Blog: News

Trying to Fix America's Broken Juvenile Justice System; News Roundup

Juvenile Justice Reform

  • Trying to Fix America's Broken Juvenile Justice System (Rolling Stone)
    As Congress begins its new session, youth advocates are looking forward to the passage of a bipartisan bill that would strengthen protections for young people involved in the juvenile justice system.
  • Whistleblowers Say DOJ Grants Failed To Protect Kids Behind Bars (NPR)
    There's new scrutiny this year on a federal program that's supposed to protect juveniles in the criminal justice system. Senate lawmakers want to pass a bill that would ensure young people are not locked up alongside adult offenders — and they're quietly investigating the use of federal grant money for the program.
  • New Campaign Seeks to Sharply Reduce Youth Incarceration (JJIE)
    The Youth First! Initiative — founded by longtime juvenile justice advocate Liz Ryan — will also seek to reduce rampant racial and ethnic disparities in juvenile incarceration.

Jobs, Grants, Events and Webinars

  • Please share the Reclaiming Futures Opportunity Board with your colleagues in the juvenile justice, adolescent substance abuse and teen mental health areas. It's free to browse and post!

Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment and Mental Health

  • UF study of drug users finds people with ADHD started using at younger age (UFL News)
    Adults with a history of ADHD who use drugs started using substances one to two years earlier than those with no ADHD history, according to a new University of Florida study. The findings highlight the need for earlier substance-use-prevention interventions in adolescents with ADHD, researchers say.
  • Teens in more control during school-based suicide prevention (The Globe and Mail)
    Dr. Danuta Wasserman, a professor of psychiatry at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden, said the program was likely successful because students “felt that the power of mastering their feelings, coping with stress and choosing solutions was in their hands and not decided or forced by adults.”
  • Teen ‘Pharming’ Is a Rising Concern (Psych Central)
    A new review suggests new initiatives are needed to address the rise of “pharming,” or recreational use and abuse of prescription drugs, among teenagers.

Introducing Candice Moore as New North Carolina Project Director

Formerly a project director for the Crossroads site in North Carolina (representing Surry, Iredell, and Yadkin Counties), Candice Moore will lead North Carolina’s State Reclaiming Futures Office, which currently includes 14 Reclaiming Futures sites in 29 counties.

Moore’s professional experience with Reclaiming Futures stretches back to when she was oneCandice Moore of the original grant writers that helped lay the groundwork for the model in the Crossroads site.

In 2008, with investment from the Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust (KBR), North Carolina established a six site Reclaiming Futures pilot. Due to the progress made by these sites, North Carolina established a public-private partnership with support from the NC Division of Juvenile Justice, KBR and the Governor’s Crime Commission to launch the first state office of Reclaiming Futures. In 2013, The Duke Endowment funded four additional sites and KBR funded two more.

As a project director for Reclaiming Futures’ Crossroads site, Moore worked with both urban and rural sites, three different judicial districts, multiple judges and more than 10 providers.

“That really taught me how to maneuver and facilitate multiple sites. My work as a project director showed me how to pull people together and be an effective boundary-spanner,” explains Moore. Prior to her work with Reclaiming Futures, Moore worked on the juvenile justice side as a court counselor, which has also strengthened her collaboration with counselors now.

The state office will continue to be stationed in Raleigh, where Moore will spend part of her time, but she will lead the bulk of the work from her office in Winston-Salem, where KBR and the evaluation team are also situated.

Moore will be accompanied by a new second position that will focus on data management and quality improvement for juvenile justice and Reclaiming Futures in North Carolina.

“My goals for my new position are to ensure that the features of the Reclaiming Futures model are institutionalized across the state of North Carolina—meaning that we set comprehensive training plans, strengthen partnerships among our agencies, ensure fidelity, measure outcomes, and implement evidence-based practices,” explains Moore. “Once we establish that, the long-range plan is to expand the model to all 100 North Carolina counties.”

Below is a snapshot of the impact of North Carolina sites since January 2013:

  • 7,888 (82.6% of eligible youth) were screened using the GAIN-SS
  • 906 youth completed a full assessment (80% indicated the need for treatment)
  • 72.5% of youth in need of treatment successfully initiated treatment. 70% of those initiating treatment did so within the 14 days targeted by the model.
  • 86.4% of youth that initiated treatment fully engaged in services.
  • 35% of these youth discharged from treatment successfully completed treatment and 15% were referred for additional treatment

The improvement in local processes is resulting in positive outcomes for youth. Of youth discharged:

  • 61.3% were involved in pro-social activities
  • 85.3% had one or more positive adult relationship
  • 80.0% reduced or abstained from substance use
  • 71.0% improved mental health functioning

We’re thrilled to welcome Candice into her new role leading the State Office for Reclaiming Futures in North Carolina, and look forward to continuing the positive momentum she and her predecessor Jessica Jones put into motion.

Public Health Approach Being Adapted for Kids in Trouble with Substances, the Law; News Roundup

Juvenile Justice Reform

  • New York Under Pressure For Locking Up Teens In Adult Prisons (KQED)
    New York is one of only two states that still locks up 16- and 17-year-olds in adult prisons. A commission report released this week found that those young people — most of them black and Hispanic — face a high risk of assault and victimization behind bars and an increased risk of suicide. Gov. Andrew Cuomo now says he'll push the legislature to raise the age of adult incarceration to 18, a move that could mean the transfer of more than 800 teenagers out of state correctional facilities.

Jobs, Grants, Events and Webinars

  • Please share the Reclaiming Futures Opportunity Board with your colleagues in the juvenile justice, adolescent substance abuse and teen mental health areas. It's free to browse and post!

Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment and Mental Health

  • Parties hopeful meeting cleared air on youth drug court in Jacksonville (Jacksonville.com)
    A plan to improve years of low participation in Jacksonville’s juvenile drug court could be finalized in as little as 30 days. The federal government sent four experts to Jacksonville on Wednesday and Thursday to meet with key players in the court and help with program implementation.

New Cost-Benefit Analysis Toolkit to Help Evaluate Justice Policies & Programs

cbaA new toolkit, published by the Cost-Benefit Analysis Unit (CBAU) at the Vera Institute of Justice, will help guide government agencies as they assess their justice investments: Cost-Benefit Analysis and Justice Policy Toolkit.

Cost-benefit analysis (CBA) is an evaluation technique that compares the costs of programs with the benefits they deliver—allowing agencies to determine the best use of budget regarding justice policies and programs.

Advocates of juvenile justice reform can use CBA briefs to spark change, as the briefs can serve as concrete examples to share with policy and decision makers when encouraging investments.

This new toolkit outlines the six fundamental steps of conducting a CBA:

  1. Identify the investment’s potential impacts.
  2. Quantify the investment’s impacts.
  3. Determine marginal costs.
  4. Calculate costs, benefits, and net present value.
  5. Test the assumptions.
  6. Report the results.

The toolkit provides real word lessons and examples from six municipal, county, and state agencies in each step and is designed to guide justice analysts, especially those who are new to CBA.

Note: This project was supported by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Assistance.

Rikers to Ban Isolation for Inmates 21 and Younger; News Roundup

Juvenile Justice Reform

  • Program Strives To Keeps Kids Out Of Jail, Link Them To Services Instead (Hartford Courant)
    "The longer a child stays out of the juvenile justice system, the better the outcome is for that child," said Bernadette Conway, who is the state's chief administrative judge for juvenile matters." Avoidable school-based arrests needlessly deprive children of an optimum education and all too often grossly compromise a child's ability to succeed in life."
  • Rikers to Ban Isolation for Inmates 21 and Younger (New York Times)
    New York City officials agreed on Tuesday to a plan that would eliminate the use of solitary confinement for all inmates 21 and younger, a move that would place the long-troubled Rikers Island complex at the forefront of national jail reform efforts.

Jobs, Grants, Events and Webinars

  • Please share the Reclaiming Futures Opportunity Board with your colleagues in the juvenile justice, adolescent substance abuse and teen mental health areas. It's free to browse and post!

Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment and Mental Health

  • This Is What Happens When We Lock Children in Solitary Confinement (Mother Jones)
    While in isolation, Kenny—who was diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder prior to the sixth grade—wrote to his mother, Melissa Bucher, begging her to make the two-hour drive to visit him. "I don't feel like I'm going to make it anymore," he wrote. "I'm in seclusion so I can't call and I'm prolly going to be in here for a while. My mind is just getting to me in here."
  • Teens Influenced by Misconceptions of Their Peers (Medical News Today)
    Research published in Developmental Psychology suggests that teenagers tend to overestimate the amount of drugs and alcohol that their peers use, as well as underestimating the amount of studying and exercise they do.
  • Eight Local Health Providers, UWM Respond to Gun Violence at Schools (BizTimes.com)
    Through a federal grant created to help communities respond to gun violence at schools, eight regional behavioral health providers and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee are working to strengthen trauma and substance abuse counseling services for youth.

4 Things to Understand About Youth, Mental Health & Juvenile Justice; News Roundup

Juvenile Justice Reform

  • Study: Ohio Diversion Program Decreases Delinquency (JJIE)
    Most offenders ages 10 to 18 with mental health and behavioral problems who were diverted from detention centers to a treatment program in Ohio over an eight-year period showed decreases in future delinquency, a study shows.
  • Reducing Youth Incarceration in Rhode Island (Providence Journal)
    A new Justice Policy Institute report, Sticker Shock: Calculating the Full Price Tag of Youth Incarceration, shows that Rhode Island is one of 33 states that pay more than $100,000 to incarcerate a single young person for a year. In fiscal year 2013, the total was $186,000, about 13 times what it costs to educate a student for one year in Rhode Island.
  • Acting Juvenile Justice Director Picked for Post (Charlotte Observer)
    Haley spokeswoman Chaney Adams said Thursday that Sylvia Murray will head the agency that oversees about 140 prisoners and another 8,500 juveniles in other disciplinary programs. It has some 1,400 employees.

Jobs, Grants, Events and Webinars

  • Please share the Reclaiming Futures Opportunity Board with your colleagues in the juvenile justice, adolescent substance abuse and teen mental health areas. It's free to browse and post!

Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment and Mental Health

  • 4 Things to Understand About Youth, Mental Health & Juvenile Justice (Forbes)
    Currently, lack of capacity and resources contributes to high recidivism rates and skyrocketing taxpayer burden. As we enter a new year, with a new Congress, it is important as a country that we think about the mental, physical and financial health of our country’s most vulnerable individuals: children. Here are four things to understand about our juvenile justice system, and our children that live within the system.
  • Take Steps to Prevent Substance Abuse (Democrat & Chronicle)
    The National Institute on Drug Abuse reports that for every dollar invested in prevention, a savings of up to $10 in treatment can be seen. When substance abuse can be prevented altogether, however, the savings in human potential are exponential.

Topics: News

Five Reclaiming Futures Sites Chosen to Implement SBIRT

sites map

As a result of new funding from the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, five new Reclaiming Futures sites will pilot an innovative adaptation of Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) for adolescents.

We vetted 20 competitive applications and selected three existing Reclaiming Futures sites to add SBIRT: King County, Washington; Nassau County, New York; and Mecklenburg County, North Carolina.

We also chose two brand news sites to incorporate the Reclaiming Futures model with SBIRT included—Washington County, Oregon, and Chittenden County, Vermont—which brings our total number of sites since inception to 41.

Each of the five pilot sites will serve at least 100 youth over the course of three years. The target will be youth who show mild to moderate levels of substance use—a population that doesn’t often qualify for or seek treatment, but who are at high risk for developing worse substance abuse problems down the road. Clinical Director for this initiative, Evan Elkin, will design an engaging, teen-friendly one to five session intervention tailored for a juvenile justice setting that can be administered flexibly depending on the severity of the youth’s substance use.

Read more from Clinical Director Evan Elkin about the SBIRT pilot.

Reclaiming Futures Top Posts of 2014

Screen Shot 2014-12-18 at 1.29.44 PMTo celebrate 2014 as it comes to an end, here are Reclaiming Futures top five most popular blog posts of the year!

  1. Watch: PBS Documentary “15 to Life”
    A new PBS Documentary “15 to Life” takes a close look at one man’s story to combat his life sentence after being convicted at age 15. Though Kenneth Young was convicted more than a decade ago for armed robbery, the S. Supreme Court ruled four years ago that a life in prison sentence without parole for a juvenile offender in a non-homicide case was unconstitutional.
  1. For Young People Addicted to Painkillers, the Path Less Taken—Why?
    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.
  1. The Emotional State of Poverty: A Powerful Photo Essay
    As a native of Troy who struggled with teen pregnancy, drugs and an unstable living environment, Kenneally returned to her hometown after getting sober and studying photojournalism to capture what she experienced as an emotional state of poverty.
  1. End the Culture of Violence and Trauma: The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Wants Your Ideas
    The Juvenile Law Center, with support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, has released a report Trauma and Resiliencethat illustrates how systems and services can help children and families overcome the trauma they encounter.
  1. Principles of Adolescent Substance Use Disorder Treatment: A Research-Based Guide
    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."

Opportunity Board Roundup: Juvenile Justice Grants, Jobs, Webinars and Events

opportunityBelow you’ll find a selection of the latest grants, jobs, webinars and events posted to our Opportunity Board. Please share the Reclaiming Futures Opportunity Board with your colleagues in the juvenile justice, adolescent substance abuse and teen mental health areas. It’s free to browse and post!

Events

Jobs

Topics: News

No More Solitary Confinement for Adolescent Inmates in NYC; News Roundup

Juvenile Justice Reform

  • Expert: Juvenile Justice Report Will Spur Reform at Rikers Island (The Forum News Group)
    “This reform will promote better behavior, psychological health and emotional well-being among our youngest inmates while lessening violence,” Department of Correction Commissioner Joseph Ponte said. “It represents best practices and the least restrictive environment, allowing us to respond more appropriately to the special needs of this troubled population, and help them re-integrate into the community when they leave our care and custody.”
  • MacArthur Lauds Juvenile Justice Reformers (JJIE)
    In a written letter to the award recipients, MacArthur Foundation interim President Julia Stasch said: “No movement proceeds on the strength of research alone. Reform is animated by the passion and tenacity of the people who make a cause their cause.”

Jobs, Grants, Events and Webinars

  • Please share the Reclaiming Futures Opportunity Board with your colleagues in the juvenile justice, adolescent substance abuse and teen mental health areas. It's free to browse and post!

Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment and Mental Health

  • Conrad N. Hilton Foundation awards $1.35 million grant to Legal Action Center (Globe NewsWire)
    Through a $1.35 million grant over three years from the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, LAC and its partners will evaluate how the full range of adolescent prevention and early intervention services are being offered and to what extent insurers are implementing these services. They also will educate service providers about federal confidentiality requirements crucial to encouraging youth to seek services.
  • LifeWise panel sheds light on youth alcohol abuse (Salt Lake City Weekly)
    Nebraska may offer the good life, but depending on which survey one is reading, its youth now rank from second to the fifth highest in the nation for binge drinking, higher than its surrounding Midwest states.

 

Supreme Court Allows Resentencing of Illinois Inmates; News Roundup

Juvenile Justice Reform

  • South Dakota Juvenile Justice System Needs Change (WNAX Radio)
    A group of legislators has created a set of recommendations related to the state’s juvenile justice system. The South Dakota Juvenile Justice Reinvestment Initiative (JJRI) Work Group submitted a list of policies for the upcoming legislative session that they believe will help solve the problems associated with the juvenile correction system.
  • Military Vet Takes Lead Role at Juvenile Court Services (The Des Moines Register)
    Today, Jensen has a responsibility to thousands of children and teens who enter the juvenile justice system in the Fifth Judicial District, the 16-county region that includes Des Moines. In October, he became the chief juvenile court officer, taking charge of an agency responsible for helping young people who've been in trouble with the police, often for crimes such as theft, assault or drug and alcohol offenses.
  • Supreme Court Allows Resentencing of Illinois Inmates (JJIE)
    Sentenced to life in prison at the age of 15, Julie Anderson’s 34-year-old son Eric, along with roughly 80 fellow Illinois inmates, has received his first hope for freedom since he sat in a courtroom 19 years ago.

Jobs, Grants, Events and Webinars

  • Please share the Reclaiming Futures Opportunity Board with your colleagues in the juvenile justice, adolescent substance abuse and teen mental health areas. It's free to browse and post!

Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment and Mental Health

  • Youth Behavioral-Health Issues are the Focus of a New University of Minnesota Social-Work Training Program (Minnesota Post)
    Nationwide, there is a growing shortage of social workers trained to assist youth facing mental illness and addiction. This year, with an eye to filling that gap, Joseph Merighi, associate professor of social work at the University of Minnesota, proposed the Minnesota Social Work Initiative in Behavioral Health, a program designed to train masters in social work (MSW) students to take jobs at community-based behavioral-health clinics, primary care clinics and substance-abuse centers.

Topics: News

Three States Lead the Way for Juvenile Justice Reforms; News Roundup

Juvenile Justice Reform

  • Teen Is Used to Being Behind Bars, Imagines Future There (JJIE)
    Ruben Rodriguez, a teen from the Bronx, is on Rikers Island, waiting to stand trial for homicide. By the time he returned to the Box (punitive segregation) in late September, City of New York Correction Department Commissioner Joseph Ponte publicly promised to end punitive segregation for Rikers’ roughly 300 juvenile inmates by 2015.
  • Three States Lead the Way for Juvenile Justice Reforms (PewTrusts.org)
    State leaders from Georgia, Hawaii, and Kentucky discuss the shifting landscape in juvenile justice and how they enacted data-driven and fiscally sound policies that protect public safety, improve outcomes for youths, and contain correctional costs.
  • Transferring Juveniles to Adult Justice System Detrimental (Indian Express)
    The provision of transferring juveniles between 16 and 18 years of age, accused of serious crimes, to the adult justice system was widely discussed and was found to be detrimental rather than effective at a national-level consultation between officials and experts — in the field of juvenile justice and child reforms — on the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) campus Saturday.
  • CT Supreme Court Examining Long, Mandatory Sentences For Juveniles (Hartford Courant)
    Before Ackeem Riley was sentenced to at least 85 years in jail for his involvement in a 2006 gang-related, drive-by shooting in the North End of Hartford, the prosecutor said the teen "should never, ever be on the streets again." That was before the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a trio of cases that a child's age and maturity should be considered before courts impose harsh sentences, and that state laws that strip judges of discretion when sentencing juvenile offenders constitute cruel and unusual punishment.

Jobs, Grants, Events and Webinars

  • Please share the Reclaiming Futures Opportunity Board with your colleagues in the juvenile justice, adolescent substance abuse and teen mental health areas. It's free to browse and post!

Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment and Mental Health

  • Sugar Can Worsen Teens' Depression And Anxiety And Change How They React To Stress (Medical Daily)
    “It is alarming that the teen stress experience is so similar to that of adults. It is even more concerning that they seem to underestimate the potential impact that stress has on their physical and mental health,” APA CEO and Executive Vice President Norman B. Anderson said in a press release. “In order to break this cycle of stress and unhealthy behaviors as a nation, we need to provide teens with better support and health education at school and home, at the community level and in their interactions with health care professionals.”

Topics: News

Applying ACEs to Juvenile Justice; News Roundup

Juvenile Justice Reform

  • States Are Failing to Protect Juvenile Records, Study Shows (JJIE)
    The consequences are serious, according to the center, which conducted the nearly 18-month study with funding from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. Youthful offenders are being denied college admission, military service and jobs because of the too-free sharing of information about crimes they committed as children or teenagers.
  • Council of Juvenile, Family Court Judges Receives DOJ Grant (StateJournal.com)
    The National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges recently received $1.45 million from the Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs for the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention for two national juvenile justice data projects: the National Juvenile Court Data Archive and the National Juvenile Justice Data Analysis Project.

Jobs, Grants, Events and Webinars

  • Please share the Reclaiming Futures Opportunity Board with your colleagues in the juvenile justice, adolescent substance abuse and teen mental health areas. It's free to browse and post!

Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment and Mental Health

  • Applying ACEs to Juvenile Justice (Chronicles of Social Change)
    “The relationship between childhood trauma and juvenile justice involvement is pretty startling,” said Karleen Jakowski, supervisor of adolescent behavioral services at a non-profit health clinic in Yolo County.
  • Teens Living Close to High Number of Tobacco Shops More Likely to Smoke (HealthCanal.com)
    Based on their findings, researchers argue that anti-smoking strategies among teenagers should include reducing the overall density of tobacco retailers. They say that limiting teenagers’ access to tobacco products is vital, as long-term smoking usually begins in adolescence.

Topics: News

Healing From Trauma: Girls in Juvenile Justice; News Roundup

News-oldTV-smlJuvenile Justice Reform

  • Healing From Trauma: Girls in Juvenile Justice (Spark Action)
    Imagine being a child abused or neglected by someone you know, feeling unsafe in your own home, being betrayed by people who you should be able to trust. Where would you go? How would you cope with such traumatic experiences? For girls involved in the juvenile justice system, their options are very limited, and none of them would be seen as good choices from a middle class perspective.

Jobs, Grants, Events and Webinars

  • Please share the Reclaiming Futures Opportunity Board with your colleagues in the juvenile justice, adolescent substance abuse and teen mental health areas. It’s free to browse and post!

Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment and Mental Health

  • Charlotte Hungerford Hospital Opens Center for Youth and Families (Litchfield County Times)
    The center’s clinical manager, Joan M. Neveski, said bringing the two facilities under one roof has been a multi-year effort. Neveski has been working with the hospital since 2007, returning after working at the there for eight years during a previous period.
  • Children as Young as 12 Treated for Drug Abuse at Abu Dhabi Centre (The National UAE)
    Children as young as 12 years old are being treated for drug abuse at the National Rehabilitation Centre. In addition to the adults it deals with, the centre, which was launched in 2002, treats mostly male Emirati minors between the ages of 12 and 18.
  • We Should All Be Ashamed (Huffington Post)
    Because of inadequate treatment and housing, the mentally ill are extremely vulnerable to arrest for avoidable nuisance crimes -- it is as simple as stealing some food from a store, sleeping on a bench in a public park, or shouting back at voices in the middle of the night.

Topics: News

New Nonprofit Will Aid Children in Adult Prisons; News Roundup

News-oldTV-smlJuvenile Justice Reform

  • Jail Reform Coalition Seeks Justice System Change (The Californian)
    Louisiana native Helen Rucker, of Seaside, recalled with clarity her years living under "separate but equal" standards, also known as Jim Crow laws. Now, with black and Latino men incarcerated in droves in California, the system has simply created a new set of Jim Crow standards, she said.
  • New Nonprofit Will Aid Children in Adult Prisons (NonprofitQuarterly.org)
    According to the Equal Justice Initiative, nearly 10,000 children across the country have been sentenced as adults and are serving time in adult prisons. Pennsylvania, which has the highest number of incarcerated children serving life sentences and no minimum age to try a child as an adult, is now also home to the Youth Sentencing & Reentry Project (YSRP), a new nonprofit dedicated to aiding Philadelphia’s children who have been prosecuted and are carrying out their sentences in the adult criminal justice system.

Jobs, Grants, Events and Webinars

  • Please share the Reclaiming Futures Opportunity Board with your colleagues in the juvenile justice, adolescent substance abuse and teen mental health areas. It’s free to browse and post!

Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment and Mental Health

  • Help, Not Incarceration (The Epoch Times)
    The latest statistics from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) estimate that more than 1.26 million mentally ill adults are detained in the country’s jails and prisons. Some cities are trying to change this statistic through programs that offer some of these nonviolent offenders a way out of incarceration, and a chance to improve their lives.
  • The Impact of Hurricane Sandy on Mental Health: What More We Could Have Done (Huffington Post)
    "Superstorm Sandy," as it was called, rained vast devastation along the northeastern coast of the United States. Mental health problems (as well as the abuse of alcohol and drugs) in the wake of a disaster are well known. This is because disaster, however generated, threatens to undermine both the physical and emotional underpinnings of a community. Perhaps some of the greatest knowledge about disaster mental health was sadly gained after the attacks of 9/11 (1).

Topics: News

Cultivating Better Futures for Troubled Bronx Youths; News Roundup

News-oldTV-smlJuvenile Justice Reform

  • Cultivating Better Futures for Troubled Bronx Youths (JJIE)
    They could have been locked up for offenses ranging from theft to assault to armed robbery. Instead, they planted vegetables at an urban farm, painted a mural to honor a community activist, staged a youth talent show, organized “safe parties” for teens at a local community center – away from the gunfire and stabbings outside.
  • Focus on the Figures: Juvenile Felony Arrests, by Race (Chronicle of Social Change)
    Every other week, The Chronicle of Social Change will feature one key indicator from Kidsdata, which offers comprehensive data about the health and well being of children across California. In this installment, we examine the racial breakdown of juvenile felony arrest rate in California, perhaps the most diverse state in the union.
  • New Juvenile Court Judge Looks for “Balance” (Memphis Flyer)
    Citing the Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 37, Section 1, from which Juvenile Court derives its authority, Michael defined that role as one of providing “care and protection [and] wholesome moral, mental, and physical development’ of juveniles, while, “consistent with the protection of the public interest,” removing “from children committing delinquent acts the taint of criminality and the consequences of criminal behavior and substituting therefore a program of training, treatment, and rehabilitation.”

Jobs, Grants, Events and Webinars

  • Please share the Reclaiming Futures Opportunity Board with your colleagues in the juvenile justice, adolescent substance abuse and teen mental health areas. It’s free to browse and post!

Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment and Mental Health

  • Proposal Would Rewrite Utah Drug Laws in a Major Way (Fox 13)
    “This is not final, but the bottom line is we need to find ways to get more drug possession offenders out of prison into community treatment programs that are appropriate and will address their specific needs,” said Ron Gordon, the executive director of CCJJ.

Topics: News

Webinar Opportunity: Exercising Judicial Leadership on the Deinstitutionalization of Status Offenders

JudgeThe Coalition for Juvenile Justice (CJJ) will host a webinar on November 14 to address how judges can more effectively bring together family members, attorneys and advocates, and service providers to improve outcomes for non-delinquent youth in their communities.

Targeted to judicial leaders and juvenile justice practitioners, the webinar will offer actionable steps on how to convene stakeholders involved in the youth’s life, and will expand on the recently released CJJ tool relevant to judges in this area: “Exercising Judicial Leadership to Reform the Care of Non-Delinquent Youth: A Convenor's Action Guide for Developing a Multi-Stakeholder Process.”

The report explains,

“Juvenile judges and courts face complex challenges as a result of laws that allow youth, by virtue of their minor status, to be charged in juvenile court with ‘status offenses.’ Status offenses are actions that are not illegal after a person reaches the age of 18. They include curfew violations, possession of alcohol and tobacco, running away and truancy. All too often the court’s involvement in the lives of these youth and families does not yield the intended positive outcomes, particularly when youth charged with status offenses have their liberty restricted and lives disrupted by being placed in confinement, and are separated from their family, school and community.”

Register for this webinar to hear directly from two judges who have seen success and made a difference in the lives of status offending youths and families.

Webinar: Exercising Judicial Leadership on the Deinstitutionalization of Status Offenders
When: November 14 at 1:00 p.m. ET
Presenters: Hon. Chandlee Johnson Kuhn, Chief Judge, Family Court of Delaware; Hon. Karen Ashby, Judge, Denver Juvenile Court
Register here.

Reclaiming Futures Featured on the Office of National Drug Control Policy Blog

In recognition of National Substance Abuse Prevention Month, I had the honor to contribute to the Office of National Drug Control Policy’s blog. Citing our Reclaiming Futures site in Snohomish County, Washington, I shared why we at Reclaiming Futures believe community involvement is critical to improve mental health and substance abuse treatment, and ultimately build stronger communities around prevention.

Read the full blog post here and contribute your thoughts below.

In Juvenile Justice, Community Involvement is Key to Substance Abuse Prevention

Local artists in Snohomish County, Washington, are contributing their time, tools, and studio space to mentor teens recently involved in their community’s juvenile justice system. For eight weeks, the youth will learn art and photography skills, then produce artwork documenting their lives, families, and communities. Some of their efforts will be featured in local art venues or the local newspaper.

The teens are participants in Promising Arts in Recovery (PAIR), part of Snohomish County’s local Reclaiming Futures program. The goal of PAIR is to establish social and job skills by connecting local artists with at-risk teens who are involved in the juvenile justice system and may be undergoing treatment for substance use or mental health issues. Through programs like PAIR that offer workshops, internships, or job-shadowing opportunities, local professionals are not only helping these young people develop skills necessary to be active citizens, they are helping to rebuild a community around prevention.

Read the full story.

Improving the Reclaiming Futures System of Care: Building on 14 years of Innovation

A “system,” with all its interconnected parts, is something we don’t really notice when it’s working well. That’s the hallmark of an effective system and when things are working well enough, most people rarely take the time to stop and reflect on how they can improve the systems they are part of. When your car is working well, you are less likely to take the time to lift up the hood and check things out. You’re even less likely to consider making improvements.  You may do that, however, if you are about to head out on a journey and anticipate challenges along the way.

Topics: News

Why Solitary Confinement Hurts Juveniles More Than Adults; News Roundup

News-oldTV-smlJuvenile Justice Reform

  • In Their Own Words, Inmates Discuss the Riddle of Juvenile Justice (JJIE)
    The John Howard Association of Illinois, an independent prison watchdog and justice reform advocate, recently published a report introducing ways to reform the criminal justice system for youth prosecuted for serious offenses. This report takes a unique approach in asking the population in question about their experiences in the judicial system.
              • Seven Charged in Sayreville Hazing Case Could Be Tried as Adults (The New York Times)
                The acts of violent sexual hazing that seven New Jersey high school football players are accused of committing have been called “horrendous” by school officials and “extraordinarily disturbing” by Gov. Chris Christie. Now, as the players from Sayreville War Memorial High School await their first court hearing this week, Middlesex County authorities face a daunting question under escalating scrutiny: whether to charge some or all of the boys as adults.
  • Why Solitary Confinement Hurts Juveniles More Than Adults (Pacific Standard)
    In a long-awaited move, New York City’s Department of Correction has finally decided to end its practice of putting teenaged offenders in solitary confinement cells. Currently, fights and other infractions can land kids in solitary for weeks, months, sometimes years.

Jobs, Grants, Events and Webinars

  • Please share the Reclaiming Futures Opportunity Board with your colleagues in the juvenile justice, adolescent substance abuse and teen mental health areas. It’s free to browse and post!

Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment and Mental Health

  • Christie Announces $12M in New Addiction Treatment Funds (NorthJersey.com)
    “If we continue to work together to remove the stigma, to promote addiction treatment rather than addiction as a societal issue that denigrates and lowers people, then than we have an opportunity to have more and more people realize what a gift their life really is,” Governor Christie said.
  • Teen Challenge Begins to Make a Difference in Madison County (The Jackson Sun)
    "The courts are seeing the advantages of putting them in a program like this rather than putting them in jail," Teen Challenge sponsor and Madison County Commissioner Gary Deaton said. "If they can put them in a program like this, they won't be in court anymore. It'll change their life."

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