Supreme Court Allows Resentencing of Illinois Inmates; News Roundup

Juvenile Justice Reform

• Near Retirement, Top Judge of Nation’s Largest Juvenile Court Still Working for Kids (JJIE)
  The man who has presided over the largest juvenile court system in the nation for 20 years will leave behind major advances in treating so-called crossover youths. He leaves with his trademark blaze of silver hair, relaxed attitude and easy humor intact.

• South Dakota Juvenile Justice System Needs Change (WNAX Radio)
  A group of legislators has created a set of recommendations related to the state’s juvenile justice system. The South Dakota Juvenile Justice Reinvestment Initiative (JJRI) Work Group submitted a list of policies for the upcoming legislative session that they believe will help solve the problems associated with the juvenile correction system.

• Military Vet Takes Lead Role at Juvenile Court Services (The Des Moines Register)
  Today, Jensen has a responsibility to thousands of children and teens who enter the juvenile justice system in the Fifth Judicial District, the 16-county region that includes Des Moines. In October, he became the chief juvenile court officer, taking charge of an agency responsible for helping young people who've been in trouble with the police, often for crimes such as theft, assault or drug and alcohol offenses.

• Supreme Court Allows Resentencing of Illinois Inmates (JJIE)
  Sentenced to life in prison at the age of 15, Julie Anderson’s 34-year-old son Eric, along with roughly 80 fellow Illinois inmates, has received his first hope for freedom since he sat in a courtroom 19 years ago.

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Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment and Mental Health

• 750 Mentally Ill People, Including 28 Children, Held by Police in Devon and Cornwall in a Year (Plymouth Herald)
  Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said: “I have been putting in place a strategy that will see over the next few months a reduction of 51 percent in the number of mental health patients who use police cells.”

• Youth Behavioral-Health Issues are the Focus of a New University of Minnesota Social-Work Training Program  (Minnesota Post)
  Nationwide, there is a growing shortage of social workers trained to assist youth facing mental illness and addiction. This year, with an eye to filling that gap, Joseph Merighi, associate professor of social work at the University of Minnesota, proposed the Minnesota Social Work Initiative in Behavioral Health, a program designed to train masters in social work (MSW) students to take jobs at community-based behavioral-health clinics, primary care clinics and substance-abuse centers.

• Study: Young People Who Feel Good About Their Communities are Mentally Healthier (NorthJersey.com)
  Researchers found that the relative wealth of the participants' home countries was not correlated with better mental health outcomes. Instead, a combination of having positive adult role models and a favorable perception of their communities made a teen more likely to report better mental health.