Blog: Public Policy

[The following is reposted in its entirety from an e-newsletter sent out by the National Juvenile Justice Network (NJJN) and is reprinted with permission. -Ed.]
The National Juvenile Justice Network commends the May 17, 2010 holding by the Supreme Court of the United States that it is unconstitutional to sentence youth who did not commit homicide to life without the possibility of parole. Graham v. Florida broadly condemns the sentence of life without parole for youth who have not committed homicide, finding the punishment to be cruel and unusual. The opinion draws upon our national evolving standards of decency demonstrated in part by the fact that only 129 non-homicide youth offenders are currently serving life without parole sentences in only 12 states. 

The strongly worded opinion affirms the fact that youth have lessened culpability than adults, and that youth’s developing brains make it impossible to determine if they are beyond rehabilitation. Reiterating many of the findings from Roper v. Simmons, 543 U.S. 551 (2005), regarding youth’s lack of maturity, underdeveloped sense of responsibility and vulnerability to outside, especially peer, pressure, the Court states that youth cannot be “classified among the worst offenders.” Furthermore, “no recent data provide reasons to reconsider” the Court’s observations in Roper, and “developments in psychology and brain science continue to showfundamental differences between juvenile and adult minds.”

Back in January, we offered two sneak peeks at the Obama Administration's then-forthcoming National Drug Control Strategy, developed by the Office of National Drug Control (ONDCP), including a link to an extremely informative webinar about it with deputy director A. Thomas McLellan.  
Now, the ONDCP has put the final touches on its National Drug Control Strategy - you can read the full strategy here or watch a video message from ONDCP director Gil R. Kerlikowske. 
Not up to reading the whole thing just now? You can find the Executive Summary here (it's also available in Spanish), or you can download a brochure with highlights. 
RELATED Post: The National Drug Control Strategy is high-level policy. When you drop down a couple of thousand feet down to where it comes to actually treating adolescent substance abuse, you may want to check out our handy reference list of evidence-based models.
 

Here's some potentially huge news for adolescent substance abuse treatment providers and juvenile courts across the country. It could mean that sharing information between treatment providers and juvenile courts gets easier -- but it could also seriously jeopardize young people's privacy and the likelihood that they'll get treatment.

National Mentoring Month in Reclaiming Futures Hocking County

Last Thursday was Thank Your Mentor Day, and the Reclaiming Futures site in Hocking County, OH was featured in the Logan Daily News for promoting it. Their goal is to promote mentoring for youth involved with juvenile court who have alcohol and drug issues.
Like many other juvneile courts, Hocking County has found a lack of local mentors and mentoring programs serving court-involved youth. So they've allocated $10,000 in grant money to promote one-on-one mentoring with teens in the justice system. The grant is from the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT) at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).
But if you missed Thank Your Mentor Day -- I'm afraid I did -- it's not too late. The whole month of January is National Mentoring Month. Check out the website for ideas and information. 

The Obama Administration's new drug control strategy will be officially unveiled in February. Until then, here's two peeks at what lies ahead on the demand reduction side of the policy:
1. The Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) has begun publishing a newsletter, called the ONDCP Update. (In addition to our link here, you can also find it on the ONDCP Web site at  in "What’s New" and in "Publications".) You can find two articles on the strategy there -- one is a brief overview, and the other signals that there will be a new emphasis on recovery as well as prevention, intervention, and treatment. 
2. NIATx's ACTION Campaign II sponsored a fantastic webinar with Thomas McLellan, the deputy director of the ONDCP. His official topic was the impact of health care reform on addiction treatment, but he also touched on parity regulations and of course the new national drug control strategy.
I recommend that anyone even peripherally interested in addiction treatment follow the link and check it out -- but especially if you're responsible for running a treatment agency or managing a treatment system. (I had some trouble getting the PowerPoint slides to work properly, but there aren't too many, and Mr. McLellan is quite thorough in his audio presentation.) 

Juvenile Justice System News - An Important Survey, plus Webinars and One Grant Opportunity

• Please take or pass on this quick online survey for kids who used to be in the juvenile justice system, family members of kids in the system, and people of color new to the field of juvenile justice reform. The National Juvenile Justice Network (NJJN) compiled the survey to help shape its first Juvenile Justice Leadership Development Institute, which it plans to hold in July 2010. The mission of the Institute is to create a "more effective juvenile justice reform movement by developing a strong base of well prepared and well trained advocates who reflect the communities most affected by juvenile justice system practices and policies, with a particular focus on cultivating and supporting leaders of color, youth and family members." Hurry, though, the deadline to complete it is Monday, December 14th!

If it is true that dollars drive decisions and the media shape attitudes on spending for public policy, we better all get off our couches, get involved, and mobilize to make sure policy makers understand how important it is to support youth and families in recovery.
Our family has suffered for years with generations of the disease of addiction. Two of our kids have made it; two have not. But when I was channel surfing last night, I saw enough images of  “rehab” to know there’s no hope that anyone would fund youth and family recovery services, given the current public will and culture.
 
Sensationalistic depictions of addiction are sold by the media business to get ratings, the media impacts public opinion and government, and the government impacts recovery spending on our health prospects and the future.

This report on adolescent substance abuse and mental health issues in the federal legislation governing the juvenile justice system is reprinted, with permission, from the Spring/Summer 2009 issue of The Link: Connecting Juvenile Justice and Child Welfare, published by the Child Welfare League of America. The final fact sheet, suitable for printing, can be found on the Act-4-JJ website.

 
The second part, below, contains recommendations for strengthening the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act; the first part lays out the justification and the key issues.

Recommendations for Strengthening JJDPA Mental Health and Substance Abuse Provisions
 

• Call for and provide federal funding for collaboration between state and local agencies, programs, and organizations that serve children, including schools, mental health and substance abuse agencies, law enforcement and probation personnel, juvenile courts, departments of corrections, child welfare, and other public health agencies. Juvenile justice agencies should involve families whenever appropriate.

Your Juvenile Justice System: Share Local Needs with OJJDP

• What training and technical assistance does your system need?  The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) wants to know. Complete their online needs assessment for your juvenile justice system, and help them improve their understanding of local needs to build capacity and sustainability among juvenile justice organizations. 

 
Juvenile Justice System and Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment News

• Laurence Steinberg, co-author of Rethinking Juvenile Justice, was just awarded $1 million for his work on adolescent developmental psychology -- work that has made him an expert on juvenile justice. Steinberg is the first winner of the Klaus J. Jacobs Research Prize, believed to be one of the largest prizes given in the social sciences.