon them," Eckroth said. The Mukilteo mother of two grown children recently was paired up with a 15-year-old girl. Eckroth said she was compelled to volunteer with at-risk youth in part because of her experience as a human resources manager. She has had to turn people away for jobs because of their past mistakes. "It made me wonder what happened in their life and what could have helped that person turn around," she said. "This really makes sense for me." Eckroth now is recruiting co-workers and others to become mentors.

This effort builds on the success of the Promising Artists in Recovery program that is still going strong in Snohomish County. 

Earlier this month, the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), published a guide detailing a drug abuse approach that goes way beyond "Just Say No!" The guide, "Presents research-based principles of adolescent substance use disorder treatment; covers treatment for a variety of drugs including, illicit and prescription drugs, alcohol, and tobacco; presents settings and evidence-based approaches unique to treating adolescents." Via the report:

People are most likely to begin abusing drugs—including tobacco, alcohol, and illegal and prescription drugs—during adolescence and young adulthood.
By the time they are seniors, almost 70 percent of high school students will have tried alcohol, half will have taken an illegal drug, nearly 40 percent will have smoked a cigarette, and more than 20 percent will have used a prescription drug for a nonmedical purpose.1 There are many reasons adolescents use these substances, including the desire for new experiences, an attempt to deal with problems or perform better in school, and simple peer pressure. Adolescents are “biologically wired” to seek new experiences and take risks, as well as to carve out their own identity. Trying drugs may fulfill all of these normal developmental drives, but in an unhealthy way that can have very serious long-term consequences.
Many factors influence whether an adolescent tries drugs, including the availability of drugs within the neighborhood, community, and school and whether the adolescent’s friends are using them. The family environment is also important: Violence, physical or emotional abuse, mental illness, or drug use in the household increase the likelihood an adolescent will use drugs. Finally, an adolescent’s inherited genetic vulnerability; personality traits like poor impulse control or a high need for excitement; mental health conditions such as depression, anxiety, or ADHD; and beliefs such as that drugs are “cool” or harmless make it more likely that an adolescent will use drugs.

Get the full publication on DrugAbuse.gov >>

 Note: this post originally appeared on JJIE.org and is reprinted with their permission.
One of the most effective and long-running efforts to change both policies and practices in juvenile justice is Reclaiming Futures, housed at the Regional Research Institute for Human Services of the School of Social Work at Portland State University in Oregon. The organization began in 2001 with a $21 million grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and initially went to work in 10 communities.
Now they are active in 39 communities in 18 states. Their six-step model tracks various phases of youth involvement with the justice system and brings together “judges, probation officers, substance abuse treatment professionals and community members” to provide the services that kids need to address their needs and make the community safer.
The main focus of the approach is treating substance abuse, a behavior strongly linked to youth crime and delinquency. The six steps seek to identify drug and alcohol use early on in the youth’s encounter with the justice system, then ensure quality treatment, support and transition back to everyday life.
Since its beginning, Reclaiming Futures has been dedicated to data collection and evaluation, and independent analysis of the founding communities has shown improvement in quality of service, improved efficiency of service delivery, improved outcomes for kids and an overall savings when compared to more traditional approaches.
The current director, Susan Richardson, wrote a post last week entitled “How to Help More Kids in 2014.” She writes: “Did you know that 343,000 teens are arrested each year in the United States for drug and alcohol related crimes, yet only one in 16 teens who need treatment receive it?” Problems like this are at the heart of what Reclaiming Futures seek to change. All too often the facts have little to do with how youth crime and delinquency are addressed.
With a commitment to processes and interventions that work, and that are both trackable and repeatable, Reclaiming Futures has made a deep and sustainable impact on the communities where their approach has been implemented. Let’s hope their work is spread further around the country in the coming year.

Note: this piece originally appeared on Huffington Post
Abuse of prescription (Rx) medications, particularly of Rx opioids (medicines that treat pain), continues to be one of the nation's most concerning health problems. Mistakenly, many adolescents believe that Rx opioids are safe because they are prescribed by a doctor. But when abused, they can be as potent and as deadly as heroin. In fact, many teens and young adults who abuse Rx opioids move on to heroin abuse. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention calls prescription drug abuse an "epidemic," and we see it as a public health issue that disproportionately impacts our kids.
But Rx opioid or heroin abuse does not have to be lethal. There are behavioral and pharmacological treatments that can save lives and bring even seriously addicted kids into long-term recovery. The problem is that many treatment programs have chosen to either rely on only behavioral treatments or only medications; and most physicians do not have sufficient training in either medication or behavioral therapy to provide effective treatment. So, when parents find themselves at the critical crossroads of what to do for an opiate-addicted child, what can they do to get help? What are our doctors providing, or even offering, to them?
While no one treatment approach is right for every teen, it is clinically sensible -- but not easy -- to find comprehensive care. We tell families to look for three things: First, the availability of professional counseling; second, medications and regular monitoring for the affected teen; and finally, family therapy to help that teen.
Teens who abuse opioids require professional counseling, combined with regular monitoring, as a minimum requirement of effective treatment. Their families can also benefit from professional therapy, helping them better understand the basis of their teen's addiction. This therapy can help both them and their child create a practical plan to recovery.

Juvenile Justice Reform

• Black Girls Disproportionately Confined; Struggle for Dignity in Juvenile Court Schools (New Pittsburgh Courier)
  African American girls continue to be disproportionately over-represented among girls in confinement and court-ordered residential placements. They are also significantly over-represented among girls who experience exclusionary discipline, such as out-of-school suspensions, expulsions, and other punishment.
• Teen-Produced Video Highlights Campaign to ‘Raise the Age’ (JJIE.org)
  Last summer, a group of teens enrolled in a program at the New York Center for Juvenile Justice decided to take on what they see as an unfair practice in a recently released video called “Because I’m 16.”
  “Because I’m 16, I can’t drive at night,” a teen says as the video begins. It lists other things you can’t do as a 16-year-old -- drink, smoke, buy a lottery ticket, see an R-rated movie.
• Reforming the Juvenile Justice System Could Save Hawaii Millions (CivilBeat.com)
  Hawaii is spending nearly $200,000 per bed per year to house juvenile offenders, most of whom got in trouble for non-violent low-level crimes. But the state could save millions of dollars a year by focusing only on the most serious offenders and putting the savings back into the community to help with mental health and substance abuse programs for young offenders, juvenile justice experts say.
• Confronting Bias in the Juvenile Justice System (JJIE.org)
  In the ABC News video, the white youth and the black youth both appear to be trying to do the same thing: steal a bike in broad daylight in a community park. But the two actors playing thieves, both filmed by hidden cameras at different times, get decidedly different reactions from passers-by.