Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment

I've just seen a sneak peak of Recovery Month's "Road to Recovery: Partnering with Youth and Young Adults in Behavioral Health to Live Happy, Healthy and Productive Lives" and wanted to share it with you! In the clip, host Ivette Torres (Associate Director for Consumer Affairs, Center for Substance Abuse Treatment) speaks with experts and young people about teens in recovery.

This just in: According to the Los Angeles Times, teens are drinking hand sanitizer in order to get drunk. Six California teenagers have ended up in the emergency room over the past few months. 

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
From the article:

Juvenile Justice Reform

Opinion: Trust judges with juvenile placements
Denver Post
Right on Crime's research indicates that judges are the best public officials to make the determination of which system should handle a juvenile offender, as opposed to the current system where a prosecutor can directly transfer a juvenile to the adult system under the direct-file system.
Youth volunteers needed to continue Prince George’s County’s teen court program
Gazette.net
The Prince George’s County state attorney’s office’s Teen Court program is looking for additional teen volunteers to maintain the program. Teen Court is a diversion program for first-time juvenile offenders and provides them with a second chance to avoid the juvenile justice system. Juvenile offenders have the opportunity to admit their guilt and perform various tasks as punishment for their crimes.
Problems spiked in 2011 at troubled juvenile detention facilities
Baltimore Sun
Youth violence and staff uses of force spiked in 2011 at Maryland's most troubled juvenile detention centers, according to an annual report by the state's Juvenile Justice Monitoring Unit, part of the attorney general's office. The number of incident reports filed rose 25 percent from 2010 to 2011 across the state's juvenile justice system to nearly 8,000, while some of the more violent categories of incidents increased even more.
Across the nation, state legislatures focus on children in 2012
Juvenile Justice Information Exchange
State legislatures across the United States have been busy this year with youth and juvenile justice-related legislation.
Youth court aims to get misbehaving teens back on the right track
KSL
In Sandy, Utah, Youth Court is praised as one of the most successful juvenile programs in the state.
Guest Column: Sentencing children to die in prison is cruel and unusual punishment
Jurist
This past month, the US Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Miller v. Alabama and Jackson v. Hobbs, two cases challenging the constitutionality of sentences of life without parole for children convicted of homicide. Many questions centered on the appropriate age limit for a constitutional prohibition on these sentences. The Court has to look no further than its recent precedent to find the answer: 18
Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment
Teens in Treatment for Substance Abuse can Benefit from 12-Step Programs
Join Together
Teenagers in treatment for substance abuse can benefit from 12-step programs, a new study suggests.
Synthetic Marijuana On the Rise: Looks Like Pot, but ‘Far Worse’
Christian Science Monitor
Antidrug activists are concerned by the rising use of man-made drugs known as synthetic marijuana, which purport to be a legal way to a herbal high but are actually dangerous chemical concoctions that are banned in many states.
New Florida State Law to Help get Synthetic Marijuana Off Store Shelves in Indian River County
TC Palm
Last year, Florida banned five of the chemicals used in Spice. This year, the state’s passed new legislation to eliminate the loopholes and provide a more effective ban on synthetic marijuana.
Six Tips to Protect Your Child from Online Drug Threats
Join Together
The Treatment Research Institute has developed a training program for parents that provides practical recommendations to help them defend their children from these online drug threats.
Sharp increase in prescription drug poisonings among teens reported
Join Together
Poisoning deaths among teenagers rose 91 percent between 2000 and 2009, primarily due to prescription drug abuse, according to anew report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
CDC.
Economies of Scale in the Cocaine Industry
NYT’s Freakonomics Blog
As drug traffickers have become more organized (in processing, transport, and retail networks), the price of cocaine has plunged.
A Night Out with a Small Town Heroin Dealer
The Crime Report
Prescription pills are increasingly becoming a gateway drug that leads to heroin use. And small and suburban towns are not immune to the spread of this dangerous drug.
Drug Court can Claim Enviable Success Rate
Ledger-Enquirer
A Georgia county Juvenile Drug Court has reduced the recidivism rate to 15% while saving taxpayer dollars and getting teens into treatment programs.

I really wanted to attend the Homeboy Industries and teen substance abuse interventions panel at JMATE, but didn't make it to the session. So I missed learning about Homeboy Industries' Project STAR program that works with recently released juveniles with a history of the substance abuse. They offer in-house, trauma-informed treatment that is sensitive to the unique needs of formerly gang-involved youth. Mental health services are a central part of the program, as are job trainings and academic and life skills classes.
Started as an alternative to gang violence in Los Angeles, Homeboy Industries trains and hires at-risk, recently released and former gang involved young people with the goals of transforming troubled youth into productive members of their communities. They provide free counseling, education, tattoo removal, substance abuse and addiction assistance, job training and job placement services.
Fast Company has a terrific piece on Homeboy Industries, its founder (Father Gregory Boyle) and the key people in charge of running the nonprofit.
Father Gregory Boyle moved to East Los Angeles 26 years ago, and began walking and biking the neighborhood. He became friendly with the community and even visited gang members in the hospital. And one day, he realized that he could help residents escape the pervasive cycle of violence.

According to the Pat Moore Foundation, inhalants are often the first drug used by adolescents. What teens may not know, is that just one huff is enough to kill them. That's why the foundation put together the following infographic, detailing the extrame danger of huffing.
Click through to see the infographic.

The Reclaiming Futures news roundup today focuses on jobs, funding opportunities and events for those working in the juvenile justice, adolescent substance abuse and teen mental health areas.
The listings below are from the new Reclaiming Futures Opportunity Board. Please share it with your colleagues. It's free to browse and post! 
Jobs (with closing dates when applicable)
Mentor
HOPI Substance Abuse Prevention Center
Kykotsmovi
AZ
4/13/2012 

Books Not Bars, Oganizing Intern - Summer 2012
Ella Baker Center for Human Rights
Oakland 
CA
4/15/2012
 
Lecturer in Criminal Justice
Colorado Mesa University
Grand Junction
CO
5/4/2012
 
Juvenile Justice Consultant Title IV-E
Unificare, Ltd.
Dallas
TX
5/13/2012
President and CEO
 
Youth and Family Services Network
Bonita Springs
FL
8/15/2012

Half of all psychiatric disorders occur before the age of fifteen. Most childhood onset psychiatric disorders increase the risk of developing early onset substance use disorder. And substance use increases the risk of developing psychiatric disorders.
So, what can treatment providers do to improve the care of kids who are using substances and may have (or be developing) psychiatric disorders?
According to Dr. Paula Riggs (director, Division of Substance Dependence, University of Colorado's School of Medicine), treatment providers need to compile a detailed history of substance use disorders for the child and his/her family. The history should include:

• school risk factors (such as poor academic performance and substance use among the child’s friends);
• attention to any substance used more than five times;
• onset of substance use;
• the progression to current substance use; and
• frequency of use.

Dr. Riggs explained that this history is vital to understanding the cause of cause and risk of substance use and dependence. By gathering and analyzing this information, treatment providers will be able to provide a good diagnosis, which should drive treatment. “We shouldn’t be treating things unless we know what we are treating,” she said.

Starting in 2010, there's been a policy shift around drugs, addiction and treatment, and it could not have come at a better time, explained David Mineta (deputy director of demand reduction at ONDCP) at yesterday's JMATE plenary. More Americans are dying from drug use than from any other kind of accidental death, including car crashes and gun wounds. "This is a public health problem," stressed Mineta, before explaining that the ONDCP is prioritizing prevention, treatment and diversion programs in its forthcoming 2012 national drug control strategy. [editor's note: we'll share this as soon as it's out]
"Addiction can be overcome and recovery is absolutely possible," said Mineta. "And we need to make sure our young people have the brightest future possible. It's personal for us."  
Following Mineta's moving keynote on addiction and prevention measures, Kris Buffington addressed the issue of trauma and its impact on adolescents.
Buffington explained that traumatic experinces can substantially impact biological, psychological and social development in youth. And unfortunately, symptoms associated with exposure to traumatic events are often misinterpreted as indicating a young person has a behavioral disorder. 

Across the country, substance abusing teens are dropping out of high school at alarming rates. But a recovery high school in downtown Boston is targeting youth in recovery with great success. At a JMATE 2012 panel on recovery schools, a staff member from Ostiguy Recovery School spoke about the differences between a recovery school and a regular school. At Ostiguy Recovery School:

• Students receive recovery support and counseling in addition to math and science
• Students lead their own sobriety groups which empowers them to take control of their lives
• Students WANT to be there (this is not a mandated rehab program)
• Students outreach at area schools to let troubled students know there is another option 

In May, Reclaiming Futures celebrates 10 years of breaking the cycle of drugs, alcohol and crime. We look forward to marking this milestone by freshening up the national identity and highlighting the success of 29 sites changing the way communities treat kids with substance abuse problems in the justice system across the United States.
The Reclaiming Futures icon has been redesigned to reflect a more modern, simplified and professional symbol while maintaining the movement and overall shape of the original logo. The new logo was born from the star in the original logo, representing the hopes and wishes for young people and their communities.
This new look draws on the experience of the past decade.
The Reclaiming Futures model unites juvenile courts, probation, adolescent substance abuse treatment, and the community to reclaim youth. Together, they work to improve drug and alcohol treatment and connect teens to positive activities and caring adults.
Because we believe in youth potential and the power of the community to make change, we are working to spread the model to all juvenile courts.
We need your help. Please help us spread the word. By bringing Reclaiming Futures to your community, you can:

• Change the way your community treats kids in the justice system with substance abuse problems.
• Help young people stay out of trouble with the law.
• Improve public safety and save money.
• Give young people the support they need—more treatment, better treatment and beyond treatment—to turn their lives around.

Please email info@reclaimingfutures.org to learn more about investing in Reclaiming Futures.