Benjamin Chambers: Juvenile Drug Courts – There ARE Practice Guidelines

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Some of you may have heard this disturbing account of a drug court in Glynn County, Georiga, aired recently on "This American Life." Usually, a drug court may take a year, possible two years, to complete.  For 24-year-old Lindsey Dills, who was 18 when she entered the Glynn County juvenile drug court, she won't be done with it until 10-1/2 years later, counting time behind bars and probation. Now, the show makes it clear that this particular Georgia drug court is commonly thought to be run counter to generally-accepted principles of drug court. But I thought it would be a good time to mention the so-called : "16 strategies" for juvenile drug courts.  (Follow the link for a monograph from the Department of Justice, explaining the details.)

Here they are:

Strategy 1: Collaborative Planning
Strategy 2: Teamwork
Strategy 3: Clearly Defined Target Population and Eligibility Criteria
Strategy 4: Judicial Involvement and Supervision
Strategy 5: Monitoring and Evaluation
Strategy 6: Community Partnerships
Strategy 7: Comprehensive Treatment Planning
Strategy 8: Developmentally Appropriate Services
Strategy 9: Gender-Appropriate Services
Strategy 10: Cultural Competence
Strategy 11: Focus on Strengths
Strategy 12: Family Engagement Strategy 13: Educational Linkages
Strategy 14: Drug Testing
Strategy 15: Goal-Oriented Incentives and Sanctions
Strategy 16: Confidentiality

 
The above story is reprinted with permission from Reclaiming Futures, a national initiative working to improve alcohol and drug treatment outcomes for youth in the juvenile justice system.  

Part Three: A Friend and Reason for Hope

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Just joining us? This is part three of a five part series. Start from the beginning. Kyle Boyer, 15-year-old prescription drug addict, duped his parents once again, faking a stomach ache to stay home from school. But instead of staying in bed, he went out to do what had become his norm – breaking into houses and stealing whatever the medicine cabinets within had to offer.

Part Two: The Sympathetic Judge

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Just joining us? This is part two of a five part series. Start from the beginning. Juvenile Court Judge Juanita Stedman, who presides over Cobb County, Georgia’s Juvenile Drug Court has gotten to know Kyle quite well the past three years. Yes, he was one of the most dangerously addicted kids she’s seen.

Part One: Darkness Visible

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Just joining us? This is part one of a five part series. See the whole series. When Suzanne and John Boyer left their upper-middle class home for work on the morning of May 20, 2008, their 15-year-old son, Kyle, had a stomachache and was still in bed. It wasn’t too bad, he told them.

April 15, 2011

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Read up:

Bullying May Cause Long-term Social Anxiety, Study Finds:
http://bit.ly/dontBULLYmice

Celebrities Leverage Online Video to Combat Child Sex Trafficking:
http://bit.ly/realMENreadJJIE

Georgia's Failure to Enter Interstate Compact for Juveniles a "Serious Problem," Judge Says:
http://bit.ly/judge2gov

Host: Ryan Schill
Multimedia: Clay Duda

Juvenile Justice | Week in Review | April 8, 2011

April 8, 2011

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Read up:

FBI Probing Possible Civil Rights Violation of Teen:
http://bit.ly/Amerson

New Comcast 'On Demand' Show Seeks To Find Missing Children:
http://bit.ly/comcastkids

Juvenile Justice Journeys (series launching Monday, April 18):
http://bit.ly/JJjourneys

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Host:
Ryan Schill, JJIE Reporter

Multimedia team:
Clay Duda, Social Media Strategist

Search for New Administrator at OJJDP

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The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention may be close to hiring a new administrator. California Superior Court Judge Kurt Kumli has been named as a candidate, according to a report in Youth Today. Kumli worked for 17 years in the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office, and spent 15 of those years focused on juvenile and child welfare issues. Governor Schwarzenegger appointed him to the bench in 2006. Kumli may not be well connected to the Obama administration, but Youth Today points out that he seems qualified considering his background in juvenile justice reform in California.

Child Abuse Prevention Month Begins with SafePath Kick-Off Event

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Cobb County, Ga.’s SafePath Children’s Advocacy Center wasted no time getting started on April’s Child Abuse Prevention Month activities, holding a kick-off event Friday morning.  Attended by a large crowd of parents, police officials, and politicians braving the cold spring weather, the event shone a light on the importance of preventing child abuse. The Walker School’s Lower School Chorus warmed up the crowd with a song before turning it over to a succession of speakers, including WSB-TV anchor Linda Stouffer and state Rep. Stacey Evans (D-Smyrna). SafePath Board President Ed Lee spoke first, reminding the audience that child abuse prevention is an “active process.”

It’s important to keep our eyes open and watch for signs of abuse, he said, a message that Rep. Evans reiterated. “We need to talk to our friends and colleagues about getting involved,” Rep. Evans said. Child abuse is often a self-perpetuating cycle, Evans said.  Thirty percent of abused children will grow up to abuse their own children, so it is even more important to stop the violence now.

‘FAST’ Track To Juvenile Justice

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Who knew that an innovative initiative that is showing dramatic success in decreasing the number of children incarcerated in Clayton County was actually sparked by a “failure” in the system. So goes the story of how Juvenile Court Judge Steven Teske was inspired to create the Finding Alternatives for Safety and Treatment (FAST) panel, a program that statistics show is having a major impact in the county. 

Teske says the case of a young man now serving a life sentence for murder actually prompted the idea for to him to start the program. “The system had failed him on so many levels; by the time he’d gotten to the seventh grade he was reading on a first grade level and no one had ever intervened,” recalls Teske, of the teen who, after years of run-ins with the law, ultimately gunned down a security guard during a botched robbery. Several studies have linked lack of education to criminal behavior. Teske firmly believes that if school leaders and social service agencies had intervened earlier, he would have evaded the very gang life that ended up taking away his life and that of an innocent man.

Karen Worthington: If you Want to Prevent Crime, Work to Prevent Child Abuse

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Downtown Atlanta workers may not see pinwheels in the parks this April. The brightly colored children’s toys have twirled in the wind for many Aprils, each representing one of the thousands of children who are abused in Georgia each year. Just two weeks before the start of Child Abuse Prevention Month, Prevent Child Abuse Georgia (PCAG), an affiliate of Prevent Child Abuse America, abruptly closed its doors. The closure of PCAG presents an opportunity for Georgia to redesign and revitalize our child abuse prevention work. Child abuse prevention activities, such as public awareness, home visitation programs, parent education and early identification of risk factors, are essential components of a safe, healthy, prosperous community.