Steve Reba: Enter the Pipeline

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The thirteen-year-old sat at the defense table with his mother.  The school principal, serving as prosecutor and the district’s sole witness, occupied the table to their left.  Three administrators from other district schools stared down from their elevated bench. Sitting with the tribunal, indistinguishable in both presence and role, was the hearing officer. When the boy’s mother attempted to ask the principal a question, he would invoke his role as prosecutor.  When the inquiry was directed at the hearing officer, he would explain that he was not a witness.

Link Between Literacy and Prison?

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Some states may be looking at elementary school reading scores to help forecast the number of jail beds they need for the future, according to the Ferst Foundation. The Ferst Foundation, based in Morgan, Ga. focuses on improving childhood literacy across the state.   We have asked the Ferst Foundation for more specific details on how literacy is used by prison planners.   In the meantime, their mission is to improve the life long prospects for Georgia's children. “We know that approximately 61 percent of low-income families do not have a single piece of reading material suitable for a child,” the Ferst Foundation website points out. The foundation gives one book a month to kids involved in the program from birth to age five.

Police Arrest Detention Center Director

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The director of the Aaron Cohn Regional Youth Detention Center in Columbus, Ga. was arrested on Sunday for gambling, which is a misdemeanor. Police arrested Jimmie Lee Hooks III and 14 others at a Columbus beauty shop where they were found playing poker for money. Police also found crack cocaine and illegal alcohol sales and charged the owner of the shop with additional crimes. Hooks has been with the Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice since January 2001 and became director of the Center in March 2010, according to Scheree Moore, the department’s director of communications.

7.2% of high school students use some form of cocaine

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According to a report by the CDC,  7.2% of all high school students, nationwide, used some form of cocaine in 2007, including crack, powder and freebase. The nationwide study also reveals that 7.8% of users were boys and 6.5% were girls. Of the students who used any form of cocaine:

10.9% were  Hispanic
7.4% were White
1.8% were Black

Judge Hatchett’s Self-Help Tips

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Former Fulton County Juvenile Court Chief Judge Glenda Hatchett of the Judge Hatchett Show has released a new self-help book, Dare to Take Charge: How to Live Your Life On Purpose. She’ll have a virtual book tour through Pump Up Your Book, a PR firm for authors, starting September 15 and ending October 29. Her book tells personal stories that encourage people to challenge themselves and face obstacles to reach their true potential, according to Pump Up Your Book. As we reported earlier this month, Hatchett will be in Atlanta keynoting the Truancy Intervention conference from October 27 to October 29.  The conference is entitled “Charting the Course:  Reinvesting In and Reengaging Georgia’s Youth” and will hold workshops with topics like “understanding why truancy exists” and “the connection between delinquency and juvenile offenses”.  Attendance is free, but space is limited.  Sign up here.

At Risk Kids: Education Strategy Guides

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Three new guides are available from a center whose name says it all: The National Evaluation and Technical Assistance Center for the Education of Children and Youth Who Are Neglected, Delinquent, or At-Risk . This center has created two strategy guides and one issue brief aimed at helping teachers, administrators and program coordinators provide better education to at-risk and delinquent kids.  Check them out below:

Making It Count: Strategies for Improving Mathematics Instruction for Students in Short-Term Facilities

Adolescent Literacy Guide: Meeting the Literacy Needs of Students in Juvenile Justice Facilities

Issue Brief: The Importance of Literacy for Youth Involved in the Juvenile Justice System

17 States Fight Craigslist "Adult Services"

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Attorneys General in 17 states have teamed up to try to get rid of the Craigslist’s “adult services” section, according to a CNN report. As we reported earlier this month, the popular “adult services” section has been scrutinized because of ads that exploit women and underage girls.  The attorneys general addressed Craigslist CEO Jim Buckmaster and founder Craig Newmark in a scathing letter on Tuesday. The increasingly sharp public criticism of Craigslist's Adult Services section reflects a growing recognition that ads for prostitution -- including ads trafficking children -- are rampant on it. They go on to highlight an open letter that two girls wrote to Craigslist in July about being trafficked through the site.  The Attorneys also mention CNN Amber Lyon's report which questions Craigslist's screening methods. A Craigslist representative told CNN that they agree with some of the letter and hope to work with the attorneys general to stop child and women trafficking.

State Lists Kids Programs that Work

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If you’re looking for evidence-based programs that work, the Governor’s Office for Children and Families is providing a list that focuses on kids.  It’s called the Compendium of Best and Promising Programs and Practices for Systems of Care. The programs are listed by result area, strategy and target age.  It has categories for things you might be focused on, such as “Early Childhood” and “Ensuring School Readiness.” Each program lists evidence levels: proven, promising or screened. For the complete Compendium, click here.

Forum: How Trauma Effects Kids

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The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has created an online forum called Chronic Trauma and the Teen Brain for people who work with kids who’ve experienced trauma:

"Through this forum, we hope to bring together experts in different adolescent-serving systems and disciplines to discuss emerging research, current experiences, and innovative strategies and models." We previously mentioned this forum, but it will now stay open until August 31st. Here’s what some people have had to say so far:
I am a high school social worker. Lets not derail this conversation because we are focusing on "labeling" students. The best place to begin to screen and intervene is in school because most trauma symptoms begin to show themselves, initially, in the classroom through behaviors and attitudes.

CASA Volunteers Look Out for Abused, Neglected Children in Court

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By Margie Richards at MadisonJournalTODAY.com

CASA Northeast Georgia executive director Melissa Mitchell got a letter recently from a child she’d helped as a CASA volunteer a decade ago in Forsyth County. The girl, one of four siblings whose case she had worked, wrote to tell her that she’d just graduated from high school and was headed to North Georgia College. She wanted to thank Mitchell for her help all those years ago.  “Often times, the rewards of being a CASA volunteer are not immediate, but there are many rewards in helping these children,” Mitchell said. A CASA (Court-Appointed Special Advocate) is a trained community volunteer who is appointed by a judge to advocate for the best interests of an abused or neglected child in juvenile court proceedings. The CASA volunteer’s job is to advocate for the child to be placed in a safe, permanent home as quickly as possible.