Juvenile Justice Reform

Over at The Crime Report, Cara Tabachnick takes a look at the practice of trying teens in adult court. She writes:

Nathan Jordan is serving a 170-year sentence at Sterling Correction Facility in Colorado for aggravated robbery, motor vehicle theft and possession of a weapon.
But most of his crimes, which did not result in anyone’s death or injury, took place in in the late 1990s, before he was 18 . According to Colorado law, he was a juvenile offender.
So how did Jordan end up with the kind of sentence that might be meted out to serial killers or career criminals?
The answer is devastatingly simple: he was tried in adult court.

They were the recipients of the 2012 JMATE Evidence-Based Practice Program Award for demonstrating a consistent commitment and movement towards evidence-based practice in adolescent substance abuse treatment. What is Denver doing right? Turns out it's good old fashioned teamwork.
We recently spoke with Juvenile Court Presiding Judge Karen M. Ashby about what Denver is doing to break the cycle of drugs, alcohol and crime.  

Note: Review criteria for the JMATE reward included evidence of: (1) using evidence-based manuals, protocols, knowledge, and technologies, and using data to improve implementation, management, and fidelity; (2) a sustained commitment to evidence-based practices; and (3) a specific focus on adolescent treatment and recovery.

Juvenile Justice Reform

• Studying the gap between boys and girls inside the department of juvenile services (WYPR Public Radio) Maryland Morning Radio talks with Juvenile Justice Monitoring Unit head Nick Moroney about how things have –- or haven’t -– changed for girls in the juvenile justice system.
• Young people in trouble with the law receive diplomas a in Stockton, Calif. (Central Stockton News 10) “Rehabilitation is the primary objective of our juvenile justice program and a high school education is the foundation for building a successful life,” said Matthew Cate, Chaderjian Youth Correctional Facility Secretary.
• Juvenile justice increasing safety and saving money in Delaware (Delaware Online) Delaware has improved its juvenile justice system in recent years, helping more young people return to their families and learn to stay out of trouble, according to a report released June 12.
• Program fosters trust between youth and police (Post-Gazette) Pittsburgh encourages honest dialogue in meetings between police officers and teenagers in an effort to reduce the number of young people of color caught up in the system.
• Connecticut's Juvenile Review Board tries to keep young people out of court system (Middletown Press) Connecticut Juvenile Review Board members, drawn from local youth-oriented nonprofits and service agencies, are empowered to take cases of first-time offenders referred from juvenile court. As a test, the group is also taking students referred by a local middle school.
• Program works to keep kids out of juvenile justice and child welfare systems (PostCrescent.com) Leaders of a national project, sponsored by the MacArthur Foundation and Robert F. Kennedy Children’s Action Corps, selected Outagamie County, Wisconsin as one of four counties in the nation to receive aid and technical assistance to prevent children from entering both the juvenile justice and child welfare systems.

Juvenile Justice Reform
Teens turn corner with jury of their peers (News Star) The teen court program in Ouachita Parish, Louisiana, in operation since 1986, allows juveniles who have been found guilty of nonviolent misdemeanors to go in front of a group of their peers for a second chance.
Revised court rules protect juveniles (Post-Gazette) Revamped juvenile court procedures in Pennsylvania will prevent schools from taking additional disciplinary measures when a child gets in legal trouble outside of school.

Criminal justice podcast with David Onek (Berkeley Law) Probation Officer Scott MacDonald discusses reducing racial disparities in the juvenile justice system, partnering with the community, using data to drive decision-making, sustaining reforms through leadership transitions, and more.
Five questions for Wansley Walters, head of Florida’s Department of Juvenile Justice (FlaglerLive.com) In Miami-Dade, Walters spear-headed the use of civil citations and other diversion programs with generally applauded results. From 1998 to 2008, juvenile arrests dropped by 51 percent there, juvenile detention by 66 percent and re-arrests by 80 percent. It’s estimated that Miami-Dade saved more than $20 million as a result.

Studies show that 75 percent of youth in the juvenile justice system have experienced traumatic events; 50 percent have endured post-traumatic stress symptoms. Additionally, system-involved youth who have been exposed to trauma are more likely to face overt behavioral and academic challenges.
Exposure to child trauma can lead to high-risk behaviors such as fighting, running away, and substance abuse, as well as the inability to focus in class, overreacting, and poor self-regulation. These behaviors ultimately increase their chances of entering the juvenile justice system or returning to juvenile courts for a repeated time. This vicious cycle has many officials within the juvenile and education systems concerned about how to handle these troubled and vulnerable adolescents. 
The National Leadership Summit on School-Justice Partnerships examines this critical issue in their recent report Responding to Students Affected by Trauma: Collaborating Across Public Systems. The report examines the long-term effects child trauma, particularly for those served by public agencies.
 

Larry Henry of Substance Abuse 411 talks with National Executive Director Susan Richardson about how Reclaiming Futures can help in your community.

In this podcast, Larry asks Susan Richardson about the Reclaiming Futures model and how it unites juvenile courts, probation, adolescent substance abuse treatment, and the community to reclaim youth.
Substance Abuse 411 was created because of Larry's personal family experience with substance abuse and the search for answers to so many unanswered questions.
Together, they discuss ways to improve drug and alcohol treatment and connect teens to positive activities and caring adults.
  
 

Detaining Youth Instead of Confining the Problem
The Juvenile Justice Work Group of the Youth Transition Funders Group recently released the third edition of “Juvenile Justice Reform: A Blueprint.” According to the report, 2.2 million juveniles are arrested and 400,000 youth cycle through juvenile detention centers each year. Noting that “50 to 70 percent of youth released from juvenile correctional facilities are rearrested within two to three years,” the report suggests a critical problem exists within the juvenile justice system nationwide.
As part of a movement to view youth incarceration as an option of last resort, The Blueprint outlines this framework:
The Blueprint
1.Divert youth from the justice system
2.Reduce institutionalization
3.Eliminate racial and ethnic disparity
4.Ensure access to quality counsel
5.Create a range of effective community-based programs
6.Recognize ad serve youth with specialized needs
7.Build small rehabilitative facilities
8.Improve aftercare and reentry
9.Engage youth, family and community
10.Keep youth out of adult courts, jails and prisons
Reclaiming Futures is highlighted in the report as a successful initiative that has helped divert troubled youth from confinement in juvenile correctional facilities. Founded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Reclaiming Futures model helps communities systematically identify and address youth with specialized needs, by connecting them to the proper resources and support needed to address underlying mental health and/or substance abuse issues.
The Blueprints for Violence Prevention project identified other successful models including Multisystemic Therapy (MST), Functional Family Therapy (FFT) and Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care (MTFC). Each of these models emphasizes the important role of family, is cost-effective and has shown promising results.

The Children’s Law Center (CLC) recently released a report titled “Falling Through the Cracks: A New Look at Ohio Youth in the Adult Criminal Justice System” and an accompanying publication called “In Their Own Words.” The report focuses on youth in Ohio who are transferred to the adult court system or held in adult jails and prisons, while the second document highlights the stories and experiences of eight individuals – four family members and four youth – who have been personally affected by Ohio’s policy of transferring (or binding over) youth to the adult system.
In recent decades, changing Ohio laws have caused more youth to come into contact with the adult criminal justice system. Although the state has more recently taken steps to change this, the current process has resulted in over 300 youth placed in adult courts or adult jails and prisons each year throughout Ohio.

In and around New York City, the Bloomberg administration is setting up new group homes for young people aged 15 and under who have been sentenced for crimes. The group homes will be operated by 11 nonprofit providers, with some homes opening as soon as September.
Each group home will house 4 to 24 young people, allowing more than 300 troubled kids to serve their time in the city instead of in upstate juvenile facilities. This will make it easier for them to stay in contact with their families and support networks, which will reduce the likelihood of recidivism. 
Residents will live in the group homes for an average of seven months and will attend Department of Education schools during the day. As they get close to completing their sentence, many will return to their former public schools. 
From Child Welfare Watch:

Juvenile Justice Reform

• Mentally ill children who don't get help can end up in criminal justice system (Northwest Indiana Times)  Parents, judges, prosecutors, and other officials in Indiana say there is a multi-agency failure to provide mental health services to the children who need it most.
  
• Are too many kids being sent to court for minor offenses? (Southern California Public Radio)  A growing wave of juvenile justice experts say school districts send too many students to court for minor offenses. Usually those kids are African American or Latino. A nonprofit’s effort to track school citations within Los Angeles Unified School District indicates that the district is following that pattern.
• Director of troubled youth agency to retire (Texas Tribune)  Cherie Townsend, the executive director of the Texas Juvenile Justice Department, announced Tuesday that she will retire at the end of June after nearly four years leading the state's institutions for youth offenders.
  

Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment

• New report: Health care costs drop if adolescent substance abusers use 12-step programs (University of Wisconsin-Madison) The use of 12-step programs, such as Alcoholics Anonymous, by adolescents with a history of drug and alcohol abuse not only reduces the risk of relapse but also leads to lower health care costs, according to research by the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health.
• Spotting depression in kids is essential (Albert Lea Tribune) There is a common misconception that many of the symptoms of depression, such as irritability and mood swings, are a normal part of adolescence. This is not the case and should be taken into account if there are other symptoms.
• A vaccination for depression (Chicago Tribune) Dr. Benjamin Van Voorhees, who is chief of general pediatrics at Children's Hospital University of Illinois, and his team identify kids at risk and then use a combination of traditional counseling and Internet-based learning to stave off mental disorders so they don't fall into substance abuse.

Jobs, Grants, Events and Webinars
Please share the Reclaiming Futures Opportunity Board with your colleagues in the juvenile justice, adolescent substance abuse and teen mental health areas. It's free to browse and post!