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Data from the 2012 Millennial Impact Report survey of 6,500 adults aged 20 to 35 indicates that almost 75% of young adults contribute to nonprofit causes, and are very likely to ask family and friends to also contribute. Most donations (58%) were for $100 or less, although the typical respondent reported donating to five organizations in 2011.

To review the 2012 Millennial Impact Report visit: http://philanthropy.com/article/75-of-Young-Adults-Gave-to/132217/?sid=pt&utm_source=pt&utm_medium=en

The National Youth Screening and Assessment Project (NYSAP) is inviting applications from juvenile justice jurisdictions to participate in the Risk and Mental Health Screening and Assessment of Youth (RAMSAY) Technical Assistance Demonstration Project. The project will evaluate and improve probation agencies’ decision-making skills when processing youth in the juvenile justice system, thereby reducing costs, improving resource allocation, and reducing further delinquency.

The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation are jointly sponsoring this project. This initiative is part of a broader partnership between OJJDP and the MacArthur Foundation to improve outcomes for youth involved in the juvenile justice and child welfare systems.

This competition originally closed in February 2012 and has been re-opened with revised eligibility criteria. Applications are due by May 9, 2012.  

For more information, go to http://www.nysap.us/.

On May 9, 2012, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) and Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) will observe National Children's Mental Health Awareness Day to promote recovery and resilience for young people in the juvenile justice and child welfare systems. The two agencies will support efforts to help the public recognize signs of chlid trauma, promote treatment for children's traumatic experiences and promote trauma-informed social services and supports. 

For more inforamtion, go to http://www.reclaimingfutures.org/blog/childrens-mental-health-awareness-day-0?utm_source=Weekly+Blog+Digest&utm_campaign=feff65ce59-12_7_2011&utm_medium=email.

In a recent survey of youth at a Texas Juvenile Justice Department (TJJD) facility, the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition heard from youth that staying connected to their families is more difficult at state facilities as compared to county detention centers, and that they would like more contact with their families. The Texas Juvenile Justice Department (TJJD) offers a number of opportunities for families to learn about the agency, participate in youth’s treatment, and spend time together.

For more information, go to http://www.reclaimingfutures.org/blog/texas-parents-are-partners-juvenile-justice?utm_source=Weekly+Blog+Digest&utm_campaign=feff65ce59-12_7_2011&utm_medium=email.

The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) has published Highlights of the 2010 National Youth Gang Survey. This fact sheet presents findings from the National Gang Center's 2010 National Youth Gang Survey, which collects data from a large, representative sample of local law enforcement agencies to track the size and scope of the national gang problem. The fact sheet discusses the prevalence of gangs in the U.S., rates of gang activity and gang homicides, reasons for gang-member migration, and external gang influences.  

To access the Highlights of the 2010 National Youth Gang Survey, go to www.ojjdp.gov/pubs/237542.pdf.

Applications are now being accepted for the sixth annual Summer Institute on Youth Mentoring, scheduled for July 23 – 27, 2012, at Portland State University in Portland, Oregon.

The Summer Institute is an intensive, week-long seminar on the latest developments in theory and research on youth mentoring. Internationally recognized research fellows lead the highly interactive sessions, which provide an in-depth view of the research and examine its implications for program policies and practices. Sessions also include time for participants to think critically and creatively about their own program issues and explore opportunities for innovation. Because the use of formal mentoring to support youth has changed and evolved in recent decades, the 2012 Summer Institute will focus on the theme of innovative and nontraditional models of youth mentoring.

For more information and to apply, go to http://www.pdx.edu/youth-mentoring/.

OJJDP's National Girls Institute has created a website to better meet the needs of at-risk and delinquent girls, their families, and the agencies and organizations that serve them. Established in 2010, NGI provides training, technical assistance, and resources to local, tribal, and private organizations that serve girls and young women in or at risk of entering the juvenile justice system. On the website, professionals can submit requests for training and technical assistance, as well as find current information about best practices, gender-responsive tools, research, and events in the field. Girls and their parents and caregivers will find helpful information on national hotlines and resources on issues that matter to them.

Visit the National Girls Institute website at http://www.nationalgirlsinstitute.org/.

In a new private-public partnership, OJJDP and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation are jointly providing $2 million to support innovative and effective reforms in treatment and services for youth involved in the juvenile justice and child welfare systems. OJJDP and the MacArthur Foundation each will provide a total of $1 million over 2 years to four organizations to support juvenile justice reform in four target areas. These organizations will in turn offer states and local governments training and technical assistance to improve mental health services for youth, reduce racial and ethnic disparities in the juvenile justice system, and better coordinate treatment and services for youth involved in the juvenile justice and child welfare systems.

For more information, go to http://www.ojjdp.gov/newsletter/237146/sf_5.html.

In an interview with More Magazine in February for Black History Month, First Lady Michelle Obama talked about the White House mentoring program, a program she launched shortly after moving to the White House “to open a secret door for others that hadn’t been opened for me,” by pairing disadvantaged girls with some of the most powerful women in the country. The First Lady also discussed the impact mentors have had in her life and what being a mentor has meant to her.

Read more about the White House mentoring program and the First Lady at http://www.more.com/michelle-obama-mentor.

The Interrupters follows three individuals who work to protect their Chicago communities from the violence they once employed. The interrupters work for an innovative organization, CeaseFire, which is the brainchild of epidemiologist Gary Slutkin, who for 10 years battled the spread of cholera and AIDS in Africa. Slutkin believes that the spread of violence mimics that of infectious diseases, and so the treatment should be similar: go after the most infected, and stop the infection at its source. From acclaimed director Steve James and bestselling author Alex Kotlowitz, this documentary was shot over the course of a year out of Kartemquin Films in Chicago.

The Interrupters will air Tuesday, February 14th from 9 to 11 p.m. ET on PBS. For more information, go to http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/social-issues/interrupters/press-release-9/.

The Summer Institute on Youth Mentoring was the subject of a recent journal article, "Innovation in Collaboration: The Summer Institute on Youth Mentoring as a university-community partnership" in Gateways: International Journal of Community Research and Engagement (Vol 4 p. 168-185). The Summer Institute on Youth Mentoring (SIYM) at Portland State University is an intensive week-long seminar designed to offer a highly interactive educational opportunity for experienced professionals and leading researchers in the field of youth mentoring. The current study explores the extent to which SIYM represents an example of a successful university-community partnership and identifies ways in which SIYM innovates on established partnership models.

To read the article, go to http://epress.lib.uts.edu.au/ojs/index.php/ijcre/article/view/1771.

This article written by Jason Shim, Specialty Mentoring Program Facilitator at Pathways to Education, outlines what he and his collegues learned about communicating with youth. After wasting time trying to contact students via phone and e-mail, they learned that Facebook is now the primary online communication medium for the majority of youth in high school and that many students don't check their e-mail regularly while some don't even have an e-mail account. Shims outlines the six trends to know about engaging youth with social media based on their experiences and research.

For more information, go to http://www.nten.org/articles/2012/from-phones-to-facebook-how-to-engage-youth-on-the-front-lines-of-social-media.

January 16, 2012 will mark the federal holiday honoring the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. King once said, "Life's most persistent and urgent question is: 'What are you doing for others?'" MLK Day is a perfect opportunity for American's to honor King's legacy though service. Learn more about MLK Day of Service and how you can participate at http://mlkday.gov/index.php. 

President Barack Obama has issued a proclamation designating January as National Mentoring Month. January 2012 marks the 11th anniversary of National Mentoring Month, an annual media campaign to recruit volunteer mentors for young people. Spearheaded by the Harvard Mentoring Project of the Harvard School of Public Health, MENTOR and the Corporation for National and Community Service, this year’s campaign tagline is Invest in the Future. Mentor a Child.

To read President Obama's proclamation, go to http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/12/28/presidential-procl...

For more information on National Mentoring Month and to download materials, go to http://advancementoring.org/2012-national-mentoring-month.

Mentoring and juvenile justice professionals working in detention, corrections, probation, dependency courts, delinquency courts, and teen court/youth court diversion programs are encouraged to participate in an online survey funded by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. The National Mentoring Partnership, Global Youth Justice, and the National Partnership for Juvenile Services are conducting the survey to improve the design and delivery of mentoring services for youth at risk for delinquency, alcohol and drug abuse, truancy, and other problem behaviors. Results will be included in a research report and in training and technical assistance materials, which will be free and available online. 

The survey is available online, and takes 10 to 15 minutes to complete. Take the survey online at www.surveymonkey.com/s/YouthMentoringSurvey.  

Information and materials from the OJJDP National Conference last October are now available at http://www.ojjdp.gov/2011conference/. To request conference presentation materials from grantee meetings, learning labs, and regular conference sessions, visit https://www.nttac.org/index.cfm?event=workshopsConferences.pastconferences. Download learning lab materials at www.nttac.org/index.cfm?event=conferenceOJJDP2011Labs_presentReq. 

On November 20th at 10 pm EST, MSNBC will premiere "Young Kids, Hard Time," a one-hour documentary narrated by Rick Springfield that reveals the reality of young kids serving long sentences in adult prisons. 

For more information, email info@calamariproductions.com. 

Foster students across California are benefiting from a database called Foster Focus, developed by the Sacramento County Office of Education. The database tracks foster students' grades, credits, course schedules, residential history, shot records, attendance, Individual Education Plan, the name of the child's social worker, and other information. Previously there had been problems of students being enrolled in classes that they had already taken because their records did not go with them from one school district to another. The database has made it much easier for officials to access students' records and make sure that they are enrolled in appropriate classes.

Read more at http://www.fresnobee.com/2011/10/06/2566653/new-database-tracks-californ....