Brevity is the soul of wit.
-- ShakespeareBrevity on the NetWednesday, May 24, 2006 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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Reforming Juvenile Delinquency Treatment to Enhance Rehabilitation, Personal Accountability and Public Safety
Law professor Douglas E. Abrams, a NCJFCJ member and a Brevity reader, has just written a lengthy article in the Oregon Law Review surveying national conditions of juvenile delinquency confinement. The article describes the widespread violence, abuse and neglect the Department of Justice has found in its inspections of several state detention facilities under the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act (CRIPA). The article also discusses the Missouri statewide delinquency treatment system, widely regarded as a national model and concludes with eight recommendations for national reform. Available for download at the link above and click on “84 or.L.Rev. 1001.” 92 pages. ++++++++++ Parents as Bullies
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports on a series of physical and verbal attacks by parents on kids and staff in Milwaukee schools. In response to the surge of verbally and physically violent incidents involving adults in the school, the Milwaukee Public Schools took the unusual step of creating a “notice of no trespassing” letter principals can send to parents and other adults who have caused problems in the schools. ++++++++++
Lionel Tate Back in Prison Tate, who is now 19, was convicted of beating Tiffany Eunick to death in 1999 when he was 12, claiming he accidentally killed the 6-year-old girl while imitating pro wrestling moves he had seen on television. He had been freed under a deal in which he pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced to 10 years probation. Since his release in 2004 he has had several run-ins with the law. He was back in court last week over the armed holdup of a pizza deliveryman in May, 2005. ++++++++++ Which Children Receive a Diagnosis of ADHD in the US Elementary School Population
A report on research in the latest issue of Pediatrics, the journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, says that girls, black children, and Hispanic children were less likely to have the diagnosis even after controlling for other characteristics. There were regional differences too. The report concludes that ADHD diagnosis is likely to be influenced by a child’s social and school environment as well as exogenous child characteristics. (I looked it up. Exogenous: something coming from outside a system.) Read the abstract at the link above. ++++++++++ Georgia Revokes Drivers Licenses of Students With High Absentee Rates and Other Disciplinary Problems Students in Georgia can lose their licenses if they rack up 10 or more unexcused absences in a semester, commit a violence crime, or are arrested for drug, alcohol or weapons possession. Overall, the state revoked 11,422 drivers’ licenses for the 2005-06 academic year. Of those, 8,665 were for excessive absences and 2,757 were for students with other disciplinary problems. The Teenage and Adult Driver Responsibility Act was passed in 1997. ++++++++++ Scholarships for Judges for Judicial Education
The State Justice Institute is reserving $200,000 for scholarships for state court judges and court managers in 2006. Scholarships will be awarded to individuals to attend out-of-state, court-related educational programs within the United States or online court-related educational programs. Scholarships will be award for a maximum of $1,500 per scholarship. There are four final dates for applications. For the next period, scholarship applications with accompanying documents must be submitted between March 30 and May 26, 2006 for programs beginning between July 1 and September 30, 2006. If you want to attend any of our late summer/early fall programs, get your application in now. Following that, between July 3 and August 26, 2006 for programs beginning between October 1 and December 31, 2006. If you want to attend our late fall programs, you can be more leisurely about submitting your applications. The link above will take you to the State Justice Institute web site. Once there, click on “State Grant Program Fact Sheets” and again under that section, on “Scholarships.” If you have problems, let me know and I’ll send it to you. It took me half an hour to locate it. ++++++++++ Mentoring in America 2005
This new report on the state of mentoring in the United States presents the results of a poll of the mentoring community in the country. Key findings: 3,000,000 adults have formed one-to-one mentoring relationships with young people; an increase of 19% since 2002. 96% of existing mentors would recommend mentoring to others. While the average mentoring relationship lasts 9 months, 38% last at least one year. The majority of mentors are willing to work with youth in unique or difficult situations, including children of incarcerated parents, youth with disabilities and immigrant youth.
20 page pdf file.
++++++++++ Reports and Results of the Child and Family Service Reviews (CFSRs)
The Children’s Bureau has developed a tool to examine statewide assessments, final reports, program improvement plans, and individual key findings reports. You can look at these items by type of report or by state. ++++++++++ Parental Substance Abuse, Child Protection and ASFA: Implications for Policy Makers and Practitioners
This study was designed to explore how dependency courts are making permanency decisions under ASFA for children of parental substance abusers. Through mail and telephone surveys, legal analysis and five case studies of courts that have implemented special strategies, four policy and practice implications recommendations were derived. The link above is to the report’s executive summary, a 22 page pdf file. ++++++++++ The GRAD (Global Risk Assessment Device)
Ohio State University has developed the GRAD to assist professionals in making recommendations and referrals that are based on reliable and valid information. For more information, click on the link to the GRAD article in Corrections Today on the site page. ++++++++++ http://www.ncjrs.gov/html/ojjdp/news_at_glance/213462/index.html
The March/April edition of the OJJDP online newsletter features the release of Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 2006 National Report. Click on the link above to read the newsletter. ++++++++++ National Technical Assistance Center for Children’s Mental Health
Lots of resources at this web site from the Georgetown University Center for Child and Human Development. I looked at Products and Publications, but there is much more than this. See Evidence-based practices, cultural and linguistic competence, evaluation, MIS and more. ++++++++++ Can Fathering Be Taught?
This lengthy article asks several questions about government-sponsored programs that encourage fathers to be financially and emotionally invested in their children’s lives and looks specifically at those programs in New York. ++++++++++ A Comprehensive Service Model for Resolution of Parenting Issues
This report is a product of the Florida Family Court Steering Committee’s Alternative Dispute Resolution Subcommittee. It is an examination of the variety of tools and approaches used to address problems associated with families engaged in high conflict divorce. 23 page pdf file. ++++++++++ The Junk Food Smugglers
The drive to promote healthy eating in schools has created a black market in junk food. This BBC News report is about kids in the UK and the US who are smuggling junk food into school with an eye for a quick profit. Chocolate bars, fizzy sodas, potato chips are bought in bulk and sold surreptitiously to sugar-craved classmates. Leave it to the kids. ++++++++++ Free Online Training The Ophelia Project develops educational and research tools on relational aggression and bullying in schools. For the month of June the Project offers you the opportunity to trial its brand new, one-hour online course FREE. (Wait until June 1 to use this link.) In return they ask you to provide feedback by completing a survey at the end of the course.
++++++++++ A Successful Program for Disabled Students in Regular Classes In West Fernando Middle School in Brooksville, Florida kids with severe disabilities are included in general education classrooms. The school has created a network of general education students who know their classmates with special needs, help them learn, and even socialize with them on weekends. Peers in the program spend an elective period helping 15 disabled students attend regular classes and visit 12 others whose medical problems make inclusion difficult or dangerous. ++++++++++ A Union for Washington Foster Parents
In recent months foster parents in the state of Washington have been working quietly on a plan to join the Washington Federation of State Employees and make Washington the first state in the country where foster parents will be part of a union. ++++++++++ New Hampshire’s Parenting Plan
A New Hampshire law passed in 2005 applies to all new and existing divorce and custody cases. It requires parents create a parenting plan and file it with the court. If the parents cannot agree on a plan, the court is authorized to draw up a parenting plan for the family. Take a look at the state’s eight page Parenting Plan at the link above. ++++++++++ MBO – Management by Objectives
I mentioned MBO in a session at the Graduated Sanctions conference in Las Vegas and was asked to put information about this management tool in Brevity. Here it is. ++++++++++ Conference, Web cast and a Research Tool
NCJFCJ’s 69th Annual Conference – Milwaukee, Wisconsin, July 16-19
Attend NCJFCJ’s 69th Annual Conference in Milwaukee July 16-19, 2006 The Hyatt Regency Milwaukee will be the conference hotel. For more information click on the link above. Sex Trafficking in the United States – June 6, 2006 from 2-4 pm EST
The Harvard University Government Innovators Network and the National Institute of Justice are hosting this free online event June 6 from 2-4 pm EST to examine human sex trafficking. For more information, click on the link above. Restorative Justice Online Research Tool
The Restorative Justice eForum presents a searchable database of over 6,000 articles, books, readings, dissertations and films about restorative practices. To access the database, click on the link above.
Join Us! ! Membership in NCJFCJ offers judges and juvenile court professionals the opportunity to get information about innovations and ideas, issues and news in juvenile justice and family law. Members receive the Juvenile & Family Court Journal and TODAY Magazine quarterly, and the Juvenile & Family Law Digest every month. For a sample package of all three publications and information on how to become a member, send me your name and USPO mailing address and I'll send you an information packet . ++++++++++ To Subscribe, follow the instructions below: - click on my email address,
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Joey Binard, Senior Program Manager
Technical Assistance Resource Center
Juvenile & Family Law Department
NCJFCJ
Brevity is supported by Grant No.2005-JL-FX-0065 from the
Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, U.S. Department of Justice
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