Recent News Briefs

"Screening and Supporting Kids in Juvenile Justice: A Resource Guide for Practitioners"¹
U.S. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention
The U.S. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention has issued "Screening and Assessing Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders Among Youth in the Juvenile Justice System," a basic tool for juvenile justice professionals working toward the goal of early, accurate identification of youth with mental disorders. It includes profiles of more than 50 instruments, guidelines for selecting instruments, and best practice recommendations for diverse settings and situations. Once identified as having mental disorders, these youth can receive the services required to improve their lives, reduce recidivism, and promote community safety.
Available in PDF (88 pages, 1.85 MB)

"National Standards for Secondary Education and Transition for All Youth"²
NCSET Teleconference Transcript
Transcript of the NCSET teleconference, "National Standards for Secondary Education and Transition for All Youth," held January 12, 2005. National organizations and experts representing general education, special education, workforce development, youth development, and families have developed a set of national standards of effective practice and quality indicators to improve secondary education and transition for all youth. The NCSET National Leadership Summit on Improving Results for Youth, to be held in June in Washington, DC, is organized around the five areas which comprise these standards and indicators: schooling, career preparatory experiences, youth development/youth leadership, family involvement, and connecting activities. This teleconference described the evolution of this document, discussed how it is being introduced to states, and explained its influence on state team planning for the 2005 Summit.
Click here to access transcript

"Interagency Transition Team Development and Facilitation"³
NCSET Essential Tool
This NCSET guide, relevant to national, state, and local levels, offers instruction on

1. how to build an effective interagency transition team;

2. how to determine initial roles, responsibilities, and the team vision;

3. how to conduct interagency transition team meetings; and

4. how to determine whether or not your interagency transition team is making progress and meeting its goals.

The manual also includes examples of successful interagency transition teams, and further resources.
Click here to download

For Homeless, No Place Like School"⁴
The Christian Science Monitor
Estimates of the number of children in the United States who experience homelessness at some point in a given year range from 900,000 to 2.8 million. But not until 2002, with the strengthening of a federal law known as the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, were all school districts required to have a liaison for homeless students -- and to remove barriers to their full participation in school. The law has resulted in some significant progress, but it still has a long way to go, experts say.
Click here for article

"Fostering Education"⁵
The Christian Science Monitor
For many of the half million foster children in the U.S., the lack of stability plays out at school as well as home. As a group, foster kids test far behind their peers and are more likely to drop out, repeat grades, be in special-ed classes and be suspended or expelled. Education has often been a low priority for child-welfare agencies, whose primary concern is children's safety and placement. This article describes the importantce of improved education as a fundamental objective for children in the foster care system and the obstacles that need to be overcome to achieve it.
Click here for article

"Helping Youths is Focus of Juvenile Justice Week"⁶
Bradenton Herald - Bradenton, FL
The plans for Juvenile Justice Week in Florida are described in this article. The theme of this year's activities is restorative justice, and state juvenile detention facilities will ask their young inmates to look at how they can correct their lives and stay out of trouble. This year's topic asks the teens to focus on three questions: How can I fix what I did? What have I learned that will keep me out of trouble? And what can I do to regain the respect of my neighbors and family?
Click here for article

"Houston Juvenile Justice Complex Set to Open Soon"⁷
Macon Telegraph - Macon, TX
A new $1.6 million, 18,150-square-foot facility is expected to alleviate cramped quarters for juvenile service in Houston County.
Click here for article

 

Previous Briefs

"Overcoming Barriers To School Reentry: Fact Sheet"¹
Center for Alternative Sentencing and Employment Services (CASES)
CASES has developed a model for overcoming barriers to school reentry. The model involves building partnerships between the juvenile justice and education systems. This Fact Sheet describes how three CASES programs—the Committee on Court-Involved Students, the School Connection Center, and the Community Prep High School—are helping court-involved youth continue their education and reenter their communities.
[Click here for article]

"Juvenile Justice Expert Tapped For DC Post"²
Washington Post - Washington, DC
Vincent Schiraldi, a nationally known juvenile justice expert and advocate for more than 20 years, has been nominated to lead the District's newly created juvenile justice agency
(subscription required).
[Click here for article]

"Smaller Groups Seen as Key"³
Richmond Times Dispatch - Richmond, VA
Virginia's Department of Juvenile Justice hopes to move most of its 1,000 young offenders into smaller groups for treatment and housing.
[Click here for article]

"Offender System Shines"⁴
Rocky Mountain News - Denver, CO
This article reports on the findings of a recent study on the effectiveness of Colorado's Youth Offender System.
[Click here for article]

"Mental Health Treatment for Youth in the Juvenile Justice System"⁵
The National Mental Health Association (NMHA)
The National Mental Health Association (NMHA) outlines effective, research-based treatments for mental disorders among juvenile offenders. Treatments that show promise, but require more research also are described, as well as ways in which some communities are successfully providing treatments.
www1.nmha.org/children/JJCompendiumofBestPractices.pdf

"D.C. Foster Children Get a Boost"⁶
Washington Post - Washington, DC
The Capital One Financial Corporation has announced that $450,000 will be awarded to national nonprofit organizations to support older foster children as they enter adulthood (subscription required).
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A41311-2004Dec6.html

"Some Minors Get Trapped in Juvenile Justice Programs"⁷
Bradenton Herald - Bradenton, FL
This article describes some of the challenges that Florida's Department of Juvenile Justice faces in administering its programs for delinquent youth.
http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/news/local/10455178.htm

"Unlocking the Future: Detention Reform in the Juvenile Justice System"
The Link: Connecting Juvenile Justice and Child Welfare
Successful secure detention reform is taking place throughout the country, as discussed in this summary of the Coalition for Juvenile Justice research report, Unlocking the Future: Detention Reform in the Juvenile Justice System . Cook County, Illinois, has used the Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative (JDAI) approach in its detention system, implementing a new screening process, accelerating case processing, and establishing a range of community-based alternatives. Tarrant County, Texas, emphasizes the importance of timely case processing and provides alternatives to detention, such as electronic monitoring home detention and community-based detention. To address overcrowding in their detention center and disproportionate minority contact, Multnomah County, Oregon, adopted an objective risk assessment instrument, diversified alternatives to detention, and uses consistent monitoring to address trouble spots. more>>>

"Raise the Bar"
Teaching Tolerance Magazine
Opened in 1999, Detroit's Benjamin Carson Academy (BCA) is the first charter school serving juvenile offenders. The school, housed in the Wayne County Juvenile Detention Facility, has an average daily enrollment of 170 students, and serves 3,000-4,000 students each year). In addition to providing a state-of-the-art facility with gymnasiums, computer labs, media center, mental health unit, and medical and dental facilities, BCA aims to provide a quality education in a nurturing environment. The staff at BCA use a specialized model to identify and evaluate students with special needs upon arrival at the facility. BCA works closely with Detroit public schools to reduce the time it takes for BCA to obtain student records, and to ensure that students' home schools receive records from BCA once students leave the juvenile facility. In the classroom, BCA groups students by academic level rather than grade or age level to improve the learning environment and increase student confidence; building names and murals highlight African American culture and history. more>>>

¹ "Screening and Supporting Kids in Juvenile Justice: A Resource Guide for Practitioners." U.S. Department of Justice. December, 2004.

² Johnson, David R. "National Standards for Secondary Education and Transition for All Youth." Transcript of NCSET teleconference call held on January 12, 2005.

³ Stodden, Robert A., et al. "Essential Tools — Interagency Transition Team Development and Facilitation." Institute on Community Integration Publications Office. December 2004.

⁴ Teicher, Stacy A. "For Homeless, No Place Like School." Christian Science Monitor. February 8, 2005.

⁵ Paulson, Amanda. "Fostering Education." Christian Science Monitor. February 22, 2005.

⁶ Juarez, Aimee. "Helping Youths is Focus of Juvenile Justice Week." Bradenton Herald. February 18, 2005.

⁷ Purser, Becky. "Houston Juvenile Justice Complex Set to Open Soon." Macon Telegraph. February 28, 2005.

⁸ Roy-Stevens, C. "Overcoming Barriers to Reentry" (September 2004). Center for Alternative Sentencing and Employment Services.

⁹ Labbe, Theola S. "Juvenile Justice Expert Tapped for DC Post." The Washington Post. 5 January 2005; page B1.

¹⁰ Green, Frank. "Smaller Groups Seen as Key." Richmond Times-Dispatch. 5 January 2005.

¹¹ Hubbard, Burt and Jerd Smith. "Offender System Shines." The Rocky Mountain News. 4 January 2005.

¹² Mental Health Treatment for Youth in the Juvenile Justice System: A Compendium of Promising Practices (2004). National Mental Health Association.

¹³ Labbe, Theola S. "DC Foster Children Get a Boost." The Washington Post. 12 December 2004; page B1.

¹⁴ "Some Minors Get Trapped in Juvenile Justice Programs." The Brandenton Herald (FL). 19 December 2004.

 

Reading List

See more of the literature that has been developed in the area of neglected and delinquent youth education in our Reading List.

Literature Review

Read the Center's review of the literature regarding the progress of educating neglected and delinquent children across the nation.  The review focuses on the data available to evaluate the effectiveness of state N/D programs and how these data are reported by the states.

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