Juvenile Justice Reform

What works in juvenile justice? That's always a big question. After every youth violence tragedy, government officials are asked what they intend to do about teen crime. Academics and experts are asked how to reduce delinquency, how to lower recidivism, and which programs and policies are most effective?

A few quick links that crossed our desk today:

• Many of you probably saw this on Join Together, but it's worth repeating: according to a new national survey, 19% of teens surveyed say that it's easier for them to buy prescription drugs than beer, cigarettes, or marijuana. More info on the survey from the Center for Substance Abuse Research (CESAR) at the University of Maryland here.

Researchers investigating the prevalence of substance abuse problems among youthful offenders find that the rate of abuse varies according to where they look.

Over at Youth Today's the excellent blog, I ran across a link to a video of a "town hall meeting" on national juvenile justice policy sponsored by the American Bar Association and held at Georgetown Law School. I recommend that you check out Youth Today's summary of the event for highlights and policy recommendations for the Obama administration before heading over to see the video, which is nearly three hours long -- but the snippets I've seen so far made me want to watch the whole thing.

Reclaiming Futures has now been around since 2001, when The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation first funded the initiative. Our goal remains the same: bringing communities together to help young people break the cycle of drugs, alcohol, and crime.