The Treatment and Prevention of Drug Use and Abuse
Professor Gross
CJ: 411 Drugs and Alcohol in the Criminal Justice System
10/7/14
By Jimmy Ortega
Juveniles across the country have many issues in today’s society however; the issues that are at hand can be prevented if the parents or guardians have control over that certain juvenile. If that parent doesn’t have control of that teen there are certain places in which the parents can reach out to and get help dealing with the issues. But when it comes to parenting just because you don’t have control over that teen at that moment doesn’t mean you’re a bad parent because teens these days are dealing with issues such as high school popularity to even the issue of
…show more content…
Aliviane
Aliviane, Inc. is a community-based minority governed, non-profit organization headquartered in El Paso, Texas, Region 10. Aliviane began providing services in 1970 intervention, and treatment programs in the areas of substance abuse, behavioral health, HIV services, homelessness, and education. Today, Aliviane is the primary provider of prevention and treatment services in West Texas for men, women, and adolescents. Aliviane also coordinates a strong network of community support with local, state, and national organizations to provide a continuum of care in West Texas. In addition, the agency operates a number of steering committees and planning groups in the areas of substance abuse and behavioral health. The agency also provides training and professional development for partnering organizations, health workers, interns, volunteers, and members of the community involved with social services (Aliviane, 2014). It is important for every city in the United States of America to have programs like Aliviane in place because it focuses on the community as a whole. Another reason it is important to have programs in place is because many individuals who suffer from a life of drug addiction or addiction in general feels as if there are alone in the world and have no guidance. But thankfully here in El Paso, Texas Aliviane mission statement is simply To provide a comprehensive and
Not only do the eligibility requirements of drug courts vary across the board, but the way the programs operate and their outcomes vary considerably, especially when it comes down to how they choose to operationalize the ten key components (Carey & Waller, 2011; Mackin et. al, 2009). In 1997, the National Association of Drug Court Professionals published these key components. The first key component is that drug courts integrate alcohol and other drug treatment services with justice system case processing (NADCP, 1997). Being that the mission of drug courts is to combat the abuse of drugs and alcohol it is imperative for them to promote recovery through coordinated responses. The second key component states that drug courts should use a
The overall sense that the reader gets from this book is that growing caseloads, inadequate facilities, and arbitrary “get-tough” laws are rendering the juvenile justice system in California and elsewhere in America ultimately ineffective. Redeemable kids are sent to adult prisons to “criminal college” to become more hardened and violent instead of being rehabilitated. Extremely violent kids are kept within the juvenile system to be released at twenty-five, based solely on whether they are over or under the age of sixteen. Abandoned or neglected kids are sent to languish within a broken foster care system, to be raised in group homes with deplorable
By reading this book, I learned a lot about teenagers’ critical situations at juvenile hall. This book gave me a greater insight and deeper understanding of what their lives are like and the challenges they face in this place. I also learned that the legal system is not doing a great deal to help these young kids mend their lives. They are not being offered counseling or therapy which could help facilitate a great deal of things for them such as, getting a better orientation of a path for them to follow, dealing with the excessive amount of stress they face in a healthy way
Michelle Alexander argues that the fact that the majority of inmates in jails are young African Americans is the result of a current prison system that may be purposely fixed to target individuals that live in poor communities of color. She also argues that the war on drugs has been regulated among poor communities, which has only lead to the incarceration of millions of people of color even for minor crime offenses, which automatically labels them in society. Once these people of color are incarcerated, they are no longer able to vote or get hired and are sometimes discriminated by society just as their ancestors were during the Jim Crow era.
The problems inherent in this shift in focus are now coming to a head as youth violence has reached crisis proportions. In recent years, with juveniles increasingly responsible for major and violent crimes, public sentiment in
Since the first drug court was established in 1989 in Florida, it can be said there are more than 800 active drug courts today. Drug courts work with the intent of treatment over punishment to prevent recidivism and promote public safety, therefore sentencing treatment over prison. There are two primary functions with the intention of either diverting offenders out of the criminal process by sentencing them to treatment or by post adjudication with suspended sentences pending rehabilitation (Siegel, Schmalleger, & Worrall, 2015, p. 142-143).
The Frontline episode “When Kids Get Life” serves as a reminder for how the criminal justice system sometimes drops the proverbial ball when it comes to juveniles. Time after time, situations arise and are brought to the attention of the Department of Social Services. Whether they are overlooked or lost somehow, they are deprived of the help they need. The system fails children who are crying for help, and the results are sometimes fatal. Circumstances lead to the loss of life, not only for the victims, but also for the delinquents who saw no other way out. In other cases, the group mentality of juveniles equates to the responsibility of all members for a crime committed by one person.
Note: Always make objectives measurable, e.g., 3 out of 5 times, 100%, learn 3 skills, etc., unless they are measurable on their own as in “List and discuss [issue] weekly…”
The need for a substance abuse recovery home in Starke County, Indiana is a need that is unmistakable in the county based on the hefty number of individuals that suffer from substance abuse and dependency in the county which is clearly displayed by the recent number of crimes that are related to or involve illicit and prescription drugs. In attempt to meet this need and create an opportunity for individuals suffering from substance abuse and dependency to receive local substance abuse treatment in a recovery home the proposal will be presented to several stakeholders within the Starke County community. The term stakeholder “refers to those people who are affected, or could be affected, by the service” (Canadian Career Development Foundation, n.d.) that is being proposed. The proposal for the creation of a substance abuse recovery home will be presented to five key stakeholders including Ms. Becky Anspach the director of Community Services of Starke County, Starke County Community Corrections director of operations Mr. Robert Hinojosa, Ms. Dee Lynch the director of the Indiana Department of Child Services of Starke County, Porter Starke Services facilitator of intensive outpatient program treatment (IOP), and Ms. Rhonda Adcock the director of Starke County CASA.
Youth incarceration is a growing dilemma in the United States that populates facilities as well as ruins lives at an alarming rate. As a society we cannot expect our kids to be the future of this nation when we are placing them in facilities where they become victims of emotional, physical, and sexual abuse that is far worse for them than adults. Michelle Alexander is a professor at Ohio State University and a graduate of Standford Law school. She states in her award-winning book, The new Jim Crow: Mass incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness "Children are five times more likely to be sexually assaulted once being placed into a facility" (Alexander,123). Adolescents being detained causes many problems that are much more detrimental to them than adults. Some of them will now have exposure to drugs and gangs. Others will become victims of sexual abuse from other older inmates or staff members and risk transmitting sexual diseases. Most young juveniles have a mental illness that has not been treated or they become suicidal when staying in a facility. These young people are still adapting to their environment and should not be treated as adults. They are unable to grow and develop when we are punishing them like adults and trapping them in the US justice system. The families of these children will now suffer knowing what their child faces in these facilities. As a nation we cannot consider ourselves civilized when we are placing these young people in facilities that punish them like adults.
But change that to an eight year old boy and his friends, and everyone’s opinion changes. They want to coddle the children and blame the violence on the parents, video games or social media. How does one word, juvenile, change the world’s mind so quickly-because it is in human’s nature to care for the young. People see children as clay to be melded into the perfect model of a person. When these children do something bad, they see the molder to be at fault. It is like they have they never seen a child misbehave when they are “molded” well. Children have their own brains and ideas. These ideas are their own and they are not only based on others in lives. The important thing is to see that juveniles are not children, “In the words of one 'get-tough' advocate, juvenile offenders are criminals who happen to be young, not children who happen to be criminal’” (ABC News). This perfectly sums up what juvenile crime is. It is not about the child, it is about the victim. If a juvenile is capable of committing a crime and planning it out, they should be tried for it. In one case, a boy murdered a woman after breaking into her house and her seeing his face. Instead of acting innocent, he was proud of what he had done, “Simmons wasn’t modest about what he had done; to the contrary, he had
An estimated 9.2 million to 15.8 million children are considered "at-risk" in this country encompassing all ages from 13 to 19 years old. These youth are at-risk because they are at a crossroad: one leads to successful transition to adulthood, the other to dependency and negative long-term consequences. Youth typically considered or identified as at-risk are more likely to become pregnant, use drugs and/or alcohol, drop out of school, be unemployed, engage in violence and face an increased likelihood of a host of mental health problems, which in turn places them at high risk for entering the juvenile and criminal justice system.
There is a moderate portion of juvenile law violations that are minor; however some young offenders are extremely dangerous and violent. (Caldwell, 2002) Studies have shown that most delinquent behavior stems from some sort of underlining issue or issues in a youth’s present or past history. State and county authorities must deal with these offenders while also responding to their personal social problems. This could range from child abuse and neglect, family issues and drug abuse, exposure to pornography and exposure to aggressive role models.
In the Hchs1259`s article Teens Should Absolutely be Tried as Adults, he/she supports the idea of youth offenders receiving harsh sentencing. The author argues juveniles need to get the time they deserve due to their actions, given they are of age that knows right from wrong. Hchs1259 introduces their opinion on the controversy almost immediately into the article.The article begins with several statements giving insight on “newly released murders, rapists and other criminals that just so happen to be juveniles” (Hchs1259). He/she then goes into detail, revealing that typically these criminals only
By law adolescents are not able to vote, purchase tobacco or alcohol, join the armed forces, or sign a legal contract. Children are not permitted the same rights and responsibilities as adults because the law recognizes their inability to make adult decisions. The law acknowledges that children are unable to handle the consequences that come along with the rights that adults have. By allowing them to be charged as adults is holding them to a double standard. Telling them that they are not old enough to enjoy the same luxuries as adults, but they can experience the same punishment as adults if they commit a crime. The law acknowledged the inability of children to make decisions but still allows them to suffer the same consequences as adults. Research demonstrates that transferring children from juvenile court to adult court does not decrease recidivism, and in fact actually increases crime. Instead of the child learning their mistake they are more likely to repeat it. Juvenile detention centers have programs that help reconstruct young minds and help them realize where they went wrong. Prison does not offer this same opportunity. (Estudillo, Mary Onelia)