• Brevity is the soul of wit.
  -- Shakespeare

Brevity on the Net

Wednesday, September 14, 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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Resources for the Support of Traumatized Children and Their Families

The National Traumatic Stress Network has published two documents to help parents and teachers assist their children in the aftermath of Katrina. Link here to Parent Guidelines for Helping Children after a Hurricane.

The National Institute for Trauma and Loss in Children has online resource for parents and caretakers and a section for professionals too. Included on these pages is a message from the director of TLC with some practical advice for professionals, i.e., Cajun and Creole culture, cultural responses to loss in each, Louisiana traditions, and the "Brave Bart" story for traumatized and grieving children, which is available at the site. Link here to the Parents Trauma Resource Center.

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The Importance of Family Dinners

CASA Columbia (The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University) has just released a new survey that finds that teenagers who eat with their families at least five times a week are more likely to get better grades in school and much less likely to have substance abuse problems. The survey found that teens having family dinners regularly are:

•  42% less likely to drink alcohol,
  
• 59% less likely to smoke cigarettes, and
  
• 66% less likely to try marijuana.

The survey also found that frequent family dinners were associated with better school performance, with teens 40% more likely to get A’s and B’s. The survey is available for download at the CASA website at no charge (22 pages). Hardcopy - $5.

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Teen’s FAS Diagnosis Changes Judge’s Decision

A South Dakota judge has deviated from the state’s mandatory one year sentence of a student who was convicted of selling methamphetamine at school because the defendant was diagnosed with fetal alcohol syndrome.

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Special Report -  Breaking Through: Juvenile Justice Reform

The American Prospect magazine online includes a special report on the resurgence of reform in the American juvenile justice system. The report consists of a series of eight articles, all available to read and/or download online. You may want to take a moment to look over “Adolescents, Maturity, and The Law: Why Science and Development Matter in Juvenile Justice” by Jeff Fagan.

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One Million Plus U.S. Children are Caregivers

1.3 million to 1.4 million children in the USA, ages 8 to 18,  take care of sick or disabled relatives, shopping, feeding, dressing, medicating and even changing adult diapers, a government-financed study finds. Most of them care for parents and grandparents who have cancer, Alzheimer’s or similar diseases. At least 75% of them get some help, but half say they spend a substantial amount of time caregiving.

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The Juvenile Law Center Fights for Reversal of Delinquency Adjudication of Child with Autism Spectrum Disability

JLC is working to overturn the delinquency adjudication of an 11-year-old with a neurological disability, Asperger’s Syndrome. JLC attorneys filed a brief in the case in the Superior Court of Pennsylvania in August. The boy’s classroom conduct, a manifestation of his disability, was the subject of 14 offenses brought in two delinquency petitions that were filed at his school district’s urging. The link above will take you to a link to the 29 page amicus brief filed by the JLC.

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Substance Abuse Surveys

National Survey on Drug Use and Health

Survey findings show that overall 19.1 million Americans or 7.9% of the population ages 12 and old were current illicit drug users, meaning they had used an illicit drug in the past month. This rate is similar to the rates seen in 2002 and 2003. Particularly striking was a decline in current use of marijuana among boys ages 12-17, down from 9.1% in 2002 to 8.1% in 2004. Marijuana use by girls in the same period did not decline.

Substance Use among Hispanic Youths

This new NSDUH Report finds :

• Hispanic youths ages 12 to 17 were less likely to report last month alcohol use and past month marijuana use than non-Hispanic youths.
• Among Hispanic youths, Cuban youths had the highest rates of past month alcohol use while Puerto Rican youths had the highest rates of past month illicit drug use.

Hispanic youths who were born in the United States were more likely to have used illicit drugs in the past month than Hispanic youths not born in the United States.

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High Rate of No-Shows Among Juvenile Defendants in Tampa

The failure-to-appear rate for juveniles in Hillsborough County, Florida, has been as high as 60% in recent years. During the first seven months of this year the Public Defender's Office handled 3,911 juvenile cases. In nearly 1,200 instances juvenile represented by the office failed to appear for their scheduled hearing and trial dates. The worst offenders skip court dates because they realize they can do so without serious consequences.

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Early Childhood Development Brings an Economic High Rate of Return

This article from the fedgazette  online magazine examines early childhood development programs as a priority for state and local governments and a key to economic benefits.  Studies find that well-focused investments in early childhood development yield high public as well as private returns. The article makes a case for public funding of early childhood development in Minnesota and backs it up with research, studies, and program results.

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Restorative Community Service

Teens on probation in Doyletown, Pennsylvania perform community service by interacting with elderly nursing home residents; playing bingo, weeding a garden, and bowling. Through the Community Service Foundation, troubled kids are engaged in activities they can be proud of. They get back as well as give, part of the restorative justice philosophy.

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Recruiting and Retaining CASA Volunteers of Color

With a grant from the National CASA Association, the Center for Community Alternatives (CCA) in New York has published a manual on how to recruit and retain CASA volunteers of color. The manual is available for download at the CCA web site. Click on the link above.

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Foster Care Audit in Michigan

NCJFCJ member and trustee Judge Michael Anderegg responds to an audit critical of Michigan’s foster care program in this Detroit Free Press commentary and criticizes the state’s auditor general in turn for going beyond the evidence he cites to support his report’s conclusions.

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Juvenile Victimization and Offending, 1993-2003

The BJS (Bureau of Justice Statistics) presents findings about violent crime committed against or by juveniles from 1993 to 2003. Like all other age groups, juveniles 12-17 years old experienced a decline in violent crime victimization from 1993 to 2003, with younger teens having the largest decreases.  Report highlights:

• The number of victimizations by violent crime per 1,000 teenagers dropped from about 130 victimizations in 1993 to about 60 in 2003. The decline occurred in all crime categories and among all racial and ethnic groups.
  
• On average, juveniles (ages 12-17) were more than twice as likely as adults (age 18 or older) to be the victim of violent crime from 1993 to 2003.
  
• The violent crime rate for younger teens fell by about 59% during the decade, compared to 50% declines for older teens (15-17)  and 53% declines for adults.
  
• Older teens (15-17) were about 3 times more likely than younger teens (12-14) to be the victim of a violent crime involving a firearm.
  
• Juveniles were involved as victims or offenders in 38% of all violent crimes in which the victims could estimate the aged of the offenders, 1993-2003.

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Washington State’s Experience with Research-Based Juvenile Justice Programs

This PowerPoint presentation describes Washington State’s experiences implementing research-based programs in juvenile justice. The presentation includes a history of the research-based effort in Washington State, program outcome evaluations, quality assurance principles, and cost-benefit meta-analyses.

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Corrections Learning Network

CLN is a distance learning initiative funded through the U.S. Department of Education. It provides interactive instructional programming for correctional facilities. At this web site find out what course offerings CLN provides and details about the organization and how it operates.
 
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Upcoming NCJFCJ Conferences - For more details on each of the conferences listed below, click on this link.

• Forum on Children and Families in Court – October 16-19, 2005 – Cleveland, Ohio
  
• Juvenile Justice Management Institute – October 23-28, 2005 – Reno, Nevada
  
• Evidence in Juvenile and Family Court – October 23-28, 2005 – Reno, Nevada