Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment

On November 13 and 15 in Mt. Laurel and Morristown, New Jersey, leaders from around the state of New Jersey and a variety of youth-serving disciplines, gathered to learn more about the national and local problems facing communities and the solutions offered by Reclaiming Futures.
Reclaiming Futures is working with New Jersey Health Initiatives (NJHI), a program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, to conduct a six-month readiness assessment to determine if the Reclaiming Futures model, offering more treatement, better treatment and support beyond treatment, can be implemented in New Jersey, with support and funding through NJHI.
According to national data, almost two million young people ages 12 to 17 need treatment for substance abuse or dependence, but only one in 20 will get treated. That's unfortunate, because effective adolescent substance abuse treatment can help teens stay out of trouble, make our communities safer, and save money.
Young people need to be held accountable when they break the law, but unless they receive treatment when they have a substance abuse problem, they will likely find themselves back in juvenile court again and again.
Please contact Reclaiming Futures at 503-725-8911, or email info@reclaimingfutures.org for more information about bringing Reclaiming Futures to your community.

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) released its annual report on mental health, The 2011 Mental Health Findings Report (PDF download), with new insights about mental disorders of 12 through 17 year olds.
Estimates in the report include major depressive episodes (MDE), treatment for depression (among youths with MDE), and mental health service utilization. The report focuses mainly on trends between 2010 and 2011 and differences across population subgroups in 2011. Major findings from the report are included below.
Teens were mostly likely to seek mental health services for depression. Additional reasons are included in the chart below:

When criminal justice systems reduce prison populations and reinvest a portion of the savings in evidence-based methods of reducing crime, not only are taxpayer dollars saved, but more efficient and effective programs can be fiscally prioritized.
For example, Kentucky is using a portion of the savings from reduced prison populations to fund drug treatment beds that aim to get more Kentucky offenders off drugs—for good. Recent data showed Kentucky policymakers that drug treatment can cut recidivism among otherwise addicted inmates by one-third, and the Kentucky Legislature jumped at the chance to save money and reduce crime in their state.
In Hawaii, crime victims will receive additional attention as some of the justice reinvestment savings are used to fund victim counselors and their support staff. This will permit their victims’ outreach efforts to expand from violent crime victims to violent and property crime victims, and for longer periods of time. Putting the focus on victims in this way not only makes the criminal justice system more responsive to community needs, but also what is necessary to make the harmed party whole after the criminal act.

Juvenile Justice Reform

• Viewpoint: Localizing Juvenile Justice Spurs National Reforms (American City & County)
  Across the country, jurisdictions are moving away from centralized juvenile justice systems and toward smaller, local programs. Local systems are less expensive and are proving to be highly effective.
• New Report: Minors in ‘Solitary’ Hallucinate, Harm Themselves (JJIE.org)
  A new report on solitary confinement of minors includes harrowing descriptions of the psychological and physical impact ‘solitary’ has on young people, as well as surprising revelations about why some authorities resort to isolating juveniles.
• Juvenile Courts were Created to Get Kids on Track (DesMoinesRegister.com)
  Experts believe teenage brains are not fully developed. Society knows they should not be judged and punished in the same way as adults. So like other states, Iowa created a juvenile justice system to ensure that young offenders are given the help to get their lives moving in the right direction.
• Opinion: Juvenile Justice (Tallahassee.com)
  The state Department of Juvenile Justice’s new Roadmap to System Excellence is indeed an exercise in common sense. The Roadmap, which was discussed Thursday in Tallahassee in the first of a series of town hall meetings to hear from citizens and stakeholders, has the lofty goal of making Florida a leader in juvenile justice.
• Avery D. Niles Sworn In As New Georgia Department Of Juvenile Justice Commissioner (WJBF.com)
  Avery D. Niles, of Clermont, Georgia was sworn in Friday as the new Commissioner of the Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ).
• States Mull Ohio-Style Juvenile Justice Reform (JJIE.org)
  Georgia has room to make its juvenile justice system more regular, cheaper and better, according to preliminary suggestions from a blue-ribbon panel charged with drafting an overhaul. States including Texas and Ohio have gone down the same path, which, say experts, is not completely smooth.
• The Shocking Details of a Mississippi School-to-Prison Pipeline (COLORLINES.com)
  Cedrico Green can’t exactly remember how many times he went back and forth to juvenile. When asked to venture a guess he says, “Maybe 30.” He was put on probation by a youth court judge for getting into a fight when he was in eighth grade. Thereafter, any of Green’s school-based infractions, from being a few minutes late for class to breaking the school dress code by wearing the wrong color socks, counted as violations of his probation and led to his immediate suspension and incarceration in the local juvenile detention center.
• First Court of Appeals Hears Case Challenging Transfer of Juvenile to Adult Court (ChildrenAndTheLawBlog.com)
  Children in Texas can be tried in adult criminal court under a waiver statute that permits the transfer of a juvenile to adult court after a hearing is conducted by a juvenile judge. On October 31, 2012 the First Court of Appeals in Houston heard a case challenging the transfer of a child, C.M. The decision of the Court is pending.
• EDITORIAL: Juvenile Injustice (The New York Times)
  Step by step, the Supreme Court has been trying to reshape the way the American criminal justice system deals with those under the age of 18. In Miller v. Alabama this June, it ruled that a mandatory life sentence without parole for a juvenile is cruel and unusual punishment, even when the crime is homicide.
• Marijuana Decriminalization Law Brings Down Juvenile Arrests in California (PublicIntegrity.org)
  Marijuana — it’s one of the primary reasons why California experienced a stunning 20 percent drop in juvenile arrests in just one year, between 2010 and 2011, according to provocative new research.
• For the Newly-Elected Judge, a Different View of Juvenile Court (YouthToday.org)
  Dozens of lawyers won their first elections as judges this month, and they will soon experience the sensation of viewing the courtroom from the other side of the bench and hearing the words “your honor” directed at them.

To celebrate 10 years, Reclaiming Futures Anchorage recently hosted a reception to honor those who have worked together, improving the lives of young people in the justice system for the past decade.
They also served a delicious cake (pictured at right), which helped improve attendance! It was clear from the events that there is interest in a statewide effort to provide more treatment, better treatment and support beyond treatment for communities working to help teens overcome drugs, alcohol and crime. 
Both Fairbanks and Matanuska-Susitna County were very well-represented, but the events were also attended by a wide variety of leaders from around the state, including:

• Judicial representatives
• Treatment providers
• Community members 
• Funders
• Public health employees
• Attorneys
• Young people and parents 
• Division of Juvenile Justice staff and leadership
• Other youth-serving agency representatives

Our friends at the Partnership at Drugfree.org have put together a 1 page guide to the 13 drugs commonly abused by teens. The guide covers street names, photos, drug effects and signs of abuse.

Download the full guide here.

Juvenile Justice Reform

• [Video] Fresno Local Conservation Corps Re-Entry Program Highlighted by Local News (The Corps Network)
  Earlier this week several staff members from the Fresno Local Conservation Corps joined KSEE24 local news to talk about their re-entry program for formerly incarcerated youth.
• New Push to Help Juvenile Offenders (WCTV.TV)
  The Florida Department of Juvenile Justice is pushing a proposed plan it says will help keep youthful offenders out of jail and revamp the juvenile justice system.
• Juvenile Justice: Mass. Formulating New Sentencing Policies (WBUR.org)
  In June, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that mandatory life sentences without parole for juveniles convicted of murder was unconstitutional. The court declared life without parole for juveniles was “cruel and unusual punishment,” thereby in violation of the 8th Amendment.
• Elementary-Schoolers' Arrests Alarm Justice Officials (Orlando Sentinel)
  Circuit Judge Alicia Latimore, one of three judges who handles juvenile-delinquency cases in Orange, was so concerned about the kids' arrests that she visited Cherokee's campus this fall. The arrests at Cherokee outnumber the arrests of students at Orange's 121 other public elementary schools combined.

The sixth step of the Reclaiming Futures model is "transition," which highlights the importance of creating opportunities for young people in the community based on teens' unique strengths and interests.
Mentors in Snohomish County, Washington, are connecting with young people through Promising Artists in Recovery, a program created through Reclaiming Futures Snohomish County and the Denney Juvenile Justice Center in Everett, Washington. 
The Everett Herald is celebrating this very compelling photography in print and online. (Photo at right by student Jordyn Brougher.)
 
 
 
 

A recent SAMHSA report indicates that adolescent cigarette use nationwide declined significantly over the past decade. However, smoking remains the nation’s leading cause of preventable death, responsible for an estimated 443,000 American deaths each year, with 50,000 of these deaths from exposure to secondhand smoke. One in eleven adolescents in the U.S. report smoking in the past month. In addition, tobacco use takes an enormous toll among people with mental and substance use disorders:

• Almost half of tobacco deaths are people with mental and substance use disorders
• Forty-four percent of all cigarettes sold in the U.S. are smoked by people with mental and substance use disorders
• Tobacco dependence is the most prevalent drug abuse disorder among adults with mental illness
• Smoking tobacco causes more deaths among clients in substance abuse treatment than the alcohol or drug use that brings them to treatment

Beginning in 2009, a working group of public health experts across the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) convened to develop a Department-wide strategic action plan for tobacco control to accelerate progress in ending the tobacco epidemic. As a result, in 2010, HHS unveiled a new comprehensive tobacco control strategy: Ending the Tobacco Epidemic: A Tobacco Control Strategic Action Plan for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Juvenile Justice Reform

• Success in Juvenile Justice Diversions May Influence Treatment of Adult Offenders in Florida (JJIE.org)
  In October, officials in one Florida community announced that its local police force would now have the ability to issue civil citations in lieu of formal arrests for certain crimes. The Leon County, Fla., measure targeting a largely adult-offender base takes many cues from the state’s juvenile justice system, which has seen vast improvements to juvenile crime rates due to lock-up alternatives.
• Rethinking Prison Terms For Juveniles (Courant.com)
  Recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions and new developments in psychology and brain science are prompting Connecticut to reconsider prison sentences for juveniles. The courts allow for a sentence of life in prison with the possibility of parole for juvenile offenders, but juveniles in Connecticut can still receive mandatory sentences of life without parole in adult court.
• Juvenile Justice Reform Priority for State Lawmakers (NBC26.tv)
  Now that the election is over, lawmakers say they have a lot of unfinished business to get back to. Georgia goes back to legislative session in January, but Representative Wayne Howard said the planning starts now. Howard acknowledges that there wasn’t enough funding for juvenile justice reform last year, but that they hope to fit it in the budget this year.
• I-Team: Shackles Coming Off Juveniles in Court (8NewsNow.com)
  For the first time since anyone can remember, juveniles accused of a crime in Clark County, Nevada, are not wearing shackles in court. For years, children have appeared with chains at their hands, waist and feet, a policy that applied to all of those accused, regardless of risk.