Brevity is the soul of wit.                                                                             
-- Shakespeare

Brevity on the Net

May 25, 2005

A weekly newsletter about juvenile justice
from the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges,
Brevity brings you news and information from around the country and on the Internet.

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Juvenile Firesetting: A Research Overview

“In a typical year, fires set by children and youth claim the lives of approximately 300 people and destroy more than $300 million worth of property. Children are the predominant victims of these fires, accounting for 85 of every 100 lives lost.”

U.S. Fire Administration, 1997, 2004

This new Juvenile Justice Bulletin outlines existing research and theories related to juvenile firesetting and identifies limitations for the existing research. Recommendations for further research include conducting a national juvenile firesetter survey, constructing a firesetting classification system, and identifying and evaluating promising intervention and treatment programs. 8 page pdf file.

Economists Support Higher Taxes on Alcoholic Beverages
In a declaration to Congress organized by the Coalition for the Prevention of Alcohol Problems (CPAP), a group of economists whose numbers include four Nobel laureates, say legislation promoted by the alcohol industry to reduce federal excise taxes on alcoholic beverages would damage public health, increase budget deficits, and threaten the safety of Americans, especially young people.

They called for long-overdue increases in these taxes to help offset the massive economic and social costs of alcohol. Federal taxes on alcohol have only increased once in 54 years for beer and wine and twice for liquor.

Visitation for a Non-Amish Dad
A ruling by an Iowa district court judge says an Amish woman can retain custody of her 14-month-old daughter, but the girl’s non-Amish father must be allowed visitation rights. The case pitted Amish cultural demands against a father’s right to see his daughter and made public an affair between a 67-year-old businessman and his 30-year-old Amish employee.

Mental Health and Juvenile Justice – Promising Practices in Texas
Connect for Kids reports on Texas programs that the National Mental Health Association has recognized to “incorporate promising practices to address the mental health, substance abuse and co-occurring needs of youth involved in the juvenile justice system." The  programs address the needs of the family, not just those of the youth.

The Texas First Time Offender program, available in 43 of the 254 counties of the state, provides services that range from screening and assessment, substance abuse counseling, case management and connecting the family to community support systems.

The Tarrant County Family Matters program works with youth deemed at risk for delinquency by the county’s juvenile probation department. This program arranges and coordinates such treatment services as individual and family counseling and family stabilization.

The Special Needs Diversionary Program (SNDP) is an alternative to incarceration for juveniles with mental health needs, seeking to prevent their removal from their homes and to keep them from further involvement with the juvenile justice system. SNDP is a team approach in which juvenile probation officers are paired with a licensed mental health practitioner. . At the same time it funded SNDP, the Texas state legislature enacted legislation that requires that every juvenile formally referred to juvenile probation departments be given a standard mental health screening.

Educators tend to see verbal abuse as a conflict between students and to deal with it by using techniques like peer remediation, where kids are brought together to discuss their difference. Experts say peer mediation should never be used in bullying situations because bullying is not about conflict; it is about power and control.

Ruling limits searches by child welfare workers
A Pennsylvania appeals court has ruled that the duty of child protective agencies to rescue abused children’ does not exempt them from the type of standards police must meet to search homes for evidence of crimes. The ruling tips the scales from being weighted in favor of child safety toward parent’s privacy rights.

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Can you Catch Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder? – The New York Times Sunday Magazine examines OCD in depth in this 9 page article. Part of the torture of OCD is, as patients describe it, watching as if from the outside as they act out their obsessions – knowing that they are being irrational, but not being able to stop.

Beating Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder – NPR interviews 13-year-old Daniel who describes his experiences with OCD and how he overcame the affliction.

2005 Graffiti Hurts National Award
Enter your program to win a Graffiti HurtsNational Award. Winners will receive a cash award of up to $1,000 and national recognition. The contest is open to all anti-graffiti projects that have taken place within the last 12 months. Click on the link above for details and to download applications and rules.

Graffiti Hurts is a community-based graffiti prevention program. It provides resources to help community leaders assess the graffiti problem initiate graffiti prevention activities, and educate youth and adults about the impact of graffiti vandalism on neighborhoods.

Outreach to New Americans
This program of the National Crime Prevention Council (NCPC) promotes partnerships between refugee communities and law enforcement agencies to address the problem of crime and crime victimization in refugee communities. ONA also helps develop and strengthen broad-based community coalitions involving refugee and immigrants.  Click on the link above for links to technical assistance, conferences, training, resource packets and translation bank and other information.

Focus on Schools Helps Finns Build a Showcase Nation
High status is given to the teaching profession in Finland, a nation in which superb schools symbolize the modern transformation of the country which was poor and agrarian half a century ago. Today Finland is one of the world’s most prosperous, modern and adaptable countries. Finland graduates nearly every young person in the country from vocational or high school, and sends nearly half of them on to higher education.

The key, the Finns say, is the high quality of Finnish teachers. A teacher needs a college degree to teach kindergarten, a master’s-level degree to teach at a primary school. Salaries are about $2,500 a month at current exchange rates, work a 190 day school year three to eight hours a day, and teachers say the work is fun.

New Technical Assistance Briefs from PPCD

The Permanency Planning for Children Department announces the availability of these new technical assistance briefs:

• Asking the Right Questions - A Judicial Checklist to Ensure That The Educational Needs of Children and Youth in Foster Care are Being addressed
• Mediation in Child Protection Cases: An Evaluation of the Washington, D.C. Family court Child Protection Mediation Program.

 Click on the link above to download copies of these documents or to order hard copies. (Hint: to download, click on the name of the publication.)

Conferences and Events

Clearing the Path for Girls and Women - A Call for Action - 11th National Workshop on Adult and Juvenile Female Offenders
This conference will be held October 15-19, 2005 at the Marriott Airport Hotel in Bloomington, Minnesota (right across from the Mall of America). This national conference draws together premier researchers and practitioners working with girls and women in the juvenile and criminal justice sytems to share their knowledge and expertise. The conference is for adult and juvenile facility and community organization administrators, funding granting organizations, policy makers, and anyone who has repsponsibility for working with girls and women in the justice systems.

National Institute of Justice Annual Conference
This conference will be held July 18-20. It brings together scholars, policymakers, and practitioners at the local, state, and federal levels to share the most recent findings from research and technology. It showcases what works, what doesn't, and what the research shows as promising. Researcher-prtacitioner partners who register together pay half-price. Click on the link above for details.