Troubled Kids News

Fight Crime: Invest in Kids Illinois is committed to ensuring that troubled kids can get back on track so they can become productive citizens and succeed in life. Troubled youth in the juvenile justice system frequently have mental health and substance abuse problems that contributed to their delinquent or violent behavior. Therefore, increasing access to mental health services and other community interventions for youth at-risk and in the juvenile justice system is vital to preventing future crime.

Fight Crime: Invest in Kids Illinois aims to reduce juvenile arrests and re-arrests by expanding access and resources for quality mental health services and adopting other system changes that have proven to be successful in other states.

The research makes clear that the key to getting many troubled youth onto a better road is identifying mental health and substance abuse issues and then employing proven approaches to deal with those issues. Implementing these solutions have a significant payoff for public safety, taxpayers, and certainly the parents and families of these kids.

For example: the Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care (MTFC) program provides structure, discipline, and support for chronic teen offenders and their families. It works on an individual basis with teenaged offenders to change their behavior, break the negative peer connections that lead to crime and move them back into classrooms and jobs. Parents are also coached to better manage their teenager's behavior. Studies found the program cuts repeat arrests by as much as half and saves the public an estimated $24,000 in future costs and less earnings.

Bullying is no longer just on playgrounds and in school hallways; it's also on the Internet and cell phones. A new poll shows that 13 million American children aged 6 to 17 are being cyber bullied and many of them are not telling anyone about it. Many bullies grow up to commit crimes - one study showed that four of every 10 boys who bullied others as kids had three or more convictions by the time they turned 24. The Olweus program developed in Norway produced a 50 percent reduction of bullying there and a 20 percent reduction when it was replicated in South Carolina.

There is reason for optimism in Illinois. The Redeploy Illinois program, the new Department of Juvenile Justice, innovative programs in the juvenile detention facilities, supportive staff at the Department of Juvenile Justice and the Governor's Office, and the commitments that many counties have made to detention alternatives all represent very promising approaches for a better future.

Reports

All Fight Crime: Invest in Kids Illinois reports on troubled kids:

"Rehabilitation won't work for every juvenile offender, but we can reach many more than we do today. When we do, our homes and streets will be safer, and the futures of some boys and girls will be much brighter when they become young men and women."

- Will County Sheriff Paul Kaupas

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• For children in sixth through tenth grade, nearly one in six - 3.2 million - are victims of bullying each year. An additional 3.7 million bully other children.
• Thirty-eight (38) percent of suburban counties and 12 percent of rural counties in the U.S. report gang activity.
• Preventing one child from adopting a life of crime saves $1.7 million.