Blog

• Reclaiming Futures-Rowan County Makes a Difference for Teens
  In 2008, law enforcement agencies in the United States arrested more than 2 million people under the age of 18, according to the FBI. The best way to address youth crime, experts say, is to get to the heart of the problem — be it substance abuse, family issues or mental health problems. In the Salisbury Times, Shavonne Potts tells the story of Reclaiming Futures showing teens they care in Rowan County, North Carolina.
• Texas’ Progress on Juvenile Justice
  A New York Times editorial celebrates a state juvenile justice system that is making impressive strides, when it was in chaos just a few years ago. How? Troubled children receive guidance and rehabilitation services in or near their communities, where they have support from families, churches and other local organizations. (Hat tip to Youth Transition Funders Group.)

 
As we’ve previously discussed, Recovery Month is celebrated each September to help promote the societal benefits of treatment for mental and substance use disorders, celebrate people in recovery, laud the contributions of treatment providers, and promote the message that prevention works, treatment is effective and people can and do recover.
 
As part of Recovery Month, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) develops a toolkit every year with educational materials and tools to help individuals and organizations plan events to celebrate Recovery Month. The toolkit is broken down into sections by audience and types of resources.
 
The 2011 theme, “Join the Voices for Recovery: Recovery Benefits Everyone,” showcases how public awareness will increase access to those in need of essential substance use and mental health services and how legislative changes will improve the overall health and well-being of people in the United States.
 
The toolkit also covers mental health problems and substance use disorders of adolescent and young adults. According to SAMHSA’s 2009 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, almost 2 million 12 through 17-year-olds needed treatment for a substance use disorder in 2009. A survey conducted by the National Health and Nutritional Examination found that 13 percent of children ages 8 to 15 had at least one mental health problem, a rate comparable to diabetes, asthma, and other diseases. As a result, the toolkit has useful information, such as warning signs of a developing substance use disorder and symptoms of mental health problems -- it also provides a wide range of resources, which can be narrowed to only show youth programs.
 
If you are interested in more information, the SAMHSA Recovery Month toolkit is available online and in hard copy. For other information about Recovery Month, please visit our website and become a fan of the Facebook Page, or follow us on Twitter.
 

Michele Monroe is a Public Health Analyst for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).

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:

The next Joint Meeting on Adolescent Treatment Effectiveness (JMATE) -- the only national conference solely devoted to adolescent substance abuse treatment -- has been scheduled for April 10-12, 2012, in Washington, D.C. 
Sponsored by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), the nearly-annual conference is a fantastic opportunity to see top-notch presentations on ... well, you can check out the 2010 JMATE agenda here to get an idea.
There's no agenda yet for the 2012 event, but take it from me, you don't want to miss it. 
Want to be notified when you can register? Send your email to JMATE-info@jbsinternational.com.
Want to participate in the 2012 JMATE planning committees? Contact JMATE-info@jbsinternational.com.
 
 

The Reclaiming Futures model encourages participating communities to identify, screen, and track youth with alcohol and drug issues. And when you talk with people who work in juvenile court and in the juvenile justice system about doing a better job of identifying teens with alcohol and drug abuse issues -- and mental health issues -- they'll almost always say it's a good idea. Why? Because they genuinely want to turn these kids' lives around. 
But if you've got community representatives at the table -- for example, a parent advocate whose own child has been through the system, or a community organizer who sees kids in his or her neighborhood swept into the system on a regular basis -- they'll likely raise a critical question: "Why do these kids have to commit a crime to get treatment?"
That's a great question. In fact, it's a question everyone should be asking. The fact is, although the juvenile justice system has its victories, researchers say it often makes things worse for kids who get involved with it.  A recent 20-year Canadian study showed that involvement in the juvenile justice system made boys seven times more likely to commit crimes as adults.
On top of that, youth of color are disproportionately sucked into the juvenile justice system and sanctioned more frequently and more harshly while there.
[Brief video interview with Yolanda Perez-Logan below - click "read more."]

How do you reduce the number of kids going into the juvenile justice system? Overhaul school disciplinary policies.
Here's a quick overview of research on the problem, a great video that puts a human face on the issue in Connecticut, and some things you can do.
Just yesterday, the Council of State Governments Justice Center released Breaking Schools’ Rules: A Statewide Study of How School Discipline Relates to Students’ Success and Juvenile Justice Involvement. The report is based on a groundbreaking study of nearly 1 million secondary school students in Texas. (Researchers were able to control for over 80 different variables because they had individual-level records from schools and juvenile court for every single youth in the study.)
Though it's methodologically very careful in its conclusions, it does show that:

• nearly 60 percent of all students in the study were suspended or expelled between 7th and 12th grades;
• African American students and children with "particular educational disabilities" were disproportionately affected -- especially for infractions where administrators had discretion over what sanctions to apply; and
• students who were suspended or expelled were more likely to end up in the juvenile justice system the following year.

But there's grounds for hope, because researchers also found that:

• suspension and expulsion rates varied widely beween schools, even among schools that were similar in terms of their students' racial compositon or economic status.

This suggests that schools can handle behavior problems differently, and with fewer negative outcomes on the youth.
[More after the jump --]

Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) youth across America are facing a crisis in the juvenile justice system as a result of harmful discrimination in their homes, schools and communities. Recent studies demonstrate that continued harassment of LGBT youth in their schools place them at a higher risk for involvement with the system. LGBT youth are more likely to skip school to avoid victimization and in the process face truancy charges.
Additionally, other LGBT students end up in the system on assault or disorderly conduct charges after they try to defend themselves against bullying by their classmates. In other instances, LGBT youth are disproportionately targeted by school officials for punishment, often referring them to juvenile court for conduct that is more appropriately handled in school. These experiences unnecessarily prolong the involvement of LGBT youths in the juvenile justice system and often expose them to more restrictive dispositions. In an effort to reduce the number of LGBT youth in the juvenile justice system, more must be done to combat discrimination and harassment in schools.

A spending bill that eliminates most federal funding for juvenile justice activities was approved [July 13th] by the House Appropriations Committee, and is expected to receive a vote by the full House before the August recess.
The bill, approved after a four-hour mark-up session, reduces spending by $3 billion from 2011 fiscal year levels, following most of the recommendations of its subcommittee on commerce, justice and science. It passed on a voice vote.
Juvenile justice demonstration grants, Juvenile Accountability Block Grants (JABG) and Title V Local Delinquency Prevention Grants received no funding in the bill. In 2010, the last year Congress actually passed an appropriations package, those three funding streams totaled $231 million.
The bill also reduces state formula grants - given to states on the condition that they adhere to basic standards in regard to the detainment of juveniles, and address racial disparities in the system - from $75 million in 2010 to $40 million.
The entire House will now consider a spending package that drastically reduces the total appropriation for the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention [OJJDP], and leaves the majority of its resources in mentoring ($83 million) and missing and exploited children ($70 million).

The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) calls for poster and media presentations for its upcoming national conference, “Children’s Justice and Safety: Unite, Build, Lead.” The conference will be held on October 12–14, 2011, at the Gaylord National Hotel & Convention Center in National Harbor, MD.
The poster session will feature visual presentations of recent program initiatives, research findings, and other information of interest and importance to the juvenile justice, delinquency prevention, and victimization communities. The media room will feature audiovisual materials (including TV and/or Internet-based PSAs, news segments, and training videos) from OJJDP-funded initiatives and programs.
Submissions must be postmarked on or before Friday, August 5, 2011.
Resources:
Learn more about OJJDP’s National Conference at http://www.ojjdp.gov/2011conference.
Apply to participate in the poster sessions at http://www.ojjdp.gov/2011conference/PosterCriteria.pdf.
Apply to participate in the media room at http://www.ojjdp.gov/2011conference/MediaCriteria.pdf.

(Via JUVJUST.)
Photo: southyrolean under Creative Commons license.