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The National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN), a program of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s Center for Mental Health Services, has released six online briefs that discuss the key elements of a trauma-informed juvenile justice system. The NCTSN website explains:

This collection of Briefs written by experts invited to the NCTSN Trauma-Informed Juvenile Justice Roundtable, address topics essential to creating trauma-informed Juvenile Justice Systems. These Briefs are intended to elevate the discussion of key elements that intersect with trauma and are critical to raising the standard of care for children and families involved with the juvenile justice system.
In Trauma-Informed Juvenile Justice Roundtable: Current Issues and New Directions in Creating Trauma-Informed Juvenile Justice Systems (2013) (PDF), Carly B. Dierkhising, Susan Ko, and Jane Halladay Goldman, staff at the National Center for Child Traumatic Stress, discuss the Juvenile Justice Roundtable event, describe the current issues and essential elements of a trauma-informed JJ system, and outline possible new directions for the future.
In Trauma-Informed Assessment and Intervention (2013) (PDF) , Patricia Kerig, Professor at the University of Utah, discusses how trauma-informed screening and assessment and evidence-based treatments play integral roles in supporting traumatized youth, explores the challenges of implementing and sustaining these practices, and highlights practice examples for integrating them into a justice setting.
In The Role of Family Engagement in Creating Trauma-Informed Juvenile Justice Systems (2013) (PDF) , Liane Rozzell, founder of Families and Allies of Virginia Youth, discusses the importance of partnering with families, explores strategies for doing so, and emphasizes ways that justice settings expand their outreach to supportive caregivers by broadening their definition of family.
In Cross-System Collaboration (2013) (PDF) , Macon Stewart, faculty at the Center for Juvenile Justice Reform (CJJR), outlines practice examples for continuity of care and collaboration across systems, a vital activity for youth involved in multiple service systems, drawing from the CJJR’s Crossover Youth Practice Model.
In Trauma and the Environment of Care in Juvenile Institutions (2013) (PDF) , Sue Burrell, staff attorney at the Youth Law Center, outlines specific areas to target in order to effectively implement this essential element, including creating a safe environment, protecting against re-traumatization, and behavior management.
In Racial Disparities in the Juvenile Justice System: A Legacy of Trauma (2013) (PDF) , Clinton Lacey, Deputy Commissioner of the New York City Department of Probation, outlines the historical context of racial disparities and highlights how systems can move forward to reduce these racial disparities, including by framing the issue so that practical and pro-active discussion can move beyond assigning blame. 

It's not too late to add your voice in support of National Recovery Month 2013 and promote the benefits of prevention, treatment and recovery for mental and substance use disorders.
Forsyth County Reclaiming Futures is leading the way this September in Winston-Salem, N.C. with:

• A city proclamation, signed by Mayor Allen Joines,
• A free community event on September 28, with food, music, activities, and exhibits
• Wonderful photography through the lenses of teens in treatment.

I encourage you to visit Facebook to see the powerful images of teens' choices, their motivations for recovery and hopes for the future.

Below you'll find a selection of the latest grants, jobs, webinars and events posted to our Opportunity Board. Please share the Reclaiming Futures Opportunity Board with your colleagues in the juvenile justice, adolescent substance abuse and teen mental health areas. It's free to browse and post!
Jobs

• Part-Time Adolescent Treatment Services Coordinator | Delaware | $19.75/hr
• Juvenile Justice Services Manager | Illinois | $58,676

Webinars

• Public Health Impact of Statewide Anti-Bullying Legislation: A look at Oregon and Iowa: Sept. 19
• Collaborative Approaches to Justice Information Sharing: Sept. 24

Events

• 2013 Addiction Treatment Technology Summit: Sept. 19-20
• Fifth Annual International Crime, Media & Popular Culture Studies Conference: Sept. 23-25
• DC Summit on Evidence-Based Programs for Children, Youth and Families: Sept. 27

Juvenile Justice Reform

• OP-ED: Digging up the Past (JJIE.org & The Miami Herald)
  Sometimes, only by unearthing the skeletons of a tortured past can they be given a proper burial. That is what is happening in Marianna, in North Florida, literally and figuratively. A team of researchers, including anthropologists, archeologists, students and police detectives are searching, painstakingly, for the remains of young boys once confined to the Dozier School for Boys.
• Wisconsin Considers Keeping Non-Violent Teen Offenders In Juvenile Court (Wisconsin Public Radio News)
  Wisconsin is moving slowly towards changing the age at which teenagers are automatically treated as adults when they commit a crime. A bill introduced Thursday would allow 17-year-olds who commit nonviolent crimes to be tried in juvenile court.
• OP-ED: Juvenile Life Without Parole: The Confusion Remains (JJIE.org)
  "Last June, on the day the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Miller v. Alabama, I spoke to a long-time advocate for the elimination of juvenile life without parole. Like a lot of people, I was pleased with the ruling, and saw it as a victory not only for activists but for science-based research into the juvenile brain."

We all want schools to have a culture of high achievement. A place where students are challenged; where they have the freedom to think creatively, where they are pushed by their teachers; where they are more than test scores; and where they go on to exceed all of their hopes and dreams and our hopes and dreams for them. Education reformers spend countless hours and dollars to create high performing schools. But we don’t seem to take into account what research has shown us: that positive school climate is associated with positive child and youth development, effective risk-prevention and health-promotion efforts, student learning and academic achievement, increased student graduation rates, and teacher retention. Aren’t these results what we expect in a high performing school?
During the past year as a Stoneleigh Fellow, I have had the privilege to immerse myself in the issue of how to provide for positive school climate throughout the district. I often find myself thinking about a conversation that I had with a School District of Philadelphia principal. This principal had made great strides towards improving his school’s climate. During our conversation, I was pressing him about what he had put in place to create a safe, secure and positive school environment. He told me that creating a positive school climate and school culture isn’t “rocket science,” but simply about creating a culture of care.
There are many schools in the Philadelphia system that have created a culture of care. For instance, I visited a middle school that was in its first year of implementing restorative practices. During the course of the day, I watched classrooms using restorative circles to talk about the school’s new lateness policy. Students held thoughtful discussions about the pros and cons of being late and, together with teachers, they talked about why this policy was needed and how they could help to prevent students from coming to school late. Later that day, I observed a circle with two staff members and four young ladies. It was convened because the staff over heard the students talking about fighting each other. During the course of the circle, they talked about what led to the fight, how it made the participants and the bystanders feel, what they could lose by fighting, and what was to gain. In the end, the students acknowledged that they did not have to be friends, but apologized and said they didn’t want to fight each other.
In Chicago I visited an elementary school where there has been an intensive and pro-longed focus on social-emotional learning, or SEL. Children as young as pre-K talked about SEL – how to acknowledge their feelings, how to calm down, how to pay attention. A classroom of 7th graders discussed what happens within the body when you are scared, or angry or upset. The school developed a “peace center,” where students recognized when they were upset, asked an adult to go to the center, and gave themselves the time to calm down.

Four members of the Fort Hays State University (FHSU) basketball team, with Assistant Coach Sean Dreiling, visited the Larned Juvenile Correctional Facility (LJCF) in late August to teach basketball and encourage young people to make healthy life choices.
“They’ve been doing this for several years, and it really makes an impact on the young men,” said LJCF Chaplain David Hales. “This is a chance for them to interact with heroes in their eyes.”
For the FHSU players, one of the benefits of helping with the clinic is in the experience of coaching. Though NCAA rules prohibit them from playing against the youth, they can supervise drills and demonstrate techniques. The clinic includes contests, competitions and drills, and culminates with a scrimmage, which the FHSU players coach and officiate.
FHSU assistant coach Jeremy Brown has been bringing players from his program to LJCF for clinics for the past several years. He said the college students benefit from the experience of seeing life inside a correctional facility and from giving of their time to a good cause. “Our guys have worked hard and made a lot of good choices to be where they are, and for them to go and set a good example and encourage the youth at LJCF is a really special,” said Brown. 

Editor's Update:
Please join us for a free webinar October 29, 2013, 10 am (PDT)/1 pm (EDT):
Deliver the Scientific Facts About Drug Abuse to Teens During National Drug Facts Week, hosted by Reclaiming Futures, presented by the National Institute on Drug Abuse

The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) invites you to participate in National Drug Facts Week, a national health observance from January 27 to February 2, 2014, now in its 4th year. NIDA, part of the National Institutes of Health, developed National Drug Facts Week to get the science out to teens about the effects of drug use on the brain and body through community-based events and activities to help shatter their myths about drug abuse and addiction.
Reclaiming Futures supports National Drug Facts Week and encourages you to work with local youth, schools, juvenile justice programs, and prevention coalitions to organize an educational event or activity for teens that delivers real, factual information about drugs and drug abuse.
Here’s how you can get involved:

• Share this information with your networks and encourage their participation, www.drugfactsweek.drugabuse.gov
• Beginning September 9, register to organize an educational event or activity for youth during National Drug Facts Week
• Promote through social media with sample messages, provided by NIDA, about National Drug Facts Week and the scientific facts about drug abuse

To help you plan, NIDA provides a step-by-step toolkit, which includes a list of suggested activities, and a free drug facts booklet, which you can distribute at your event. 
For more information about National Drug Facts Week (January 27 to February 2, 2014), contact Brian Marquis at bmarquis@nida.nih.gov or register for the free webinar on October 29, 2013.

Below you'll find a selection of the latest grants, jobs, webinars and events posted to our Opportunity Board. Please share the Reclaiming Futures Opportunity Board with your colleagues in the juvenile justice, adolescent substance abuse and teen mental health areas. It's free to browse and post!
Jobs

• Deputy Legal Director/Director of Juvenile Justice Advocacy | Alabama

Webinars

• Motivational Interviewing: Sept. 12

Events

• Grant Writing Class: Sept. 5-6
• 2013 Addiction Treatment Technology Summit: Sept. 19-20
• DC Summit on Evidence-Based Programs for Children, Youth and Families: Sept. 27

Congratulations to Reclaiming Futures Montgomery County!
Under the leadership of Honorable Anthony Capizzi, this Juvenile Drug Court was recently awarded $975,000 from the Federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
The three-year Drug Court Expansion grant supports Montgomery County's efforts to unite juvenile courts, probation, adolescent substance abuse treatment, and the community to reclaim youth. Through this grant, Ohio will be able to serve an additional 45 families per year and 135 over the grant's three-year span.
Together, they are improving drug and alcohol treatment and connecting teens to positive activities and caring adults.
There is statewide interest in Ohio to expand the Reclaiming Futures model beyond the four current sites. If you know community leaders interested in breaking the cycle of drugs, alcohol and crime, or philanthropies investing in juvenile justice reform, we'd like to hear from you. 
For more information about bringing Reclaiming Futures to your community, please call Susan Richardson at 503-725-8914 or email susan.richardson@pdx.edu.
Map at right illustrates current (blue) and potential (orange and green) Reclaiming Futures communities in Ohio.