Blog: Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment

New Research Shows More Than Half of Teens With Mental Health Disorders Do Not Receive Treatment

According to a recent blog post on Drugfree.org, over half of teens with mental health disorders don't receive the treatment they need. Via the post: 

“It’s still the case in this country that people don’t take psychiatric conditions as seriously as they should,” lead researcher E. Jane Costello of Duke University said in a news release. “This, despite the fact that these conditions are linked to a whole host of other problems.”
Overall, in the past year, 45 percent of teens with psychiatric disorders received some form of service. The most likely to receive help were those with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (74 percent), conduct disorder (73 percent) or oppositional defiant disorder (71 percent). Those least likely to receive services were those with phobias (41 percent) and any anxiety disorder (41 percent). Black teens were much less likely than white teens to receive mental health treatment.
There are not enough qualified pediatric mental health professionals in the United States, Costello said. “We need to train more child psychiatrists in this country,” she noted. “And those individuals need to be used strategically, as consultants to the school counselors and others who do the lion’s share of the work.”

See the detailed analysis in the Psychiatric Services journal >>

Economics Alone Supports Juvenile Justice Reform; News Roundup

Juvenile Justice Reform

  • [OP-ED] Economics Alone Supports Juvenile Justice Reform (TheNewsStar.com)
    "Locking up a juvenile is estimated to cost between $50,000 and $100,000 a year, while treating one at a community-based center is estimated by the Juvenile Justice Project to cost about $5,000."
  • Talking Juvenile Justice: A Webinar with Photographer Richard Ross (JJIE.org)
    On Monday, November 18th JJIE hosted a webinar with Richard Ross -- a photographer, researcher and professor of art based in Santa Barbara, California. Ross has been the recipient of grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Annie E. Casey Foundation, Fulbright, and the Center for Cultural Innovation.
  • Racial Disparities in Juvenile Justice System Addressed (TheMiddletownPress.com)
    To illustrate the stark racial disparities in Connecticut’s juvenile justice system, think about this: While non-white kids make up 57 percent of the patients at Riverview Hospital, a youth psychiatric facility, non-white kids at the Connecticut Juvenile Training School, a secure facility for delinquents, make up 86 percent of the kids serving there. It’s a reality that child advocates, city officials and roughly 100 residents gathered to discuss Wednesday.
  • [OP-ED] Spotlight on Solano: Youth Thrive Through County Innovation (JJIE.org)
    Today, juvenile justice reform and innovation is underway in California and nationwide. The Missouri and Washington models of juvenile justice programming are renowned, as they should be. They present a much-needed road map for other jurisdictions strategizing for systemic change. However, California may not need to look so far away to find the answers. With 58 counties, California is a hotbed of innovation, and Solano County is forging the way.

Supporting Systems Change in Reclaiming Futures Communities

Reclaiming Futures has helped communities break the cycle of drugs, alcohol and crime for more than 10 years. But how exactly does Reclaiming Futures accomplish systems change? We sat down with National Executive Director Susan Richardson to discuss the model and benefits of becoming a Reclaiming Futures site.
Lori Howell (LH): What makes Reclaiming Futures successful in a variety of communities across the country?  
Susan J. Richardson (SJR): Reclaiming Futures offers powerful tools and resources to communities helping teens overcome drugs, alcohol and crime. We work to improve drug, alcohol and mental health treatment and connect teens to positive activities and caring adults.
LH: That sounds like quite a feat! How do you accomplish this? 
SJR: Reclaiming Futures unites juvenile courts, probation, adolescent substance abuse treatment, teen mental health treatment and the community to reclaim youth.

LH: Please tell us about the Reclaiming Futures model.
SJR:  The proven six-step Reclaiming Futures model unites juvenile courts, probation, adolescent substance abuse treatment, and the community to reclaim youth. Together this leadership team works for change to improve drug, alcohol and mental health treatment for teens and connect them to positive activities and caring adults.
LH: Please tell me more about the leadership team and how it functions.
SJR: The Reclaiming Futures Change Teams are organized into five groups: Judicial, Juvenile Justice, Substance Abuse Treatment, Community, and Project Director Fellowships. This change team also represents their local community at national Reclaiming Futures meetings. In addition to regular conference calls, each Fellowship has an annual meeting with their colleagues. Both the calls and meetings provide opportunities for Fellows to discuss implementation issues, professional topics, and seek the advice and support of colleagues as they work to implement the Reclaiming Futures model at the local level.

[Video] What is Juvenile Indigent Defense? News Roundup

Juvenile Justice Reform

  • [Video] What is Juvenile Indigent Defense? (JJIE.org)
    On November 11th, JJIE rolled out the next section of our juvenile justice resource hub on juvenile indigent defense. To kick start the launch, JJIE led a compelling and informative live group video chat with key players in the Juvenile Indigent Defense reform movement—exploring youth’s rights and access to quality council and defense when they find themselves in court.
  • Proposed Reforms to Juvenile Representation Stir Concerns in Colorado (The Denver Post)
    Criminal justice experts are questioning whether proposed reforms requiring youth offenders to have attorneys are really necessary — or if the system can even afford it. Legislation on juvenile representation — including one provision requiring juveniles to have legal counsel at detention hearings — will be proposed in January when state lawmakers convene.
  • Criminal Case Puts Focus on Bullying Laws (JJIE.org)
    Once considered a teenage rite of passage, bullying is now the subject of hundreds of state laws and a rallying cry for pundits, parents and celebrities.
  • Inside Heads and Cells of Juvenile Offenders: New Philly Art Exhibit Showcases and Helps Youth (Philly.com)
    What was originally conceived as a locally-staged art exhibition highlighting the need for reforms to the nation's juvenile justice system has snowballed into something much more. At nonprofit arts organization and studio space InLiquid, housed inside Kensington's Crane Arts building, hundreds of youths will this month receive the opportunity to have their juvenile records expunged, while hundreds more will be provided with resources about diversionary programming that could potentially save them from having to face the issue, in the first place.

Study: Many Convicted Juveniles Say They Falsely Admitted Crime; News Roundup

Juvenile Justice Reform

  • Study: Many Convicted Juveniles Say They Falsely Admitted Crime (JJIE.org)
    More than a third of juveniles convicted of serious crimes said in a recent study they had falsely admitted to a crime they did not commit. The study, which appeared in the journal “Law and Human Behavior,” focused on 193 males aged 14 to 17 incarcerated in a California juvenile justice facility.
  • Our Views: Give More Teens Second Chances in Juvenile Court (GazetteXtra.com)
    Wisconsin should give 17-year-old nonviolent first-time offenders a break. Instead of sending them to adult court and risking higher levels of recidivism, the state should keep these low-level offenders in the juvenile justice system, where they can get the help they might need.
  • South Florida Squeezes School-to-Prison Pipeline (JJIE.org)
    South Florida’s Broward County School Board voted unanimously to sign new rules, written by many hands, which are meant to drive down arrests and their unintended consequences in the state’s second most populous school district. The Nov. 5 Memorandum of Understanding approved by the school board has its signatories promise “appropriate responses and use of resources when responding to school-based misbehavior.”
  • Debate Over Role Of Government In Juvenile Justice System (WCTV.tv)
    More than 58,000 delinquents were arrested between 2011 and 2012, according to Florida's Department of Juvenile Justice. Because of those staggering numbers, The James Madison Institute hosted a debate at the Challenger Learning Center tonight.

What Role Does Race Play in Juvenile Justice? News Roundup

Juvenile Justice Reform

  • Juvenile Justice Reform Pays, in Dollars and Sense (Ledger-Enquirer)
    One eye-popping number: The Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice says the state can save more than $90,000 for every child -- every child -- that doesn't have to be placed in a juvenile detention center. So said political, law enforcement and judicial officials in a town-hall panel discussion at the Augusta Library Headquarters.
  • New Coalition to Focus on Juvenile Justice in Jacksonville (Jacksonville.com)
    More than two dozen Northeast Florida elected officials, churches, advocacy groups and policy organizations are joining forces to put a stop to the criminalization of first-time juvenile offenders accused of committing misdemeanors.
  • Georgia Closing Juvenile Prison With Nation’s Highest Rate of Sexual Victimization (JJIE.org)
    A Georgia youth prison, recently found by a federal study to have the highest rate in the nation of sexual victimization of incarcerated youth, will close at the end of the year, the state Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) announced Monday.
  • What Role Does Race Play in Juvenile Justice? Youth Forum Tackles Subject (Middletown-CT.Patch.com)
    The Connecticut Juvenile Justice Alliance, Middletown Mayor Dan Drew and young people will explore solutions to racial disparity to promote equality for Connecticut young people in the system.

OP-ED: Girls in the System Need More of Our Support; News Roundup

Juvenile Justice Reform

  • In ‘Vernon’s World,’ a Young Photographer Documents the Life of a Homeless Teenager (JJIE.org)
    Unaccustomed to the cold, hard floor in his spot next to the door of the public bathrooms in Trenton, Missouri, Sam Wilson, 22, slept badly. In a stall next to him, Vernon Foster, 18, didn’t have the same trouble. By the time Foster woke, Wilson had been in a state somewhere between sleep and wakefulness for hours, apologizing to the morning walkers as they filtered through the bathroom, surprised to see two young boys asleep on the floor.
  • Mandatory Sentencing 17 year-olds in Adult Court - Is There a Better Alternative for Wisconsin's Youth and Taxpayers? (MacIver Institute)
    In the United States, there is a wide consensus that children differ from adults. The very fact that each of the 50 states and Washington, D.C. have institutions designed to render judgment on cases and administer justice outside of the adult criminal court speaks to this critical distinction.
  • OP-ED: Girls in the System Need More of Our Support (JJIE.org)
    "I just returned from the Adult and Juvenile Female Offenders Conference in Portland, Maine, where Piper Kerman, author of the memoir 'Orange Is the New Black,' -- the inspiration for the wildly successful Netflix series of the same name -- gave the keynote address to the 400 or so attendees all with some connection to the offender population."
  • Florida's Juvenile Justice Department Seeking Reform Suggestions (WJHG.com)
    Gulf County residents sat quietly as Department of Juvenile Justice Secretary Wansley Walters talked about a major change, focusing more on prevention programs. "These problems that allow people to become violent and so disregard authority and commit crimes and know that they're committing crimes, these things don't happen in a day," said Secretary Wansley Walters of the Department of Juvenile Justice.

Webinar October 29: Deliver Scientific Facts About Drug Abuse to Teens

Do you need help talking to teens about the effects of drug abuse on the brain, body and behavior? If so, we have good news: you're invited to a free webinar on October 29.
Deliver the Scientific Facts About Drug Abuse to Teens During National Drug Facts Week, hosted by Reclaiming Futures, presented by the National Institute on Drug Abuse.
Presenters
Sheri Grabus, Ph.D., Acting Press Officer, National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)
LaTonya Harris, Project Director, Reclaiming Futures Lucas County, Ohio
When: Tuesday, October 29, 2013 from 1:00-2:00 p.m. (EST)
You'll learn how to shatter the myths about drugs and drug addiction, like: 

  • “Marijuana isn’t addictive”
  • “Prescription drugs aren’t dangerous because we get them from doctors”
  • “Using drugs that aren’t prescribed to you is legal and you can’t get in trouble from it”
  • “Treatment doesn’t work”

Nearly Half of U.S. States Enact Juvenile Justice Reforms; News Roundup

Juvenile Justice Reform

  • Nearly Half of U.S. States Enact Juvenile Justice Reforms (JJIE.org)
    Nearly half of U.S. states have made great strides in the past eight years toward reducing the prosecution of juveniles in the adult criminal justice system or preventing youths from being placed in adult jails and prisons, a report released Thursday found.
  • ‘Raise the Age’ Advocates Tout New Report on Juvenile Justice (NewsObserver.com)
    The NC Insider is reporting that advocates for raising the age at which North Carolinians are tried in adult courts are touting a new national study that notes that 48 other states have enacted legislation to prevent older teenagers from being prosecuted in adult courts.
  • When Babysitting Joins Forces With Zero Tolerance (JJIE.org)
    Sometimes on a Friday night, when there’s nothing better to do and the streets are quiet, indigenous kids in this town 100km (some 60 miles) north-east of Perth, Western Australia, might hang out at the local police station. They’re often not there by choice, but they don’t really mind sticking around either.
  • Florida Struggles To Craft Juvenile Sentencing Policy (Miami.CBSLocal.com)
    As state legislators have tried and failed to craft a juvenile-sentencing law that conforms to landmark U.S. Supreme Court rulings, a national advocacy group is calling Florida a “clear outlier” among states for its hard-line approach to trying juveniles as adults.

Six Steps to Break the Cycle of Drugs, Alcohol and Crime

Nearly 1 in 5 youth (17%) at the door of the juvenile justice system meet criteria for substance abuse disorders; in detention, 39% do. According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, only 1 in 16 young people with substance abuse disorders get into treatment
That's unfortunate, because while we need to hold teens accountable for their actions, simply locking them up does not work.
Effective adolescent substance abuse treatment can help teens stay out of trouble, make our communities safer, and save money.
The Reclaiming Futures model unites juvenile courts, probation, adolescent substance abuse treatment, and the community to reclaim youth. Together, they work to improve drug and alcohol treatment and connect teens to positive activities and caring adults.
Please call 503-725-8911 to learn how to bring the six steps of the Reclaiming Futures to your community:

Free Drug Facts Webinar October 29; News Roundup

Juvenile Justice Reform

  • Justice Department Pushes New Thinking on Kids and Crime (npr.org)
    Robert L. Listenbee, administrator of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, advocates for understanding adolescent brain development to stop what experts describe as a "school-to-prison pipeline."
  • Bipartisan Support for Criminal Justice Reform (vera.org)
    The current moment of government shutdown might seem the antithesis to bipartisanship. But one area in which bipartisanship is in evidence might offer some hope: criminal justice reform.
  • Nearly Half of U.S. States Enact Juvenile Justice Reforms (jjie.org)
    A new report from the Washington-based Campaign for Youth Justice finds that nearly half of U.S. states have made great strides in the past eight years toward reducing the prosecution of juveniles in the adult criminal justice system or preventing youths from being placed in adult jails and prisons.

Let’s Unite to Stop Bullying and Build Healthier Communities

The national program staff of Reclaiming Futures, communities helping teens overcome drugs, alcohol and crime, is sporting orange today and celebrating some superstars in support of Unity Day and National Bully Prevention Month.
In 37 communities across the country, Reclaiming Futures experiences the excitement of helping kids build positive outcomes. But, without support for physical, social and emotional development, young people can run into problems, like bullying and substance abuse. Research shows a clear link between the two:

Because of the relationship between emotional health and substance abuse, we’re always cheering on colleagues who are working with young people and helping break the cycle early on.
Today we’re sending special kudos to Playworks, for empowering school staff and proactively managing students to reduce bullying behavior.
We are grateful to Playworks and all organizations that raise awareness and inspire action to prevent bullying and build healthier kids, communities and schools. Keep up the good work!

Fitness Program Encourages Healthy Lifestyle in Hocking County Juvenile Justice

Preventing drug use before it begins, especially among our youth, is a cost-effective way to reduce substance abuse and its negative consequences. A great way to achieve this is by encouraging an overall healthy lifestyle, which is exactly what the Hocking County Juvenile Court (HCJC) did this summer in Ohio.
HCJC partnered with North’s Fitness Center, a local gym, to invite 14 court-involved young people to exercise in their facility at no cost for the duration of the six-week summer program called “Crush-It Fitness”.
Similar to programs like SPORT and InShape, Hocking County’s Crush-It Fitness was designed to channel the youth’s free time into something positive and guide them toward a healthier lifestyle—a tactic that can be very effective to prevent substance abuse and reduce recidivism.
A celebration ceremony was held on Sept. 12, 2013 to recognize the young people who completed the program. They received t-shirts and positive affirmations. Participants gave mixed reviews on the program—mandating exercise is tough business! But, a combination of logistic and planning feedback came in that will help Hocking County succeed if they continue the “Crush-It Fitness” program in summer 2014.

Complex Trauma Among Youth; News Roundup

Juvenile Justice Reform

  • Complex Trauma Among Youth in the Juvenile Justice System: Impact and Implications (Corrections.com)
    Youth who have experienced complex trauma—repeated and various forms of victimization, life-threatening accidents or disasters, and interpersonal losses at an early age or for prolonged periods—have difficulties forming attachments with caregivers and self-regulating emotions.
  • Family Seeks Change in Law to Protect Students (JJIE.org)
    The government has a duty to protect prisoners from harm. It also has a duty to protect people who have been involuntarily committed for mental health treatment. Yet that same duty doesn’t apply to the government when it comes to protecting students in school, according to case law.
  • Grant to Help Men Leaving Juvenile Justice System (The Boston Herald)
    The U.S. Labor Department is giving Massachusetts an $11.7 million grant for a project to increase employment and reduce repeat crimes for men leaving the state's juvenile justice system. The grant will first go to serve 535 men ages 16-22 in Chelsea and Springfield who are leaving the juvenile justice system. It will provide education and pre-vocational training to help them get jobs.
  • When Young Offenders–and Their Teacher–Say Goodbye (Kids in the System Blog)
    Last month, due to a lack of funding, the juvenile lock-up where I taught a weekly “life skills” workshop was shuttered. According to my very rough calculation, in the year that I worked there I had about 400 young men of all races and socioeconomic backgrounds pass through my group. Of those, about half came and went frequently, often gone for a couple of months to less than a week, and then re-offended to find themselves right back where they started.

Underage Suspects Are Apt to Confess to Crimes They Didn’t Commit. Here’s Why; News Roundup

Juvenile Justice Reform

  • Underage Suspects Are Apt to Confess to Crimes They Didn’t Commit. Here’s Why. (Slate.com)
    Why so many false confessions? Juvenile suspects are generally more deferential to authority—at least in the context of a police interrogation—and less likely to understand the consequences of confessing to something they didn’t do.
  • [OPINION] Time to Affirm What We Mean by ‘Juvenile’ (The New York Times)
    Recent Supreme Court rulings on juvenile sentencing raise issues that go beyond what’s at stake in Miller v. Alabama. They also present an opportunity to affirm what we mean by “juvenile.” New York State may soon be the only state in the country that processes all youth as young as 16 in the criminal justice system, regardless of the severity of the offense.
  • Health and Incarceration: A Workshop Summary (Robert Wood Johnson Foundation)
    The health disparities that exist in our communities are concentrated in the population that cycles in and out of our jails and prisons. Justice-involved populations have very high rates of physical illness, mental illness, and substance use disorders. And their health problems have significant impacts on the communities from which they come and to which, in nearly all cases, they will return.
  • [OPINION] A Court Just for Juveniles in N.Y. (The New York Times)
    Teenagers prosecuted in adult courts or who do time in adult jails fare worse in life and can go on to commit more violent crimes than those who are handled by the juvenile justice system. Neuroscience research has found that these young offenders don’t weigh risks the way adults do, making them prone to rash judgments that can land them in trouble with the law.

Teens' Photovoices Celebrate Recovery Month


It's not too late to add your voice in support of National Recovery Month 2013 and promote the benefits of prevention, treatment and recovery for mental and substance use disorders.
Forsyth County Reclaiming Futures is leading the way this September in Winston-Salem, N.C. with:

I encourage you to visit Facebook to see the powerful images of teens' choices, their motivations for recovery and hopes for the future.

Juvenile Life Without Parole: The Confusion Remains; News Roundup

Juvenile Justice Reform

  • OP-ED: Digging up the Past (JJIE.org & The Miami Herald)
    Sometimes, only by unearthing the skeletons of a tortured past can they be given a proper burial. That is what is happening in Marianna, in North Florida, literally and figuratively. A team of researchers, including anthropologists, archeologists, students and police detectives are searching, painstakingly, for the remains of young boys once confined to the Dozier School for Boys.
  • Wisconsin Considers Keeping Non-Violent Teen Offenders In Juvenile Court (Wisconsin Public Radio News)
    Wisconsin is moving slowly towards changing the age at which teenagers are automatically treated as adults when they commit a crime. A bill introduced Thursday would allow 17-year-olds who commit nonviolent crimes to be tried in juvenile court.
  • OP-ED: Juvenile Life Without Parole: The Confusion Remains (JJIE.org)
    "Last June, on the day the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Miller v. Alabama, I spoke to a long-time advocate for the elimination of juvenile life without parole. Like a lot of people, I was pleased with the ruling, and saw it as a victory not only for activists but for science-based research into the juvenile brain."

Get Involved in Recovery Month


Recovery Month promotes the societal benefits of prevention, treatment, and recovery for mental and substance use disorders, celebrates people in recovery, lauds the contributions of treatment and service providers, and promotes the message that recovery in all its forms is possible.
What are you doing to help spread the positive message that behavioral health is essential to overall health, that prevention works, treatment is effective and people can and do recover?
It's not too late. Add your community's voice to the celebration now at Recoverymonth.gov. You'll find the following helpful resources:

  • Proclamations
  • Press materials
  • Fast facts, glossaries and guides
  • Infographics

New Hope – Health Care for Justice-Involved Youth; News Roundup

Juvenile Justice Reform

  • Years Later, Mother and Daughter Still Scarred By Teen Boot Camp Experiences (JJIE.org)
    Nicole’s story is one demonstrating both how far -- and how little -- mental health treatment in the nation’s juvenile justice systems have progressed. In a state fraught with Department of Youth Services troubles, she did not receive intensive treatment or rehabilitative services when she entered Alabama’s juvenile justice system.
  • A Court to Give Juveniles a Chance (Tampa Bay Times)
    "Plenty of kids who commit serious crimes deserve adult court and adult sanctions. Others — like juveniles who end up there because a co-defendant qualifies for adult court — might be salvageable. As Judge Stoddard put it: 'Some kids have burned all their bridges. Some kids haven't had the opportunity.'"
  • OP-ED: New Hope – Health Care for Justice-Involved Youth (JJIE.org)
    "We may not all become astronauts, actresses or the next NBA all-star, but the beliefs we have in ourselves during childhood are often reflections of the paths we take into adulthood. For this reason it is important for the health of a society to nurture, respect and enrich its youth."
  • Courts Split Over Ruling on Juvenile Life Sentences (The Wall Street Journal)
    Jeffrey Ragland, sentenced to life without parole in 1986 for his involvement in the killing of a fellow teen with a tire-iron blow to the head, could soon be a free man. That outcome is the result of a ruling by the Iowa Supreme Court last month that found the sentence handed down to Mr. Ragland, now 44 years old, unconstitutional.

Save the Date: National Drug Facts Week 2014

 January 27-February 2, 2014. Register to host an educational event in your community. Get started now with FREE materials!Editor's Update:
Please join us for a free webinar October 29, 2013, 10 am (PDT)/1 pm (EDT):
Deliver the Scientific Facts About Drug Abuse to Teens During National Drug Facts Week, hosted by Reclaiming Futures, presented by the National Institute on Drug Abuse

The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) invites you to participate in National Drug Facts Week, a national health observance from January 27 to February 2, 2014, now in its 4th year. NIDA, part of the National Institutes of Health, developed National Drug Facts Week to get the science out to teens about the effects of drug use on the brain and body through community-based events and activities to help shatter their myths about drug abuse and addiction.
Reclaiming Futures supports National Drug Facts Week and encourages you to work with local youth, schools, juvenile justice programs, and prevention coalitions to organize an educational event or activity for teens that delivers real, factual information about drugs and drug abuse.
Here’s how you can get involved:

  • Share this information with your networks and encourage their participation, www.drugfactsweek.drugabuse.gov
  • Beginning September 9, register to organize an educational event or activity for youth during National Drug Facts Week
  • Promote through social media with sample messages, provided by NIDA, about National Drug Facts Week and the scientific facts about drug abuse

To help you plan, NIDA provides a step-by-step toolkit, which includes a list of suggested activities, and a free drug facts booklet, which you can distribute at your event. 
For more information about National Drug Facts Week (January 27 to February 2, 2014), contact Brian Marquis at bmarquis@nida.nih.gov or register for the free webinar on October 29, 2013.

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