How Money Crunch Can Spur Reform

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A new report makes the case for juvenile justice reform despite financial constraints.  The study, called The Real Costs and Benefits of Change, comes from The National Juvenile Justice Network, and outlines pro-active measures that advocates can take to cut spending without cutting effective programs. Their core mission is to put fewer young people in jail or detention, without sacrificing safety.  It recommends using the budget crisis facing cities and states to promote shutting down facilities by showing how much money can be saved; and using that money to fund less expensive community-based alternative programs.

The authors lay out specific tactics and cite numerous examples in Wisconsin, Ohio, Illinois, California, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, New Mexico.

Teen Brains and Juvenile Justice

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A series of Supreme Court decisions is changing the direction of juvenile justice.  A report in the American Bar Association Journal digs into the impact of the Graham v. Florida ruling last May, and Roper v. Simmons from five years ago. Graham bars life-without-parole sentences for teens convicted of anything short of homicide. Roper bans the death penalty for children.  Both decisions were influenced by new research in developmental psychology and neuroscience that reveals how kids’ brains are different from adults’ brains when it comes to impulse control, decision-making and risk-taking. Researchers also maintain teenagers are more capable of long-term change than are adults. Reporter Bryan Stevenson talks with researchers, including Dr. Laurence Steinberg at Temple University, who "likens the teenage brain to a car with a powerful gas pedal and weak brakes. While the gas pedal responsible for things like emotional arousal and susceptibility to peer pressure is fully developed, the brakes that permit long-term thinking and resistance to peer pressure need work.”

Not everyone is on board.

79% of Students are Bullied

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79% of students in middle school and high school across the nation say they have been bullied.  63% of these students were bullied once or twice a year. 7% were bullied every day. This is according to a 2007 report by the National Center for Education Statistics.  Girls were 3% more likely to be bullied at school then boys. Only 36% of students who were victimized notified a teacher or another trusted adult.

Teen Gangs in 2008: Stats

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32.4 percent of towns, counties and rural areas around the nation reported problems with teen gangs in 2008. The number of gangs rose 28% over the past six years according to a recent report from the OJJDP.  Gang-related crime and violence, including aggravated assaults, drug sales and firearm use increased. In cities with more than 250,000 people, gang-related homicides rose by 10%.

New Alarm on Robo Tripping

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There are new warnings about the dangers facing teens who get high on cough medicine.  CNN reports that children are showing up in hospital emergency rooms after mixing cough medicines with stimulants, such as energy drinks and prescription drugs that treat ADHD.  The symptoms include hallucinations, nausea, vomiting, rapid heartbeat and numbness in hands and feet. The Partnership for a Drug Free America reports that 1 in 11 teens admits to Robo tripping.  The high comes from taking very large doses of OTC medicines that contain dextromethorphan, an active ingredient in more than 125 cold and cough medicines, including Robitussin.  Kids also call the practice Dexing, Skittling, and DXM-ing. The National Institute on Drug Abuse says high doses of dextromethorphan, or DXM, affect the same parts of the brain targeted by ketamine or PCP.  These are considered “dissociative” drugs, which make people feel disconnected from their normal selves.  The effect of DXM is similar. Click here to listen to teens describe their experiences with Robo tripping.

Child Trauma Linked To Prison Time

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The majority of American youth behind bars have suffered trauma during their childhoods, a newly released report by the Justice Policy Institute (JPI) says. According to Healing Invisible Wounds: Why Investing in Trauma-Informed Care for Children Makes Sense, of the more than 93,000 children currently incarcerated, between 75 and 93 percent have experienced at least one traumatic experience, including sexual abuse, war, community violence, neglect and maltreatment. “Incarcerated youth already face significant challenges, but youth who have experienced trauma are even more acutely affected,” says author Dr. Erica Adams. The brief, published by the Washington, D.C.-based organization that promotes the reduction of the nation’s prison population, notes that youth who engage in delinquent behavior should be held accountable but also strongly suggests that judges consider  trauma exposure when deciding where youth are placed. Young people who receive treatment in the community tend to have better outcomes than those placed in correctional facilities, the report says. “We simply cannot afford to ignore the evidence and prevalence of the long-term effects of untreated childhood trauma,” says JPI Executive Director Tracy Velázquez.

School Discipline Study Finds Disparities

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Picture this: Students lay out their school initials in bricks on the outfield of a rival team’s baseball field so the grass underneath dies, leaving a long-term imprint.  If the culprits are caught, their punishment could range from a wink and a reprimand to a criminal charge of vandalism. The difference depends on where in Georgia the prank occurs. Some schools and districts punish much more frequently and more severely than others, according to “Effective Student Discipline: Keeping Kids in Class,” a report released in June by the non-profit Georgia Appleseed Center for Law & Justice. Some districts, for example, impose out-of-school-suspension at a rate 10 to 20 times higher than others. “Perhaps the overarching theme of Georgia’s student discipline law is the strong reliance on local control in the development of overall discipline policies,” says the report, subtitled, “An Assessment of Georgia’s Public School Disciplinary Policies, Practices and Outcomes.” The June release is Phase One of a project expected to be completed in late 2010 in association with JustGeorgia, a statewide juvenile justice coalition formed in 2006.

Most Juvenile Cases Involve Younger Teens

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There were 1,666,100 delinquency cases processed across the nation in 2007.  54% involved children younger than 16.   27% involved girls, and 64% involved white youngsters.   For a wealth of data check out  The National Juvenile Court Data Archive and its annual report on  Juvenile Court Statistics 2006-2007

Boys of Color in Harm's Way

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"Negative health outcomes for African-American and Latino boys and young men are a result of growing up in neighborhoods of concentrated disadvantage, places that are more likely to put boys and young men directly in harm’s way and reinforce harmful behavior." That's the key finding from the report entitled: "Healthy Communities Matter: The Importance of Place to the Health of Boys of Color." The report, which is filled with facts and figures and underwritten by The California Endowment, finds:

When it comes to health and other outcomes, the odds for boys and men of color are more than two times worse than they are for white boys and men in California. African-American and Latino children are 3.5 times more likely to grow up in poverty than their white counterparts. In fact, nearly half of the nation’s African-American and Latino fourth graders attend schools that are characterized by extreme poverty.

Teens and Violent Crime

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The percentage of teens committing violent crimes remains steady at 12% nationwide. The proportions of forcible rape, aggravated assaults, murders and robberies have fluctuated only by 1 to 2% over the past decade, according to the Justice Department. These statistics are compiled by the FBI in its annual Crime in the United States.