Felony: A response to cigarettes & cell phones in Georgia youth detention

Juvenile Justice Reform

• Georgia bill would make smuggling cell phones, cigarettes into youth detention centers a felony
  JJIE
  Smuggling cellphones or cigarettes into a Georgia youth prison would become a felony under a bill approved without opposition Thursday by the Georgia Senate. Under the bill, which still must pass the House of Representatives, violators could be sentenced to up to four years in prison upon conviction.
• Kentucky Department of Juvenile Justice conducts comprehensive needs assessment
  SurfKy News Group
  The Kentucky Department of Juvenile Justice recently completed an 18-month study of its training academy, thought to be the country’s first comprehensive job task analysis and needs assessment of a juvenile justice training program.
• Los Angeles City Council unanimously approves changes to daytime curfew law
  KPCC radio
  L.A. City Council unanimously voted this morning in favor of changes to the city's daytime curfew law to improve how the city deals with its truant students.
• Opinion: Make youth justice a safer situation
  Austin Statesman
  Recent Texas Tribune-New York Times revelations of ongoing safety concerns in Texas' juvenile justice system only confirm what the leading national research shows: Secure juvenile facilities are a taxpayer burden, work against rehabilitation and can make youths' problems worse.
• California Governor Jerry Brown’s plan to end juvenile justice division faces fight San Francisco Chronicle:
  A group of criminal justice leaders are preparing to fight a plan by Gov. Jerry Brown to entirely phase out the state's Division of Juvenile Justice over the next three years and return the most violent and troubled youths to county facilities, despite support for the proposal by some experts.
• Recent increases in drug arrests were for possession, not sales
  Jeffrey A. Butts
  Between 1991 and 2006, arrests for drug sales and manufacturing actually dropped 6 percent while arrests for possession climbed 139 percent. The same pattern was observed for arrests involving offenders of different ages, but the growth in drug possession arrests was sharpest among juveniles.

Adolecscent Substance Abuse Treatment

• Teens driving under the influence of marijuana
  Join Together at Drugfree.org
  According to a recent study, nearly one in five (19 percent) of teens say they have gotten behind the wheel after smoking marijuana.

• Cocaine and the teen brain: Yale research offers insights into addiction
  HealthCanal.com
  When first exposed to cocaine, the adolescent brain launches a strong defensive reaction designed to minimize the drug’s effects, Yale and other scientists have found. Now two new studies by a Yale team identify key genes that regulate this response and show that interfering with this reaction dramatically increases a mouse’s sensitivity to cocaine.
• Study: many teens use Alcohol at home with parents’ okay
  Standard-Examiner
  Parental attitudes contribute to teen substance abuse problems in the four cities that send students to Bonneville High School, according to a local woman who has studied the situation.
• Research shows adverse effects of marijuana on teens as drug use among students appears to be rising
  Education News Colorado
  As marijuana use among students in Colorado rises, doctors warn of its especially harmful effects to kids.

Events

• EVENT: 25th Annual Children’s Mental Health Research and Policy Conference 
  The conference will feature plenary sessions, papers, and symposia on how research can impact policy and practice in children’s mental health. Topics include early childhood mental health, linking primary care to mental health, integrating policy and practice across sectors, research on youth and family roles in mental health services, implementing evidence-based and community-defined practices, and more.
  When: March 7, 2012
  Where: Tampa, Florida
• WEBINAR: Integrated Assessment and Treatment for Adolescents with Co-Occuring Disorders
  It’s been estimated 75% of adolescents with Substance Use Disorders have a co-occurring mental health disorder most commonly anxiety disorders, mood disorders, attention-deficit disorders, and conduct disorder. Like adults, treatment outcomes for adolescents with co-occurring disorders have found higher treatment dropout rates and poorer long-term success. This webinar will focus on the components of a comprehensive evaluation which is considered necessary for effective treatment as the challenges and obstacles confront practitioners.
  When: March 14, 2012 at 1 p.m. (EST)
• EVENT: NADCP 18th Annual Training Conference
  Join the world's largest conference on substance abuse, mental health and the criminal justice system. The hotel registration deadline is April 18, 2012. 
  When: May 30-June 2, 2012
  Where: Nashville, Tennessee

Lori Howell is a Senior Associate at Prichard Communications. She is a seasoned public affairs practitioner with a background in public policy, fundraising, and education. Lori helps clients with online editorial services, media relations, and publications. Before joining Prichard Communications, she served as chief of staff for Greg Macpherson, a former Oregon state legislator, an account executive for the Northwest Evaluation Association, a nonprofit educational testing consortium, and once taught English in Choshi, Japan.