Blog: Positive Youth Development

Juvenile Justice Reform

• California counties to pay the state $125,000 to house juvenile offenders
  California Governor Jerry Brown announced that the state has to pull the trigger on a series of mid-year budget cuts due to low tax revenues. One of those reductions shaves $67 million from the state’s juvenile justice budget. The cut will force counties to foot the bill for Juvenile Justice wards in state custody, at a cost of $125,000 per youth. Alameda County could be put in a $6.2 million bind.
• Kentucky looks for better way to help young offenders
  Kentucky officials are looking for better ways to deal with youth who commit noncriminal offenses such as skipping school or running away. Research shows that detaining status offenders is the least effective and most expensive option. State leaders admit the system needs improvement.
• Oregon will stop holding juvenile offenders in adult prison
  After federal auditors questioned the practice, Oregon has stopped temporarily holding youth in adult prisons. The Partnership for Safety and Justice, which works on criminal justice issues, won legislation in the 2011 session to encourage local authorities to hold youth in juvenile facilities while they await trial.
• New Report: Generic anti-bullying classes found to be ineffective
  OJJDP has issued a report in which bullying in schools is examined and recommendations are made for the best ways schools can provide support to bullying victims. The study found generic curriculum is an ineffective substitute for student-focused engagement strategies.
• Ohio Courts use internet for greater connectivity
  Ohio’s Coshocton County’s Common Pleas Court, Juvenile and Probate Court and Municipal Court are using the internet to share information more easily with the public and other courts. The Common Pleas Court launched a searchable database for the public that features basic information on open and closed cases with the court.
• South Carolina law enforcement officers complete DJJ gang, violence prevention training
  Recognizing that many kids face significant pressure to join a gang, the South Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice has partnered with the Gang Resistance Education and Training program in multiple communities across the state to bring the curriculum to local elementary and middle school youth.

Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment

• New government program aims to protect children from accidental drug overdoses
  A new government program aims to protect young children from accidental drug overdoses. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced the “Up and Away and Out of Sight” program, to teach parents how to keep medications out of the hands of young children.

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.

What did young people in the U.K. think about the recent riots in the U.K.?  Here's a few answers (one free registration required for most items):

• Young people unite to air their views on riots
  "Young people turned out in their scores in central London as part of an event aimed at giving them the opportunity to air their views on the recent unrest and its causes."
• Young people must be consulted on the causes of violence
  "Young people from areas affected by violence and looting have spoken out to condemn the riots and have called for more attention to be placed on young voices as the causes of the outbreaks begin to be examined." (No log-in required.)
• Young people blame riots on "mindless vandalism"
  "This month's rioting was caused by "mindless vandalism" rather than cuts to youth services and inequality, according to a survey of young people."
• U.K. Children's Minister Denies Link Between Riots and Youth Cuts
  He said "current reports estimate three-quarters of those charged in relation to the riots are over 18, and it would be wrong to condemn a whole generation of young people." He went on to say that, "Recent events highlight the importance of ensuring a 'positive for youth' mindset is promoted so young people get the credit they deserve for the good work they do," he said.

  In other words, instead of an "unfunded mandate," he's talking about an "unfunded mindset" for youth.

In the wake of the images and footage we've all seen coming out of the U.K. this week, as teens and young adults rioted and looted in London and other cities, it will be hard for the general public to remember that young people who commit crimes have strengths -- and have something to offer.
Youth should, of course, be held accountable for their actions. But youth workers in Britain understand that fear of teens as a result of the riots may well set the field back by years (e.g., "Youth charities blast riots as disastrous for image of young people"), especially if the only response is a punitive, nail-'em-and-a-jail-'em-response that neglects to provide appropriate supportive services that will help young people be successfull.
And I expect that fear of young people will rise in the United States, too. Which is why this brief, two-minute video interview (below) with Connie Flanagan, a national expert on engaging troubled youth in civic life, is timely.
A professor of Youth Civic Development at Penn State University the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Ms. Flanagan speaks about the importance of giving youth in the juvenile justice system the opportunity to work together with adults on projects that benefit their communities. Only then do they get a chance to see that what they do can change their communities for the better -- they can use their powers for good, in other words.
(I should point out that Ms. Flanagan was interviewed in May, well before the riots, and was addressing a general question about how to help youth in the juvenile justice system. I just happen to think that what she said is a helpful reminder about how we can work to make sure that youth feel that they matter, and that they're invested enough in their communities so that they don't engage in riots.)
Watch the video after the jump:
 

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:

• Webinar on Disproportionate Minority Contact
  The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention’s National Training and Technical Assistance Center will host the webinar, “Disproportionate Minority Contact: Issues and Trends at the National, State, and Local Level,” on August 3, 2011 at 2 p.m. (EDT). The webinar will describe the issues that state and local communities face when trying to reduce disproportionate minority contact.  
• Department of Justice: Licensed Growers, Dispensers of Medical Marijuana Could Be Prosecuted
  A new policy memo issued by Deputy Attorney General James Cole says state law is no protection for growers and dispensers of medical marijuana. However, the Justice Department stands by its 2009 directive against investigating patients and caregivers in compliance with state law.

Karen Pittman (left), President and CEO of the Forum for Youth Investment, has a saying about working with teens that's worth repeating: "Problem-free is not fully prepared."
How does that apply to teens in the alcohol and drug treatment, or kids in the juvenile justice system?
Focusing just on helping teens get sober or crime-free isn't enough. Like other teens, they have developmental needs they need to meet to be successful. They need support and opportunities to grow their social skills, emotional skills, navigational skills ... competencies that are key to growing up and becoming contributing adults. 
How do young people build those skills? They need to be connected with caring adults, in places where they can practice those skills with appropriate feedback.
The trouble is, as Ms. Pittman explained in a brief video interview (see below) that we did with her at the Reclaiming Futures Leadership Institute in May, most efforts to help kids succeed are focused primarily on educational and vocational skills. These are critical, but the trick is to find the caring adults and the places where teens can build and practice those "soft" skills. 
Check out what she has to say:

Isn't it great when you see a young person beat the odds? You know what I mean -- you'll read a story or see a video about a teen who struggled with drugs, alcohol, and crime, and somehow overcame all of that (and probably more) ... and it just makes you feel fantastic, doesn't it?
Well, it should. But Karen Pittman, CEO and Founder of the Forum for Youth Investment, has an even more inspiring idea, which she shared in an interview at the Reclaiming Futures Leadership Institute held in Miami in May:
 

 
You can also see Karen's full presentation at the Reclaiming Futures Leadership Institute here. 

On Thursday afternoon, I was busy calming the nerves of ten teenagers, who were about to step onto a stage and give the first of two presentations on their newly published recommendations about how to reduce youth crime in Brownsville, Brooklyn, a small community with one of the highest crime rates in New York City. These young people, members of the Center for Court Innovation’s Youth Justice Board program, had been preparing for this moment for ten months.  
The Board members completed a final read-through of their speaking parts and made their way onto the stage for the program to begin. During the welcome address, a Brownsville community leader shared some of her personal struggles growing up in the neighborhood, including a period during her teenage years when she decided to sell drugs -- or, at least, she tried to.
Neighborhood dealers that she approached with her plan took one look at her and said, “You’re a good girl. Go back to school.” One high-school diploma, one college diploma, and one law degree later, she addressed the crowd with the message that anything is possible.
Something else struck me during her speech—the underlying lesson that sometimes the best ideas come from the most unexpected places. Sometimes it is the people that we aren’t used to listening to who have the ideas that we most need to hear.