NEWS & VIEWS
Reports
Responses to Commercial Sexual Exploitation and Trafficking of Minors Addressed
The Institute of Medicine and the National Research Council have released a PowerPoint presentation on the OJJDP–funded report Confronting Commercial Sexual Exploitation and Sex Trafficking of Minors in the United States to coincide with National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month (January). The presentation shares findings on how schools, businesses, victim services, law enforcement, the legal system, and healthcare providers can collaborate to prevent, identify, and respond to commercial sexual exploitation and sex trafficking of minors.
Global Status Report on Violence Prevention
Interpersonal violence—violence between family members, intimate partners, friends, acquaintances, and strangers—is a risk factor for lifelong health and social problems. Although this kind of violence is preventable, write the authors of the World Health Organization's Global Status Report on Violence Prevention 2014, national governments must take responsibility for addressing it. According to the report, the disproportionate impact of homicide on youth was a consistent pattern across all levels of country income, but much more pronounced in low- and upper-middle-income countries. Only 26 percent of the countries indicated they had surveyed youth violence—typically gathering population-based data on bullying, physical fighting, and school violence. Around the globe, life skills training and bullying prevention were the most common strategies used to address youth violence.
The Real Cost of Youth Incarceration
Sticker Shock: Calculating the Full Price Tag for Youth Incarceration estimates the costs of negative outcomes associated with incarceration. Thirty-three states and jurisdictions spend $100,000 or more each year to incarcerate a young person, though 62 percent of youths committed and confined in 2011 were serving time for a nonviolent offense. With a projected annual cost of $8 billion to $21 billion, the price of incarcerating young people has yet to hit home for taxpayers. In contrast, community-based programs that offer youth wraparound and individualized services cost as little as $75 a day.
News
Ramsey, Robinson Lead Presidential Task Force to Promote Effective Crime Reduction While Building Public Trust
Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey was one of two persons recently appointed by President Obama to chair his Task Force on 21st Century Policing, the White House announced. Ramsey, who is president of the Major Cities Chiefs Police Association, will chair the task force with Laurie Robinson, who served as assistant attorney general for justice programs during Obama's first term.
The task force will include law enforcement representatives and community leaders and operate in collaboration with Ron Davis, director of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Community-Oriented Policing Services (COPS) Office. The task force is to build on research currently being conducted by COPS, to examine, among other issues, how to promote effective crime reduction while building public trust.
Fourth National Summit to Occur in May 2015
The Fourth National Summit on Youth Violence Prevention will be held May 11–13, 2015, at a site in the Washington, D.C., area to be determined. The Summit will provide opportunities for representatives from National Forum, Defending Childhood Initiative, and Community-Based Violence Prevention program cities to learn about new strategies for youth violence prevention, to share their experiences of what works in their communities, and to recommit themselves to the task of creating safe communities where youth and families can thrive. Attendance to the Summit is by invitation only. Invitations will be sent out soon.
Conflict Resolution Heads to NOLA Schools
New Orleans, La.'s Health Department and the Center for Restorative Approaches have partnered in a new effort to resolve school conflict. Launched by Mayor Mitch Landrieu's NOLA for Life violence-prevention campaign, the initiative seeks to establish a process in which students can work through problems with the help of trained conflict-resolution volunteers.
Chicago Makes Recommendations to Stem Youth Violence
The Mayor's Commission for a Safer Chicago has recommended ways to curb city violence. Delving into five priority areas—youth employment, health and healing, creating restorative school communities, safety and justice, and safe spaces and activities—the commission's 2015 report centers on identifying and intervening with at-risk youth. Over the past 3 years, Chicago, Ill., has implemented a public health approach to preventing violence by addressing its root causes. The commission operates by the notion that violence is preventable, not inevitable.
Other Resources
Seminar Offered on 'Real World' Teen Dating Violence
In the online seminar "The 'Real World' of Dating Violence in Adolescence and Young Adulthood," Peggy Giordano shares preliminary findings from a longitudinal study on the nature of teen dating relationships and risk factors for dating violence. The findings challenge traditional assumptions about gender in early relationships and how young adults deal with disagreement. Conflict in regard to financial concerns, infidelity, and time spent with peers are risk factors for violence among teens. Dr. Giordano stresses that developing a more nuanced view of anger, control, and communication around these areas can provide opportunities to change patterns of violence in relationships.
Juvenile Justice Office, MENTOR Launch National Mentoring Resource Center
The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) and MENTOR: The National Mentoring Partnership have launched the National Mentoring Resource Center, to coincide with National Mentoring Month (January). This comprehensive online resource provides mentoring tools and information, program and training materials, and technical assistance—particularly relating to delinquency prevention, victimization, and juvenile justice system involvement—to help local programs and practitioners improve the quality and efficacy of their mentoring efforts.
OJJDP Surveys National Youth Gang Activity
In 2012 the nation saw more gangs and related homicides than in 2011. With an estimated 30,700 gangs and 850,000 gang members throughout 3,100 jurisdictions, the number of reported gang-related homicides increased 30 percent—from 1,824 in 2011 to 2,363 in 2012. Nearly 30 percent of responding law enforcement agencies reported gang activity. Problems were concentrated primarily in urban areas. Gang activity in smaller cities declined to its lowest rate in more than a decade.
Improving Outcomes for Foster Youth
Young people who leave foster care without a permanent family or home often face challenges completing their education and may struggle with unemployment, financial security, and the juvenile and criminal justice systems. Along with government agencies and other partners, the White House is taking new steps to support foster youth in seven critical areas: ensuring access to healthy meals, protecting the welfare of Native youth, building financial security, keeping young people out of the justice system, creating pathways to employment, supporting educational success, and developing public service and private investment opportunities.
Teachers and Trauma
Students who have experienced complex trauma can greatly benefit from caring relationships with supportive teachers and faculty. Though kids with a history of trauma may feel threatened, vulnerable, or rejected, there are ways to address and counteract these feelings in the classroom. When teachers know how to recognize trauma, respond with compassion, communicate with parents about coping strategies, and provide consistency and stability for students, children may have a much more positive school experience.
|
|
|
