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• Scholarships for Judges Managing Challenging Family Law
  This training is co-sponsored by the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges and the National Judicial College, October 24-27, 2011, in Reno, Nevada. The scholarships would cover the $985 tuition fee and the participant would be responsible for the $245 conference fee as well as their own travel expenses.
• National Geographic Examines the Teenage Brain
  Excitement, Novelty and Risk: A strength-based look at adolescence as a highly functional, even adaptive period.
• OJJDP Bulletin Examines State Juvenile Transfer Laws
  In the 1980s and 1990s, legislatures in nearly every state expanded transfer laws that allowed or required the prosecution of juveniles in adult criminal courts. This bulletin, which is part of the Juvenile Offenders and Victims National Report Series, provides the latest overview of state transfer laws and practices and examines available state-level data on juveniles adjudicated in the criminal justice system.

 
The young are heated by Nature as drunken men by wine.   -- Artistotle
Adults' enduring perplexity about teenagers are captured in quotes by Aristotle and Shakespeare in The New Science of the Teenage Brain, the cover story of the October National Geographic Magazine. The article, by David Dobbs, explains how young people's lives are shaped by the mind-blowing reorganization occurring in the brains of adolescents between the ages of 12-25. The article is fascinating, and it's worth reading the entire piece. It's also a fabulous tool for us to use to get policymakers' attention as to why so many policies and programs like Scared Straight, lock them up, and zero tolerance don't work. So after reading the article, spend a few minutes sending an email or two or a letter to the editor of your local paper.

According to Dobbs, scientists started to look at what was happening in young people's brains in the 1990's. He explains what the scans showed:

Ronaldi Rollins’ view from his corner office on the third floor is typical of metro Atlanta. A parking lot, some two-story apartment building, all nestled in the middle of a bunch of pine trees. Welcome to Jonesboro, Ga., command central for one juvenile probation officer in charge of 20 struggling teens.
To pay a visit to Rollins, a kid has to make it past two levels of security. First, the metal detector and officer at the front door. Then comes the thick, fiberglass window and receptionist at the third floor waiting room. Just about every door, with the exception of the restrooms, requires a four-digit code to pass.
But probationers showing up unannounced may have a hard time finding Rollins behind his desk.
“A big part of my job is mentoring,” Rollins [seen in photos above and at right] says. And the best way to be a mentor is to relate to the kids on common ground. And common ground means the front yards, street corners, vacant lots and schoolyards of this suburban Atlanta community they all call home.
In Clayton County, juvenile probation beats are divided by school. That means an officer assigned to Lovejoy High School, for instance, would likely supervise kids living in the city of Lovejoy.
But Rollins works a different kind of beat. He’s tasked with overseeing the Clayton County Virtual Alternative School, and that means keeping up with kids from one end of the county to the other, from Lovejoy to Forest Park.
Forest Park. That’s where 15-year-old Marko was picked up on a probation violation after taking his mom’s car, again.

• NYT Editorial: Fewer Teenagers Locked Up in the US
  There are 25% fewer incarcerated young people than last decade. Learn more about that federal data from the Research and Evaluation Center at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and sustainability and strategy from Three Strategies for Changing Juvenile Justice, a previous post on www.reclaimingfutures.org.
• Restorative Justice: Hot Topic in SF District Attorney’s Race
  Candidates debate bringing together offenders, victims and community members to discuss the impact of a crime and help repair the damage through accountability and rehabilitation rather than punishment.
• Liquor Store Density Linked to Youth Homicides
  U.S. studies find a correlation between the density of alcohol outlets, availability of single-serve alcoholic beverages and violent crime rates among teens and young adults ages 13 to 24.

What does national health care reform mean for teens in the juvenile justice system who have substance abuse disorders?
On September 29, 2011 at 10:00am PDT / 1:00pm EDT, Doreen Cavanaugh, Ph.D., of the Health Policy Institute at Georgetown University, presented a webinar sponsored by Reclaiming Futures, titled, "Health Reform: Opportunities for Juvenile Justice Involved Youth with Substance Use Disorders and their Families."
Dr. Cavanaugh addressed the existing and upcoming changes in the U.S. health care system by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the health reform law.
She:

• identified existing funding sources supporting treatment and recovery services for youth with substance use disorders who are involved in the juvenile justice system;
• highlighted new opportunities for these youth and their families under health care reform;
• discussed ways to enhance collaborative relationships across the health and juvenile justice sectors; and
• detailed the steps to take now at state and local levels to improve access and quality of treatment and recovery services for youth in the juvenile justice system.

View the archived webinar: follow the link and scroll down for webinars under "Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment" (or search by title or the presenter's name).

 
 
 
Want to present at the 2012 Joint Meeting on Adolescent Treatment Effectiveness (JMATE)? The organizers have put out a call for abstracts. (They're due November 1, 2011). Here's the official announcement: 
 

We are thrilled to announce that the 2012 Joint Meeting on Adolescent Treatment Effectiveness (JMATE) is taking place April 10-12, 2012 in Washington, DC. 
 
We are currently seeking abstract submissions! The deadline for submission is November 1, 2011. For complete details and instructions on how to submit your abstract, please see the attached 2012 JMATE Call for Abstracts (PDF) or visit the Abstract Submission page of the JMATE Website at www.jmate.org/jmate2012/. 
 
If you have any questions or additional information needs, please contact us at JMATE-info@jbsinternational.com.  Thank you for your continued work on behalf of adolescent treatment and recovery!

>>Download the call for abstracts here.

Evidence-based practices and how to implement them is a priority for many substance abuse treatment organizations, including those treating adolescent.  
To help with this priority, NIATx has launched a new project, the Building a Sustainable National Infrastructure for Research and Dissemination of Improved Behavioral Treatment Practices, funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). The informal title for this project is “The Network of Practice.”
Its aim? To build an internet-based community focused on adopting evidence-based clinical practices. The resulting tool may include features such as virtual cafes, a step-by-step guide to implementing an evidence-based practice, a library of practical information, and a cost-benefit calculator.
More than 500 organizations have completed an online survey for this project (and that number is growing). You can still complete the survey (which takes about five minutes to complete) by visiting: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/infra_survey
For more information about the project or to get involved in its development, please contact:
Anna Wheelock at anna.wheelock@chess.wisc.edu or
Kim Johnson at Kimberly.johnson@chess.wisc.edu

At a  training of Massachusetts MBTA Training Academy recruits in July, a police officer said to the group, “What I am telling you today we did not get when we were in the academy. Now you’ve got a leg up in dealing with kids by knowing this stuff.” The officer had been trained in a train-the-trainer capacity building effort by Strategies for Youth. “Knowing this stuff about kids makes working with them easier and less stressful and believe me, they can be stressful,” he told the recruits.
The newly released findings of the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) survey on juvenile justice and youth training needs suggest this officer is both right and unusual. Training in best practices for working with youth is helpful, but remains the exception to the rule across the country.
The IACP’s survey, the “2011 Juvenile Justice Training Needs Assessment,” found that police chiefs want training but lack funding and agency resources to provide it to their officers.  They wanted their officers to have the skills to work with the increasing and challenging demands posed by youth. The top 5 areas in which chiefs want their officers trained are:

1. substance abuse;
2. physical, sexual and/or emotional abuse;
3. dealing with chronic juvenile offenders;
4. bullying/cyber-bullying; and
5. gangs. Other topics included internet offending, runaways, and school safety. 

The survey is notable for the unusually large size of the sample: over 672 law enforcement officers in 404 law enforcement agencies in 49 states and the District of Columbia. The agencies represented the gamut of departments, from small and rural, to suburban, to large and urban; 77% were police departments.  
Demands on  Law Enforcement:
While officers have always dealt with children and youth, arguably today they are asked to deal with them more than ever. Cuts in youth serving programs, the increased placement of officers in schools, and the common reaction of calling the police for any youth-related issue, combine to make police the first responders to incidents involving youth. 

Raleigh, N.C. (September 14, 2011) -- North Carolina Governor Bev Perdue today announced a partnership between state agencies and two North Carolina foundations that will expand the successful Reclaiming Futures program from a model to a statewide initiative that helps youths in the juvenile justice system beat problems with drugs and alcohol. This tested and proven program will help put teenagers on a path toward finishing high school ready, for a career, college or technical training.
"This program takes my priority of making government more efficient, taps into the expertise and resources of the private sector and uses them for the most important purpose imaginable - protecting the future of our young people," Governor Perdue said. "This is an investment in turning young lives around."