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Stolen Futures - Seventeen
8/31/2010 by The Chicago Reporter
by Angela Caputo
As police pinned Derrick Reed to the hood of a squad car, one thought raced through his mind: “Oh, man. I’m going to go away. I’m 17 now.” The East Garfield Park teen’s…
Editorial: Recommit to Serving Troubled Teens
8/3/2010 by The Daily Herald
It's been nearly a year since a 16-year-old boy took his own life inside a state youth prison in St. Charles. Nearly a year to look at what went wrong. Nearly a year for change to happen. We've…
ISBA President Will Work on Juvenile Justice Reform
7/22/2010 by Chicago Daily Law Bulletin
by Mark D. Hassakis
To the editor: The appointment last week of a new state juvenile justice chief — a veteran of the state's child welfare system — signals a new era in juvenile justice reform. Mr. Arthur…
Illinois Governor Quinn Signs “Sexting” Law
7/19/2010 by Illinois Statehouse News
by Kevin Lee
(Illinois Models for Change note: The Juvenile Justice Initiative and other Illinois Models for Change partners helped educate lawmakers about the need to revise sex offender laws and provide…
Illinois Governor Quinn Names Acting Juvenile Justice Director
7/16/2010 by Office of Illinois Governor Pat Quinn
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 16, 2010 Governor Quinn Names Acting Juvenile Justice Director Veteran Administrator, Child Welfare Expert Arthur Bishop to Lead Agency Merger with the Department of…
Reform Helps Ease Overcrowding
7/9/2010 by The Shreveport Times
by Loresha Wilson
SHREVEPORT, La. — Caddo Juvenile Detention Center's small cell blocks are reserved mostly for teens charged with armed robbery, sex crimes and other violent felony offenses. Despite a reported…
Investigations into Suicides in Juvenile System Leave Families Wanting More
5/27/2010 by Chicago Tribune
by Steve Mills and Louise Kiernan, Tribune reporters
On a cold, gray February morning, Cheryl Miller sat on a bus cradling the gym bag that held the box with her son's ashes. For five months, the ashes had sat in the embalming room of a Chicago…
Suicides by Troubled Teens Expose Safety Breakdowns Behind Bars
5/25/2010 by Chicago Tribune
by Steve Mills and Louise Kiernan, Tribune reporters
Sometime before 3:09 a.m. on Sept. 1, 2009, Jamal Miller began to tear the bedsheet in his room at the Illinois Youth Center in St. Charles. The stocky 16-year-old tied the sheet to a sock and tied…
Kids in Prison: Fixing Illinois' Juvenile Justice System
4/29/2010 by Illinois Times
by Patrick Yeagle
What do you do when you catch a criminal? Conventional wisdom says you lock them up and hope prison scares them straight. But what if that doesn’t work, and what if that criminal is only 13…
Young Offenders Need Help -- Not Handcuffs
4/15/2010 by Chicago Sun-Times
More than a few young people caught up in crime, when you get right down to it, suffer from a mental illness or are drug abusers. They may become hardened criminals some day, but they are more lost…
Illinois Increases Juvenile Court Age Cutoff to 17
3/12/2010 by Chicago Tribune
by Jeff Long
When a 17-year-old girl was caught stealing $300 worth of clothing at a mall a few weeks ago, she was charged with a misdemeanor in juvenile court. Before Jan. 1, she could have been in even bigger…
Scandals Highlight the Need for Juvenile Justice Reform
3/4/2010 by Illinois Issues
by Jamey Dunn
Just a few months ago, it looked as if the scandal surrounding the “Meritorious Good Time Push” prisoner-release program could cost Gov. Pat Quinn a win in the primary election. Under the…
Outreach Group Matches Homeless Teens With Adults
2/24/2010 by WBBM-TV, Chicago
by Kristyn Hartman
CHICAGO -- It's tough enough growing up, but imagine having to find your way to adulthood homeless, and without a mom or dad. It happens to thousands of kids in Chicago each year. Would you be…
The 2010 CMHS National GAINS Center Conference
2/22/2010
Every two years, the National GAINS Center organizes a conference for mental health and criminal justice professionals, policymakers, consumers, family members, administrators, and researchers. The…
New Law Helps Teeens Avoid Criminal Record
2/12/2010 by WBBM-TV, Chicago
by Dorothy Tucker
CHICAGO -- You're arrested. You're charged. But thanks to a new law in Illinois, you won't have a criminal record. CBS 2's Dorothy Tucker reports on the new life-changing rules for thousands of…
SAMHSA Seeks Applicants for Juvenile Treatment Drug Courts Program
1/4/2010
by National Juvenile Defender Center
SAMHSA Seeks Applicants for Juvenile Treatment Drug Courts Program The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) is accepting…
Keith Snyder Honored for Mental Health Reform Efforts
12/20/2009 by Juvenile Court Judges' Commission Newsletter
by Marie Yeager
Keith Snyder, Deputy Director of the Juvenile Court Judges’ Commission, was honored by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation as a Champion for Change in juvenile justice reform for…
Models for Change Mental Health Coordinator Named PA Juvenile Probation Supervisor of the Year
11/4/2009 by Juvenile Court Judges' Commission
Mary Gaspari began her career with the Chester County Juvenile Probation Department in 1998 as a juvenile probation officer. From 2000 to 2003 she was the Balanced and Restorative Justice…
Saving young offenders is project's goal
10/21/2009 by Sauk Valley Newspapers, Dixon and Sterling, Illinois
The criminal justice system in Ogle County is trying a new cooperative approach to discourage juvenile offenders from committing more crimes. The initiative is an effort by the Ogle County…
Unprecedented Agreement Reached to Assist Juveniles
10/13/2009
by Ogle County Juvenile Justice Council
OREGON, IL – Juveniles running into trouble with the law in Ogle County are finding law enforcement and probation officers coming to their assistance. Members of the Ogle County Juvenile…
MH/JJ Action Network State of Texas Awarded One Million Dollar Grant
9/17/2009
by The Texas Juvenile Justice TBI Partnership Project
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recently awarded the state of Texas with a 4-year, $1 million dollar multi-agency grant to help identify youth in the juvenile justice system who may…
Young, Mentally Ill and Behind Bars
8/17/2009 by New York Times
by Letters to the Editor
Re “Mentally Ill Offenders Stretch the Limits of Juvenile Justice” (front page, Aug. 10): Solitary confinement is among the harshest legal punishments that American society inflicts on…
Mentally Ill Offenders Strain Juvenile Justice Systems
8/9/2009 by New York Times
by Solomon Moore
FRANKLIN FURNACE, Ohio — The teenager in the padded smock sat in his solitary confinement cell here in this state’s most secure juvenile prison and screamed obscenities. The youth,…
Untreated Mental Health Needs Fuels School to Jail Pipeline
1/5/2009 by New York Times
by Joseph J. Cocozza, Ph.D.
Letter to the Editor NY Times RE: The Principal's Office First To The Editor: Thank you for drawing attention to the issue of increasing school arrests. Frequently, arrested youth have untreated…
MacArthur Action Networks to Address Racial and Ethnic Disparities and Mental Health in Juvenile Justice
6/19/2007 by John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
Chicago, IL (June 19, 2007) – The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, which is investing $100 million to support and accelerate promising models of juvenile justice reform, is…

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