• Brevity is the soul of wit.
  -- Shakespeare

Brevity on the Net

Wednesday, September 21, 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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Newspaper Series on Pennsylvania’s Care of Children in State Institutions

Barbara White Stack, a reporter for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, reports on the conditions of care of children in state custody in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania in a series of articles about child abuse, physical injuries, and other abuses in group homes and correctional institutions. With recommendations for change. This is a four day series of articles that ends today.

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Learning Behind Bars

The American School Board Journal presents an article on education in state juvenile justice programs around the country and finds that educational requirements vary widely state to state.

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Half of All American Teens Have Had Oral Sex

The National Center for Health Statistics reports that slightly more than half of American teenagers, ages 15 to 19, have engaged in oral sex, with females and males reporting similar levels of experience, according to the more comprehensive national survey of sexual behaviors ever released by the federal government. The number increases to about 70% for 18 and 19 year olds.

Click here for a Child Trends Databank study on the subject.

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Alternatives to the Secure Detention and Confinement of Juvenile Offenders

This new Juvenile Justice Bulletin  promotes reducing the court's reliance on detention and confinement through administrative reforms and special program initiatives informed by an objective assessment of a youth’s risk level.  The Bulletin recommends developing objective, valid, and reliable tools to make placement decisions among alternative programs and expanding the existing range of alternatives to ensure that evidence-based programs with varying levels of restrictiveness and types of services are available. 40 page downloadable pdf file.

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Access to Public School for Homeless Children

A federal law, the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, requires that homeless children have access to public school educations. That means any children displaced by Hurricane Katrina must be educated wherever they end up. Read more about the McKinney-Vento Act here.

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Teen Abortion Lawsuit

The parents of a 17-year old Minnesota teen who had an abortion without parental notification have brought suit against Planned Parenthood. According to Planned Parenthood, the teen provided documentation that she was legally an adult and that she had previously given birth.

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Marriage and Child Well-being

The latest issue of the Future of Children Journal, you can download the entire issue or a two page executive summary. Mounting social science evidence about changes in marriage and childbearing during the latter part of the twentieth century shows these changes are not in the best interests of children. From the report:

• In 1970, 12% of families with children were headed by a single parent. By 2003 that figure had doubled, to 26%. Roughly half of all children born today are expected to live apart from a parent before they reach 18.
• The decline in two-parent families since 1960 has been closely linked with a rise in child poverty, primarily because poverty rates are far higher in single-mother families than in two-parent families.
• The post-1960 changes in marriage and family formation also appear to be depriving children of such documented benefits of marriage as better physical and emotional health and greater socioeconomic attainment.

Engaging and Retaining Participants in Voluntary New Parent Support Programs

This Chapin Hall issue brief looks at the reasons why parents fail to participate voluntarily in therapeutic or supportive services.

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IBM Encourages Employees to be Teachers

Worried the United States is losing its competitive edge,  IBM will financially back employees who want to leave the company to become math and science teachers.

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Child Prostitution: The Hidden Crime

The sale of Atlanta children for sex continues despite a crackdown that sent two of Atlanta’s most notorious pimps to prison three years ago, according to a panel of victims, advocates and government officials at a recent forum. The forum was held to acknowledge the completion of a study that found juvenile prostitution thriving citywide, in both poor and wealthy areas. Children are forced into sex both in places known for prostitution and in upscale Buckhead.

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Colorado Debates Life Sentences of 46 Teen Killers

The Rocky Mountain News  reports on whether some of the inmates sentenced as teens deserve a chance at freedom. Most of the young lifers were sentenced in the mid to late 1990s, when juvenile crime peaked. By Colorado law they have no chance for parole. A multi-day series.

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Impact of Methamphetamines on the Child Welfare System

NCCAN (National Clearinghouse on Child Abuse and Neglect) has information and links online to statistics, treatment for meth use, and more at the website above.

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Dropout Rates: They’re Not What You May Think They Are

Karen Pittman, in her column in The Forum, reports on the new method of calculating high school drop out rates. The new definition quadruples the dropout rate from a tolerable 8% to an appalling 32%. Non-graduation rates in urban areas are closer to 50%. What happened?  The new calculations look over four years, comparing ninth grade enrollment to high school graduation numbers. The previous method didn’t.

For what its worth, and I read a lot to pull together this newsletter each week, school dropouts look to be the next major kids issue.  Pittman says: If one-third of youth are not in school and up to another one-third is in school but unprepared for secondary education, work or life in general, the solutions have to push beyond the school day, the school building and the four-year timeline. No wonder IBM is worried.

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2006 Drug Court Planning Initiative

DCPI annlucnes assistance to jurisdictions in developing adult, juvenile, family, and tribal drug court programs.  Jurisdictions will be selected to participate in a facilitated planning process that will begin in November 2005 and conclude in November 2006. Each jurisdiction must identify a team of professionals who will participate in long-distance technical assistance and attend a progressive series of two regional training events. The programs are designed to give communities the fundamentals of planning and implementing  drug courts. For additional information and to apply online, click on the link above.

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School District Offers Free Drug Test Kits to Parents

Parents of seventh-graders at the Oak Hills school district in Delhi, Ohio who attend PTA open house meetings this week and next will be offered free drug-testing kits. Part of a new national campaign called Project 7th Grade that aims to get parents of adolescents talking about the consequences of drug abuse before their children enter the age when they’re most likely to try drugs.

More information on Project 7th Grade

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Conferences and Announcements

CWLA Teleconferences on Meth

CWLA will present Meth: What We Know, What We’re learning, What We Do Next in a Five-Part series of fall 2005 Teleconferences. The dates are September 22, October 20, November 17, December 15 and January 19. Registration fee for each teleconference.

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West Coast Training Seminar for School Resource Officers and Community Police

December 12-14, 2005, in Los Angeles, OJJDP will sponsor training for school resource officers and community police under its Youth for Justice partnership. The seminar is designed for school resource officers and community police who work with youth in the classroom, youth development, or youth detention settings. Participants will receive materials to engage middle school students in learning about issues related to law enforcement and public safety. Police offers are encouraged to apply as a team, partnering with a school teacher or administrator. Registration deadline is November 25. An East Coast training seminar will be held next spring.

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GAINS TAPA Center Juvenile Diversion Teleconference

Tuesday, October 11, from 2:00 – 3:30 pm (Eastern Time). The teleconference will present:

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