Blog: News

• Something to think about the next time you drug test a youth: one in five teens share prescription drugs (and so do 40% of adults). 
• Making methamphetamine is now easier, thanks to the growing popularity of an alternate, "shake and bake" method. It's easier for addicts to make in small batches and requires only a small amount of pseudophedrine to manufacture -- well under the mandatory limits set in place several years ago to halt meth's spread.  

• Juvenile justice reform seemed to be on the mind of The New York Times last week, at least judging by its article documenting the increasing burden placed on the juvenile justice system by growing numbers of mentally ill youth, which was closely followed by an editorial bluntly favoring juvenile detention reform. Meanwhile, Barbara Ehrenreich, in a long op-ed on the criminalization of poverty, condemned recent trends to criminalize and fine kids for truancy. 

• Children and Juvenile Justice: Proposals for Improvements is the title of a new report from the Council of Europe's Commissioner for Human Rights. (If that interests you, you might also want to see this 2007 summary of trends in juvenile justice systems across 15 countries.)
• 13 Myths and Facts about Drug Abuse and Treatment - an excellent short document from the Partnership for a Drug-Free America.

• Teens 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.)
  • UPDATE Feb. 2, 2011: A&E's recent reality TV show, "Beyond Scared Straight," actually increases teens' contact with adult prison inmates in an attempt to terrify them into “going straight." Maybe the producer's didn't read the above study, which indicates that contact with the justice system increases teen recidivism. Check out these facts about the program from the Coalition for Juvenile Justice (CJJ).

• Do 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.  

About six weeks ago, I noted that MSNBC was going to air six episodes on the Lake County, Indiana juvenile justice system on its show, "Lockup."
In an unusual move, the judge in Lake County gave MSNBC full access to film the youth. I haven't seen the show, but here's a local review [removed because of dead link]. You can catch a riveting -- and heartbreaking -- 5-minute trailer for "Lake County Juvenile Justice here.
Has anyone had a chance to see the actual show? Leave a comment and let us know what you thought. 

• Charging families for detained children? That's what San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom is proposing, along with a host of other fees, to balance the city budget. Although the fees would be waived for foster children and families making 30% or less of the local median income, the proposal has come under serious fire from the City Supervisor.
• Three youth in the Baltimore City Juvenile Justice facility have swine flu, and 18 other youth and two staff members are showing flu symptoms as well. Does your facility have a plan for what it would do in a similar situation? June 21st UPDATE: six youth at a Louisiana juvenile justice facility have come down with the flu. It's not clear if they're suffering from swine flu, but officials took the precaution of suspending weekend visitation to prevent the flu from spreading.

Training

• Trying to engage your community? You might be interested in this training on asset-based community development, to be held September 10-12, 2009, in Chicago.

News

• Here's another way of looking at a report we posted about last week from the Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA): 95.6% - an estimated $357.4 billion -- of federal and state substance abuse spending in 2005 went to dealing with the costs of addiction, rather than treatment or prevention. Guess what would be cheaper ...

• The Center for Study of Social Policy has posted a new database tracking juvenile justice legislation from around the country.
• Here's a handy tax calculator from the Marin Institute, to help policymakers easily determine the potential financial impacts of raising alcohol taxes at the state or national level.