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How Genesee County wants to change criminal justice: A New Juvenile Justice Center

Amy Diaz

January 10, 2021 |

Flint Beat |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Flint, Michigan

A new Juvenile Justice Center that will focus on trauma-informed treatment of children rather than simply jailing them is still more than one year from completion. But, in the years leading to its opening, the county's family courts have cut in half the numbers of children held in detention by emphasizing rehabilitation programs over jail. Many of the services are based on the "Missouri Model" of juvenile justice, which has been shown to reduce incarceration and prevent crime through evidence-based approaches that are more therapeutic than punitive.

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'A chance to choose life': For some, drug courts break cycle of addiction and crime

Paul Cuno-Booth

January 09, 2021 |

Sentinel Source (The Keene Sentinel) |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Keene, New Hampshire

Cheshire County Drug Court provides intensive drug addiction treatment, behavioral therapy, and other services to help people charged with crimes whose drug problems are their underlying problem. Since 2013, it has helped dozens of people avoid re-offending and put their lives on track. Like other drug courts, it is not suited to all circumstances and its coercive nature – jail is threatened for failure to follow the rules – has its critics. But graduates credit it with saving their lives. And it serves as a gateway to services that people might not otherwise have access to.

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Therapy From the Living Room

Nikol Mudrova Tereza Dornakova

January 05, 2021 |

Seznam Zpravy |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Czech Republic

When the coronavirus pandemic made in-person therapy sessions too risky to schedule, therapists in the Czech Republic moved their services online and set up a hotline for patients to call when needed. Although it's yet to be seen if the service will remain financially viable in regards to health insurance reimbursements, it has helped eliminate many barriers including transportation troubles and feelings of stigma.

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A New Tool in Treating Mental Illness: Building Design

Jane Margolies

January 05, 2021 |

The New York Times |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Mountain View, California

Across the U.S. an influx of new mental health facilities are being designed through a lens of "evidence-based" architecture that aims to use the design itself as a means of treatment. With studies indicating that access to nature and green space can reduce stress, these new facilities aren't "just about being warm and fuzzy."

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After #EndSARS, community support helps Nigerians heal wounds

Tolu Olasoji

January 05, 2021 |

Al Jazeera |

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Over 3000 Words

Response Location: Nigeria, Lagos

To help alleviate the psychological toll of protesting against the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) in Lagos, two advocacy groups spearheaded a helpline that connected callers with counselors and listeners. The helpline uses task-sharing, so that calls are routed to either trained mental health counselors or psychotherapists and psychiatrists, depending on the severity of the concerns.

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How Oregon's Radical Decriminalization of Drugs Was Inspired by Portugal

Roshan Abraham

January 05, 2021 |

Next City |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Portugal

After Portugal decriminalized hard drugs in 2001 to treat drug use as a health problem and not a crime, the country expanded treatment services that produced sharp drops in drug-overdose deaths and HIV infections. Its numbers of people incarcerated on drug charges also dropped by nearly half. The Drug Policy Alliance studied Portugal's approach and made a modified version of it the model for Oregon, where courts and prisons have been the gateway to the state's limited treatment services. Oregon voters approved decriminalization and a vast increase in treatment programs that will roll out in 2021.

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In Brattleboro, a new kind of police patrol pushes treatment, not jail

Paul Cuno-Booth

January 02, 2021 |

Sentinel Source (The Keene Sentinel) |

Multi-Media |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Brattleboro, Vermont

Police officers paired with substance abuse counselors go onto Brattleboro's streets to offer no-strings-attached help to people using drugs. Without using arrests or other coercion, the Project CARE "recovery coaches" have connected dozens of people to rehab and other needed services since the program began in July 2018. Modeled on bigger, successful programs in Gloucester and Brockton, Massachusetts, CARE's effect on overdoses is unknown and the involvement of police is seen by some as a drawback. But the outreach has let the community know help is available for the asking – even from cops.

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After 3 years and $1.5 million devoted to testing rape kits, Alaska made one new arrest

Kyle Hopkins

December 30, 2020 |

Anchorage Daily News |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Alaska

Despite hopes that testing a backlog of rape kits would reveal many new serial-rape suspects, Alaska's three-year push to test 568 kits under the federally funded Sexual Assault Kit Initiative led to only one new prosecution. The reasons the program fell short of expectations include a lack of usable DNA samples, errors by investigators, cases in which victims and suspects had died or victims no longer wished to proceed, or the kits revealed no evidence that wasn't previously known. Alaska is now footing the bill to test more kits, which contain physical evidence collected after a rape.

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Prosecutors try to keep people out of pandemic-clogged courts through diversion programs

Rebecca Rivas

December 30, 2020 |

Missouri Independent |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, St. Louis, Missouri

Missouri legislators passed a law in 2019 clarifying that prosecutors can divert criminal cases to social services and healthcare agencies even before charges are filed. Small experiments that had been taking place in recent years suddenly grew in St. Louis County to help the courts focus only on serious cases during pandemic shutdowns. Now those innovations are spreading, as more drug cases and other low-level cases avoid the courts altogether. This eases the burden also on people, who in traditional drug courts still get arrested and face employment barriers even if their cases eventually get dropped.

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Pima County program getting people out of jail quicker, speeding up chances for a new life

Caitlin Schmidt

December 29, 2020 |

Arizona Daily Star |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Tucson, Arizona

An array of services in Pima County, Arizona, greets hundreds of people getting released early from jail or helps keep them out of jail in the first place. By providing drug treatment, housing, job assistance, and other help that people need instead of incarceration, the county's Criminal Justice Reform Unit and Jail Population Review Committee saved the county $2 million in jail costs over just part of 2020. Drug use also declined and officials hope to see longer-range benefits in lower recidivism.

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