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New Study Finds Delinquent Youths More Likely to Suffer Violent Deaths Linda Teplin, professor of psychiatry at Northwestern University and the study’s lead author, says the statistics her team uncovered on youth in the Cook County, Illinois, juvenile detention system are a sad statement on the violence many poor and minority children confront. Teplin said that the 52 children who died in school shootings in the country between 1990 and 2000 got far more attention than the far greater number of suicides involving inner city youth. In New York City alone there were 840 homicides of kids 14 to 17 during the same time period.
++++++++ CybercrimeCybercrime Fighters' Career Over at Sixteen For the past three years Karen and Mary have taught FBI undercover agents how to impersonate young teens online to catch prowling pedophiles, but at 16 they’re now too old to continue. The two were recruited by the Baltimore FBI office when the father of one of the girls, an FBI agent, looked at his daughter’s computer screen and saw only one word, POS. He asked her what it meant. “POS,” she said, stands for “parent over shoulder.” Karen and Mary designed a vocabulary list, put together a quiz on teen culture, and played hit songs for dozens of agents from around the world, often on a monthly basis. For the past three years an afternoon with Karen and Mary has become a required – and popular – part of the weeklong training for undercover cyber-agents from Texas to Thailand. C3 is a state-of-the-art forensic computer lab run by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency to help investigate domestic and foreign crime conduced on or made possible by the Internet. The agency investigates pornography, but has also uncovered a global network of software pirates, tracked sales of illegal drugs over the Web and has helped prosecutors who how terrorists use the Internet. ++++++++++ The New York State Office of Mental Health report establishes suicide as a statewide problem and calls for an integrated strategy to address it. In May, 2004, OMH unveiled SPEAK, a public education and awareness campaign to highlight the threat suicide poses to public health, and ways to combat it. A second model suicide prevention initiative is the Teen Screen program at Columbia University which operates in 250 locations in 42 states. This 64 page report includes 88 action steps, most of them targeted to a specific set of risk factors and populations. Downloadable pdf file. ++++++++++ Judges Seek Cover on the Bench In this news article a judge in Danville, Kentucky, is profiled as he deals with the arrest of a man who is now charged with his attempted murder. The man was on his way to a hearing in Judge Bruce Petrie’s courtroom with an accordion file stuffed with papers. The papers had been hollowed out to conceal two clips of ammunition and a gun. ++++++++++ Seven-year-old Boy Beat His Infant Sister to Death In Tampa, Florida a seven-year-old-boy who beat, kicked and punched his 7-month-old half sister and hit her in the face with a 2 by 4 has not been charged with murder. Prosecutors say he couldn’t form the intent to commit crimes. He has been placed in foster care. In a New York Times article, a Boston college professor is quoted as saying that since 1976, on average; about six children under the age of 10 have committed murder or nonnegligent homicide each year in the United States. ++++++++++ Education Advocacy Model for Foster Children Project Achieve: A Model Project Providing Education Advocacy for Children in the Child Welfare System is a new report about Project Achieve, a model program developed by Advocates for Children (AFC) of New York. The program has shown promise in ensuring children in, or at risk of, foster care placement, receive appropriate educational services. The program uses three key strategies:
++++++++++ Subtitled “A Guide to Understanding Blood Alcohol Concentration and Alcohol Impairment,” this NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) brochure provides answers to questions about BAC and its effects. This is a two-page downloadable brochure. ++++++++++ The Blossom Program for Girls is housed in the First African Methodist Zion Church in Brooklyn. It was created by Isis Sapp-Grant, A former teen gang member who, with the help of two dedicated teachers and a supportive policeman, graduated from high school, went on to college, and earned a master’s degree in social work. She founded the Blossom Program five year ago. The program reaches out to girls between 13 and 21, accepting all comers except those with a pattern of felonious activity or serious mental illnesses. Sapp says that disadvantaged girls are drawn to gangs, prostitution, and even lock-up facilities, because they think these situations will offer them refuge from their environment. She offers on-site programs on sex and sexuality, social skills and self respect, non-violent conflict resolution, anger management, goal setting and planning. ++++++++++ Juvenile Crime Innovations in Indiana This article describes the successes of several programs in counties in Indiana. Initiatives include a formal risk assessment for each juvenile offender in Fort Wayne, a shared database of comprehensive case information in Kokomo, and a day treatment program in Bartholomew County. ++++++++++ This paper published on the New Jersey Gay lLsbian Straight Education Network (NJGLSEN) web site begins with a solid page of statistics about the experiences of LGBT students as reported in the 2003 National School Climate Survey. The data here underscore the need for supportive teachers and administrators for this population of kids. The paper includes a series of practical suggestions for school leaders in confronting and dealing with the harassment LGBT students commonly experience in school. 14 page downloadable pdf file. With thanks to Lili Garfinkel for bringing this paper to my attention. ++++++++++ DrugsU.S. officials say meth production in Mexico is rising because Mexican traffickers can no longer easily obtain pseudoephedrine in the United States and Canada. Both countries have cracked down on companies that sell cold pills. So far the attempts of the Mexican government to control imports of pseudophedrine power and to restrict the number of cold pills consumer can buy have not had much effect so far. Lengthy article. Evidence is beginning to mount that the approach to the war on drugs could be changing by shifting attention away from small-time drug dealers and individual users and toward major drug traffickers. Drug czar John Walters, at a congressional hearing earlier this year said, “Break the business. Don’t break generation after generation [of poor, minority young men], is what we’re going for. " Targeting Marijuana – Good Idea? Bad Idea? A new government anti-marijuana campaign has reignited a long-smoldering debate over how dangerous the most widely used illegal drug in America really is and whether it should be the central focus of the nation’s war on drugs. A Canadian rock group, Simple Plan, has produced a strong drunk driving message and are collaborating with MADD on some of that organization’s educational work. The video is called “Untitled.” I went to the group’s website and I watched the video. Powerful. Very powerful . Click on the link above and then click again at "Untitled" to watch the video. With thanks to Brevity reader Mike McElroy in Florida for sending me the link. ++++++++++ Teen Gets Scholarship from Death Row Prisoners Group A college student whose younger sister was murdered more than a decade ago has been presented with a $5,000 scholarship from death row inmates around the country. Including this award to Zach Osborne, the group has given out seven scholarships worth about $27,000. ++++++++++ Conferences and EventsProsecuting Child Abuse 101: An Advocacy Course on Child Sexual Abuse – July 11-15, 2005, in Huntsville, Alabama. Training designed to meet the needs of prosecutors who are responsible for evaluating and trying criminal child abuse cases. Appropriate for prosecutors with beginning to intermediate trial skills. Tuition-free training. Application Deadline: June 13. Weed and Seed Summer Youth Leadership Camp – July 18-21, 2005, in Olive Branch, Mississippi. Youth leaders, adult mentors, and youth services providers will learn practices that support local strategies to combat violent crime and gang activity and promote social service and economic revitalization. Registration deadline: June 30. Policy Academy on Improving Services for Youth with Mental health and Co-Occurring Substance Use Disorders Involved with the Juvenile Justice System – September 13-15, 2005, in Bethesda, Maryland. The Academy is designed to provide selected jurisdictions with the opportunity to foster collaboration and improve service delivery to youth involved with the juvenile justice system who have co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders. Application deadline: June 24.
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