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-- ShakespeareBrevity on the NetWednesday, June 28, 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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Casey Foundation Kids Count 2006 Released on June 27
The 2006 Kids County Data Book provides a state-by-state statistical portrait of the health, education, social and economic condition of American children. Kids count is a valuable resource for people working to improve the well-being of children in America. The Data Book, Pocket Guide, and other related materials can be ordered free of charge from the Annie E. Casey Foundation web site. Click on the link above. ++++++++++ Wounded Reno Judge Holds News Conference
Washoe County District Court Judge Chuck Weller and his assistant met with the press on June 27 to talk about his shooting in chambers at the Washoe County Courthouse on June 12. His assistant, who was also in the judge’s chambers at the time, received multiple shrapnel wounds in the shooting. Judge Weller spoke about his concern for his family in the moments immediately following the shooting and about his concern for the safety of judicial officers across the country. Click here to see Good Morning America video interview with Judge Weller. ++++++++++ Publication of Proposed Rules Moves the US Closer to Ratification of the Hague Adoption Convention.
A statement published at the U.S. State Department’s web site provides details on the two proposed rules and a link to an Internet page for comments on them. The first rule deals with adoption and custody proceedings in the United States. The second rule revises orphan visa processing by consular officers around the world for children being adopted and brought to the United States from a Convention country. ++++++++++ Study That Says Meth Use Is Not a National Epidemic is Qualified by Its Author
Ryan King, the author of the Sentencing Project report that found meth use has not increased significantly since 1999, says the research should not be used to minimize local meth problems that fall outside the national norms. The study has been harshly criticized by some local officials from regions heavily affected by meth use. (To see the report go to last week’s issue of Brevity in the Archives section on the left side of your screen.) ++++++++++ Special Report on Meth
The Reno Gazette-Journal, in a three-month investigation, has found that meth’s grip on Northern Nevada has become a stranglehold, destroying families; clogging up courts, jails and treatment centers, and fueling a boom in petty crime as desperate addicts steal to feed their habit. This is a very good investigative report which, with all its sidebar articles, is about 50 printed pages in length. You can read the report on line at the link above, or you can have it in hard copy from me by sending me an email with your USPO mailing address. I’ll send you a copy at no charge. Our community is apparently one of those that fall outside the national norms. ++++++++++ Juvenile Defender Delinquency Notebook
The National Juvenile Defender Center has revised and updated this manual for its 2nd edition, which is intended as an advocacy and training guide for juvenile defenders. Thirteen chapters cover everything from the initiation of the attorney-client relationship to appeals and related proceedings. Over 500 pages in its totality, but downloadable, in which case you should stock up on ink cartridges and invest in several reams of paper. Or you can do it the easy way and order a hard copy for $20. Call 202.452.0010. ++++++++++ Adults Get an Overall C+ on the Annual Teen Report Card
Annually, the Uhlich Children’s Advantage Network (UCAN) asks more than 1,000 American teens, ages 12-19, to give an A through F grade to the adults in their lives. This year we didn’t do so good.
Highlights from the Teen Report Card:
53% of teens gave adults favorable ratings for teaching positive values Adults received the highest average grade for providing young people a safe place to live. Adults received the lowest average grade in stopping young people from drinking
More than 40% of young people gave adults a below average grade in running the government, protecting the environment, really listening to and understanding young people, and stopping young people from using drugs. ++++++++++ Child Welfare Information Gateway
This online portal connects visitors to information and resources targeted to the safety, permanency, and well-being of children and families. Services include an online library of over 48,000 documents, more than 130 Information Gateway publications, and free subscription services. ++++++++++ Youth Under Age 18 in the Adult Criminal Justice System
This new report by the National Council on Crime and Delinquency shows that youth are increasingly involved in the adult system, particularly in jails. More than 7,000 children are currently in adult jails, as opposed to 2,000 in the early 1990s. In most cases (85%) youth are sent to adult court by the prosecutor or legislature, not by judicial authority.
The Campaign 4 Youth Justice is a new national initiative dedicated to ending the practice of trying, sentencing and incarcerating youth under 18 in the adult criminal justice system. For more information about Campaign 4 Youth Justice or to become a partner, visit the organization’s web site. At www.campaign4youthjustice.org ++++++++++ Autism/Asperger’s Syndrome and Real People Who Cope
NPR reported on the autism movement this week. You can read the article and/or listen to the interview of a man who didn’t know he was autistic until he was 36 years old, following the diagnosis of his son’s diagnosis of autism. Michael John Carley started the Global and Regional Asperger Syndrome Partnership (GRASP) three years ago. It is a national autism advocacy group that nowt has 11 support groups around the country. The report includes a timeline on autism. This story gives the reader the opportunity to learn more about autism from people who experience it. Click here for another article about a young teen with Asperger’s and his father’s daily efforts on his behalf. ++++++++++ Model Truancy Prevention Programs
ABA President Elect Karen Mathis will focus on at risk youth during her term in office. As part of the new president’s initiative members of the ABA’s Juvenile Justice Committee were surveyed regarding knowledge of truancy prevention initiatives. This downloadable report briefly describes constructive approaches to truancy intervention from locales across the country as reported by members. See also, "How to Establish and Run a Truancy Program." ++++++++++ Internet Providers to Create Database to Combat Child Porn
AOL, Yahoo, Microsoft, EarthLink, and United Online Inc (NetZero and Juno) have come together to pledge $1 million to jointly build a database of child-pornography images and to develop other tools to help network operators and law enforcement better prevent distribution of the images. The creation of the technology coalition grew out of Attorney General Gonzales’ April speech identifying increases in child-porn cases and chiding the Internet industry for not doing more about them and is intended to demonstrate the industry’s willingness to cooperate. ++++++++++ Freedom Writers
The Freedom Writers idea is a new approach to writing in which there is no formal curriculum or body of research to prove how well it works. It is also so exciting that Paramount Pictures is a making a movie about Erin Gruwell, the teacher who pioneered the idea and watched many of her struggling high school student blossom into college-bound youngsters, eager to write and to succeed.
It’s a simple idea. Teachers get kids to write by writing about their own lives.
Gruwell’s success was followed by a book filled with her students’ essays on alcoholism, gang initiation, racism, homelessness and abuse. The book is named for the Freedom Riders who helped integrate the South.
The Philadelphia Inquirer has published a three-part series featuring students in that city and their writing as well as video interviews of the students reading their work. Part I Part II Part III Freedom Writers Web Site ++++++++++ Study Casts Doubt on Boys in Crisis
A new study, using data compiled from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, has found that reports of U.S. boys being in crisis are greatly overstated and that young males in school are in many ways doing better than ever. The study found that, over the past three decades, boys’ test scores are mostly up, more boys are going to college and more are getting bachelor’s degrees. The report says “The real story is not bad news about boys doing worse, it’s good news about girls doing better.” ++++++++++ Two New Reports on Drug Courts Juvenile Drug Courts and Teen Substance Abuse
From the Urban Institute, this book is the first to examine the ideas behind juvenile drug courts and explore their history and popularity. Edited by Jeffrey Butts and John Roman, the publication brings in top policy experts to assess the evidence supporting juvenile drug courts and to guide the next generation of evaluation research. Drug Courts: The Second Decade
The Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs has released this special report on drug courts that includes a section on juvenile drug courts. 38 page pdf file.
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