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I know from experience how hard it is to get a group of adults to sit down and talk productively about issues of systemic oppression and racism -- acknowledging these issues, with the goal of addressing them. I also know that the resulting conversations, if well-facilitated, can create and deepen relationships between co-workers, friends, and people who've never met before. 
But imagine doing it with kids on your probation caseload.
I was impressed, proud, and full of admiration when I learned that the Reclaiming Futures site in Bristol County, Massachusetts had done exactly that, and still is. In fact, the program got written up in their local paper.  
So when I got a chance to sit down with Estella Rebeiro, senior juvenile probation officer in Bristol County, to talk about the group for youth on probation that she ran with Deirdre Lopes, director of the H.O.P.E. (Healthy Opportunities for Peaceful Engagement) Collaborative, I grabbed it. Here's a brief video interview with Ms. Rebeiro, done at the Reclaiming Futures Leadership Institute held in May 2011:

The next Joint Meeting on Adolescent Treatment Effectiveness (JMATE) -- the only national conference solely devoted to adolescent substance abuse treatment -- has been scheduled for April 10-12, 2012, in Washington, D.C. 
Sponsored by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), the nearly-annual conference is a fantastic opportunity to see top-notch presentations on ... well, you can check out the 2010 JMATE agenda here to get an idea.
There's no agenda yet for the 2012 event, but take it from me, you don't want to miss it. 
Want to be notified when you can register? Send your email to JMATE-info@jbsinternational.com.
Want to participate in the 2012 JMATE planning committees? Contact JMATE-info@jbsinternational.com.
 
 

The Reclaiming Futures model encourages participating communities to identify, screen, and track youth with alcohol and drug issues. And when you talk with people who work in juvenile court and in the juvenile justice system about doing a better job of identifying teens with alcohol and drug abuse issues -- and mental health issues -- they'll almost always say it's a good idea. Why? Because they genuinely want to turn these kids' lives around. 
But if you've got community representatives at the table -- for example, a parent advocate whose own child has been through the system, or a community organizer who sees kids in his or her neighborhood swept into the system on a regular basis -- they'll likely raise a critical question: "Why do these kids have to commit a crime to get treatment?"
That's a great question. In fact, it's a question everyone should be asking. The fact is, although the juvenile justice system has its victories, researchers say it often makes things worse for kids who get involved with it.  A recent 20-year Canadian study showed that involvement in the juvenile justice system made boys seven times more likely to commit crimes as adults.
On top of that, youth of color are disproportionately sucked into the juvenile justice system and sanctioned more frequently and more harshly while there.
[Brief video interview with Yolanda Perez-Logan below - click "read more."]

How do you reduce the number of kids going into the juvenile justice system? Overhaul school disciplinary policies.
Here's a quick overview of research on the problem, a great video that puts a human face on the issue in Connecticut, and some things you can do.
Just yesterday, the Council of State Governments Justice Center released Breaking Schools’ Rules: A Statewide Study of How School Discipline Relates to Students’ Success and Juvenile Justice Involvement. The report is based on a groundbreaking study of nearly 1 million secondary school students in Texas. (Researchers were able to control for over 80 different variables because they had individual-level records from schools and juvenile court for every single youth in the study.)
Though it's methodologically very careful in its conclusions, it does show that:

• nearly 60 percent of all students in the study were suspended or expelled between 7th and 12th grades;
• African American students and children with "particular educational disabilities" were disproportionately affected -- especially for infractions where administrators had discretion over what sanctions to apply; and
• students who were suspended or expelled were more likely to end up in the juvenile justice system the following year.

But there's grounds for hope, because researchers also found that:

• suspension and expulsion rates varied widely beween schools, even among schools that were similar in terms of their students' racial compositon or economic status.

This suggests that schools can handle behavior problems differently, and with fewer negative outcomes on the youth.
[More after the jump --]

Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) youth across America are facing a crisis in the juvenile justice system as a result of harmful discrimination in their homes, schools and communities. Recent studies demonstrate that continued harassment of LGBT youth in their schools place them at a higher risk for involvement with the system. LGBT youth are more likely to skip school to avoid victimization and in the process face truancy charges.
Additionally, other LGBT students end up in the system on assault or disorderly conduct charges after they try to defend themselves against bullying by their classmates. In other instances, LGBT youth are disproportionately targeted by school officials for punishment, often referring them to juvenile court for conduct that is more appropriately handled in school. These experiences unnecessarily prolong the involvement of LGBT youths in the juvenile justice system and often expose them to more restrictive dispositions. In an effort to reduce the number of LGBT youth in the juvenile justice system, more must be done to combat discrimination and harassment in schools.

A spending bill that eliminates most federal funding for juvenile justice activities was approved [July 13th] by the House Appropriations Committee, and is expected to receive a vote by the full House before the August recess.
The bill, approved after a four-hour mark-up session, reduces spending by $3 billion from 2011 fiscal year levels, following most of the recommendations of its subcommittee on commerce, justice and science. It passed on a voice vote.
Juvenile justice demonstration grants, Juvenile Accountability Block Grants (JABG) and Title V Local Delinquency Prevention Grants received no funding in the bill. In 2010, the last year Congress actually passed an appropriations package, those three funding streams totaled $231 million.
The bill also reduces state formula grants - given to states on the condition that they adhere to basic standards in regard to the detainment of juveniles, and address racial disparities in the system - from $75 million in 2010 to $40 million.
The entire House will now consider a spending package that drastically reduces the total appropriation for the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention [OJJDP], and leaves the majority of its resources in mentoring ($83 million) and missing and exploited children ($70 million).

The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) calls for poster and media presentations for its upcoming national conference, “Children’s Justice and Safety: Unite, Build, Lead.” The conference will be held on October 12–14, 2011, at the Gaylord National Hotel & Convention Center in National Harbor, MD.
The poster session will feature visual presentations of recent program initiatives, research findings, and other information of interest and importance to the juvenile justice, delinquency prevention, and victimization communities. The media room will feature audiovisual materials (including TV and/or Internet-based PSAs, news segments, and training videos) from OJJDP-funded initiatives and programs.
Submissions must be postmarked on or before Friday, August 5, 2011.
Resources:
Learn more about OJJDP’s National Conference at http://www.ojjdp.gov/2011conference.
Apply to participate in the poster sessions at http://www.ojjdp.gov/2011conference/PosterCriteria.pdf.
Apply to participate in the media room at http://www.ojjdp.gov/2011conference/MediaCriteria.pdf.

(Via JUVJUST.)
Photo: southyrolean under Creative Commons license.

 

 
The Coalition for Juvenile Justice (CJJ) is alarmed to report that federal juvenile justice funding will once again be dramatically reduced if Congress adopts the FY 2012 funding proposal put forth by the U.S. House Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies (CJS).  [Click on chart above for larger image. Chart courtesy of Reclaiming Futures, based on data provided by CJJ. -Ed.]

 
Programs authorized under the federal Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA) and the Juvenile Accountability Block Grant Program (JABG) spur innovation and excellence in juvenile justice at the state and local levels and provide safeguards for children and youth involved with the justice system. Historically, appropriations for these programs have been modest, at an average of less than $225 million per fiscal year. 
 
For more than 35 years, states have leveraged these programs and proven in small and big ways that federal juvenile justice programs reduce juvenile offending, help youth transition safely to adulthood and save taxpayer money. Examples of these measurable results can be found in a Coalition for Juvenile Justice (CJJ) fact bulletin titled Safeguarding the Future: Strategic Investments to Secure the Safety of America’s Youth, Families and Communities.  
 
Yet, despite clear evidence that federal funding to states is effective at preventing and reducing delinquency, Congress continues to signal an abandonment of its commitment to community safety by making drastic cuts to federal juvenile justice programs. Since FY 2002, federal investments in programs to prevent and reduce delinquency have decreased by 50%.  The FY 2011 budget bill cut federal juvenile justice programs by an additional 17%; in real terms more than half of the states are suffering reductions as high as 32%. The FY 2012 House proposal would further reduce the JJDPA Title II progras by more than $20 million and would completely eliminate funding for the JJDPA Title V and the JABG programs. The effect would be an additional 50% to federal juvenile justice programs, and bring the total reduction over the last decade to 75%. See CJJ’s Historical Juvenile Justice Federal Funding Chart.

Here's four great resources for finding effective adolescent substance abuse treatment programs (emphasis on residential), plus one on how to train clinicians in evidence-based treatment:

1. How to Find the Best Drug Treatment for Teens: A Guide for Parents -- This guide from TIME magazine is excellent to pass on to parents struggling with their teens' drug and alcohol issues. Among other things, it includes a link to Time to Get Help, an excellent website developed and hosted by The Partnership at Drug-Free.org. (I'm glad TIME got the word about about this -- while Steve Pasierb, CEO of the Partnership, did a post for us about Time to Get Help way back in December, there's no denying that TIME gets a little more traffic than we do. And I was unaware of the next two resources before I read the TIME article.)
2. Questions for Parents to Ask Before Entering a Youth in a Residential Program - these questions were developed by the Federal Trade Commission and apply to all sorts of residential programs, not just alcohol and drug treatment programs.
    
3. Ten Important Questions to Ask Teen Substance Abuse Treatment Program. 
4. Questions for Youth to Ask When Entering a Treatment Program - Imagine a set of questions youth might ask themselves and others before agreeing to enter a residential program. Questions that could help them adjust to treatment faster.  Now, you don't have to imagine, thanks to the Building Bridges Initiative of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).  You can see similar tip sheets for parents and recommendations for treatment providers and adolescent substance abuse policy officials at the state level on how to use and disseminate them here. 
5. Strategies for Training Counselors in Evidence-Based Treatments - What's the most effective way to insure that your clinicians learn to implement evidence-based treatments?  Learn the answer(s) in this article, authored by Steve Martino of Yale University School of Medicine, which appeared in the December 2010 issue of Addiction Science and Clnical Practice. (Hat tip to Paul Savery.)

 
NOTE: This is an updated  version of a post that appeared in February 2011. 

Photo: hometownzero.