By Benjamin Chambers, June 26 2009
A St. Louis family court judge has taken the unusual step of opening his own alternative school for youth in the justice system. The school features lots of oversight and plenty of after-school activities. - The families of kids detained in San Francisco won't be charged after all. The city's head of juvenile probation has withdrawn the original proposal to collect fees for detained teens. He stated that only families of youth from outside the city (an estimated 30% of detained youth) would have been charged.
- A new poll shows that three quarters of Americans want addiction treatment in healthcare reform to make it more affordable.
- The Reclaiming Futures site in Greene County, MO is hosting a community awareness event tomorrow designed to connect parents and kids with youth-oriented resources in the community, "like after-school activities, mentoring programs, parental support, counseling services and drug prevention programs. The event features games, dental screenings, prizes, live music, free food and family entertainment." I'm betting other communities will want to follow their lead.
- Curious about what federal dollars have been set aside for youth funding? Youth Today has a complete list of 2009's federal earmarks for youth.
- South African teens have a whole new drug problem: kids getting high on an anti-AIDS drug made cheap and plentiful in an attempt to address the AIDS epidemic there.
- Elsewhere, the Australian government has classified a new juvenile justice report as a state secret. Outsiders speculate that the report shows that the government's get-tough policy on juvenile crime hasn't cut crime rates. However its policies have resulted in an 40% increase over two years in numbers of youth detained while awaiting disposition of their cases and a disproportionate impact on Aboriginal youth.
- Vermont invested in restorative justice early and seems to be reaping the rewards; and here's an account of one young person's turnaround thanks to a restorative justice program in Alameda County, CA.
- Want national stats on juveniles in court but don't have time to read a long report? The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) has issued fact sheets on juvenile deliquency cases pulled from its report, Juvenile Court Statistics 2005.
- Nationwide, budget cuts threaten to gut juvenile justice services, alcohol and drug treatment programs, and other support systems needed by kids in trouble. North Carolina's juvenile justice system is facing a proposed 20% in cuts (click through for video of a young man from the system who's trying to save it). Even Illinois, which has done notable work reforming its juvenile justice system, is facing enormous cuts to its entire youth services system.
- Amid more bad budget news, I noticed that the elimination of a Louisiana youth advocacy program despite amazing success statistics quoted by the program's director. Among the more interesting aspects of the program: youth advocates spend time with youth on their caseload every day.
- Research shows that youth kept in foster care until age 21 do better than those who leave at age 18. A new federal act supports this policy, but how can states afford to shoulder their part of the cost? Learn more in a webinar hosted by Chapin Hall on July 15th at 10 am PST / 1 pm EST, "Extending Foster Care to Age 21: Benefits, Costs, and Opportunities for States."
Topics: Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment, Juvenile Justice Reform, News, No bio box, Public Policy
Updated: February 08 2018