SEPTEMBER 2014, VOLUME 4, NUMBER 9
 

IN THIS ISSUE 

Violence a Risk Factor for Obesity 

Detroit's Partnership for Transformation 

Announcements and Upcoming Events 

• Funding opportunities 

• Training opportunities 

News and Views 

• Reports, Guidelines, and Briefs 

• News 

• Update 

• Other Resources 

SCHOOL THE BEST 

ENVIRONMENT FOR SOLVING 

NATIONAL OBESITY EPIDEMIC 

by Michael Hopps 

Obesity is going in the wrong direction. Since the 

World Health Organization began keeping records on 

global obesity in 1980, not a single country has gotten 

thinner.1 

The habits that augur a lifetime of obesity—and the 

maladies that can follow that condition, such as heart 

disease, type-2 diabetes, osteoarthritis, sleep apnea, 

and several types of cancer2—begin in childhood. In 

1980, only 7 percent of American children ages 6 to 

11 and 5 percent of U.S. adolescents (12- to 19-yearolds) were obese.3 By 2012 those numbers had 

ballooned to 18 percent of 6- to 11-year-olds and 21 

percent of adolescents. More than one of every three 

American children are overweight4 or obese,5 

according to the Centers for Disease Control and 

Prevention (CDC).6, 7 

The United States, the world's richest nation, is 

among its most overweight.8 But those Americans 

DENBY HIGH SCHOOL AND 

DETROIT FUTURE CITY 

PARTNER FOR 

TRANSFORMATION 

by Marla Fogelman and 

Alison Lake Benadada 

In Detroit, Mich., a city that has suffered severe 

economic decline, bankruptcy, crime, and urban 

decay, some high schools are now requiring students 

to address these problems and take steps to improve 

their community before they can graduate. 

During the 2013–14 school year, seniors at Edwin C. 

Denby High School in northeast Detroit were the 

school's first students to embark on a series of efforts 

to transform their neighborhood, which faces such 

challenges as crime, poverty, and abandoned 

buildings. This program, in partnership with the 

Detroit Future City (DFC) organization,1 requires 

students to design capstone projects and work with 

school staff, community members, and DFC 

representatives to put them into action. 

Denby High School's newest graduation policy has 

quickly evolved into a successful model for both 

academic achievement and civic engagement. And 

the Denby–DFC partnership has proven to be a major 

force for aiding neighborhood revitalization. 

Denby seniors cleaned up 16 blocks around the 

school, boarded up 11 vacant homes, mowed lawns, 

created tire gardens, put in street lights, and began to 

clean a six-acre playing field next to the school to 

change it into a community space. With assistance 

from DFC members, the students petitioned the city to 

demolish the most blighted apartment building in the 

neighborhood, and they are now transforming the 

land into a botanical laboratory. These are just a few 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

most beset by obesity are not the nation's wealthiest. 

Rather they are the poor—particularly the inner city 

poor—who lack access to healthy food options and 

also to safe walkable areas. 

Many low-income communities in America do not 

have sufficient opportunities to purchase healthy, 

affordable food.9 They are less likely to have grocery 

stores with vast produce sections, less likely to have 

park and playground facilities where children can run 

around and burn off their caloric intake. Interpersonal 

violence—higher in low-incomes than elsewhere— 

appears to be a risk factor for obesity.10 Because the 

streets and playgrounds in such communities are 

often violent places, many parents who live in lowincome neighborhoods prefer to keep their children 

indoors, watching television instead of exercising.11 

Too Scared to Run: Many factors contribute to

obesity in low-income neighborhoods. One of

those less publicized is fear—of assault while

jogging alone. 

Simply put, children who are born, grow up, live, work, 

and grow old in low-income, inner city environments 

are more likely to be obese than children from affluent 

backgrounds. 

School Is Where Habits Can Change 

As explained by the CDC, excess weight and obesity 

result from caloric imbalance—that is, not enough 

calories are expended to balance the amount 

consumed.12 Though various genetic, behavioral, and 

environmental circumstances can contribute to 

overweight and obesity, the two key protective factors 

are healthy diet and proper exercise. And schools— 

even those in low-income, inner city communities that 

lack open real estate—are the best place to instill 

good diets and exercise. 

"Ninety-five percent of American children are enrolled 

in schools for 13 years13 of their lives for at least 6 

hours a day," says Allison Nihiser, a health scientist 

with CDC, who works on obesity prevention in the 

ways that Denby students have worked to improve 

their neighborhood, and further plans are in the works 

for this year's senior class. 

Integrating Youth Community Activism With

School 

The DFC Strategic Framework Plan calls for 

integrating the "engagement of youth who hold a 

stake in the present and future of Detroit," which 

dovetails with Denby's requirements for students' 

senior capstone portfolio projects. 

Through the DFC–Denby partnership, the city's 

renewal has been directly tied to the Denby high 

school curriculum. DFC works with the school to 

integrate its framework with major subjects in the 

school curriculum. One goal of the capstone 

experience for last year's Denby seniors was to 

demonstrate mastery of high-level skills across four 

core competencies—inquiry, textual analysis, 

research, and creative expression. 

A Transformative Experience: Senior Class 

Historian Kaija Sherrell (center) addresses the

crowd at the 'Pathway to Transformation'

ceremony in May 2014. 

The Glossary of Education Reform calls a capstone 

project "a multifaceted assignment that serves as a 

culminating academic and intellectual experience for 

students, typically during their final year of high school 

or middle school, or at the end of an academic 

program or learning-pathway experience."

2 

Capstone experiences culminate in a thesis that 

students defend before graduation, providing "a welldefined opportunity for students to refine high-level 

skills and to synthesize, integrate, and apply the 

knowledge gained throughout their training."3 

Denby's capstone model is unique in its adoption of 

the DFC Strategic Framework Plan as the basis for 

students' choice of topics for their long-term 

assignments. The model integrates students' 

proposed solutions for issues, such as community 

safety and stability, within the primary subject areas— 

math, science, English, and social studies—of 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

school setting. "This is where we can help students 

learn about and practice healthy behaviors." 

Dr. Sarah Lee, team leader in the School Health 

Branch of CDC's National Center for Chronic Disease 

Prevention and Health Promotion, notes the following 

strategies used by physical education teachers 

lacking space or facilities: 

In classrooms, P.E. teachers often put tennis 

balls or other similar material on desk legs to 

easily slide desks out of the way and conduct 

physical education in the classrooms 

themselves. 

They often set up joint-use agreements with 

community organizations and take the children 

to other nonschool facilities for exercise. 

For outdoor physical education, some gym 

teachers will use blacktop surfaces—empty lots 

or nearby spaces that might have courts, small 

fields, and the like—when they are close 

enough to the school. 

Nihiser also emphasizes before- and after-school 

opportunities. "Sometimes kids are dropped off really 

early," she stresses. Seeking opportunities for 

physical activity, the CDC will inquire, "Is there 

equipment they can share?" Noting that not every 

child is an Olympic athlete, Nihiser says that a 

growing number of U.S. public schools "are offering 

noncompetitive before- and after-school activities— 

walking clubs, running clubs, dancing clubs." 

The federal government requires the nation's school 

districts participating in the school meals program to 

develop wellness policies that include mandates for 

physical activity and nutrition education, promotion, 

and standards. Nihiser notes that districts may also 

leverage the policies to include language on violence 

prevention. 

Chicago, Philadelphia Cities With Model Policies

Nihiser cites Forum city Chicago, Ill., as one of the 

public school systems with a comprehensive wellness 

policy.14 The Chicago Public Schools Policy Manual, 

recognizing "the relationship... between academic 

achievement and student health and wellness," 

sanctions a sequential K–12 nutrition education 

curriculum and physical education that engages all 

students in moderate to vigorous activity during two 

thirds of all gym class time. 

In 2010, Forum city Philadelphia, Pa., launched Get 

Healthy Philly, an initiative combining the resources of 

local government, community-based organizations, 

academia, and the private sector to address obesity 

reduction and smoking cessation.15 

"We've tried to incorporate brief physical activity into 

Denby's core curriculum. 

For example, in English classes, students were 

required to read the DFC Strategic Framework Plan 

and study the sociological and historical 

underpinnings of urban planning in Detroit. 

The Denby–DFC Senior Portfolio Project originated 

with staff conversations about how to "actively engage 

students in their own learning," explained Denby High 

School resource and curriculum specialist Jay 

Haffner. 

Although staff supported aligning DFC's goals with the 

school's capstone projects, Haffner said that the 

students were initially very resistant to the idea of 

being required to complete these complex projects 

before they could graduate, Haffner said. "Torches 

and pitchforks were gathered," he remembered with 

humor. "There was griping and moaning." 

Yet students' attitudes changed quickly once they 

began talking to then–social studies teacher Jonathan 

Hui. They realized that their projects could both serve 

their needs and help their community. 

Student Projects Contribute to a Safer Detroit 

"We wanted to equip our students with making a 

difference," Hui said, and began to ask the students 

what community issues concerned them most. Safety, 

not surprisingly, was number one. 

While Haffner assumed the responsibility for 

implementing the curriculum component, Hui reached 

out to the larger community and brokered other 

partnerships, in addition to the DFC, with more than 

20 other organizations. 

Hui said that, once the students realized adults in 

their community were listening to them, they took on 

the mission of neighborhood revitalization and "ran 

with it." The group of seniors highlighted community 

problems and solutions, by researching blight, 

poverty, hunger, unemployment, education, and other 

topics. 

Through the DFC partnership, the students also 

received supplemental materials, gained community 

mentors, and received continuing feedback on their 

capstone efforts. 

According to capstone project requirements, students 

must develop a list of "actionable ideas" and present 

and defend their proposed solutions before a panel of 

judges. Hui said that as students generated ideas for 

community revitalization, while engaging both their 

neighbors and the DFC team in their efforts, they 

were able to create "an actionable, sustainable model 

to mitigate youth violence." 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

every school day," says Dr. Giridhar Mallya, director of 

policy and planning for the Philadelphia Department 

of Public Health, which created the initiative. "Not 

every kid may have gym class, but every kid can 

move. So the schools have implemented movement 

breaks." 

He explains: "As the kids are coming into the 

classroom, teachers are leading kids in simple but fun 

exercises such as jumping jacks or running in place. 

The teachers also use this as a tool to get the kids 

focused." 

Though the nature of these movement breaks varies 

from school to school, every public school in 

Philadelphia has a wellness council, made up of 

teachers, staff, students, and parents who ensure that 

wellness policies are put into place. Each school has 

a designated School Wellness Champion. Though the 

policies, too, vary, some standards are that soda isn't 

sold in school, that candy bars aren't used for 

fundraisers, and that there are guidelines for youths 

on nightly television and computer time. 

As part of Get Healthy Philly, the city has expanded 

the infrastructure for walking and biking throughout 

the city and expanded after-school activities in 

recreation centers—"a safe haven for kids," notes 

Mallya. 

With some of these practices already in place, the 

Philadelphia School District saw about a 5 percent 

reduction in childhood obesity for the 4-year period of 

2006–07 through 2009–10.16 

References 

1Margaret Chan. 2012. "Obesity: Bad Trouble Is on Its Way." 

Lecture delivered to Women's International Forum. New York, N.Y., 

Sept. 21. 

2Cathy Newman. N.d. "Why Are We So Fat?" Washington, D.C.: 

National Geographic Society. 

3The CDC calculates overweight and obesity using a formula called 

body mass index. Loosely, obesity is defined as weighing at least 

20 percent more than one's healthy weight for one's height. Source: 

CDC. N.d. "Overweight and Obesity." 

4Obesity is defined as having excess body fat. Source: Nancy F. 

Krebs, John H. Himes, Dawn Jacobson, Theresa A. Nicklas, 

Patricia Guilday, and Dennis Styne. 2007. "Assessment of Child 

and Adolescent Overweight and Obesity." Pediatrics 120:S193– 

228. 

5Overweight is defined as having excess body weight for a 

particular height from fat, muscle, bone, water, or a combination of 

these factors. Source: National Institutes of Health, National Heart, 

Lung, and Blood Institute. 2010. Disease and Conditions Index: 

What Are Overweight and Obesity? Bethesda, Md. 

6CDC. N.d. "Childhood Obesity Facts." 

7Cynthia L. Ogden, Margaret D. Carroll, Brian K. Kit, and Katherine 

This approach of community outreach is supported by 

research that shows "social cohesion among 

neighbors, in combination with their willingness to 

intervene on behalf of the common good, is also 

associated with reduced violence in disadvantaged 

neighborhoods."4 

Graduation Rate Soars to 93 Percent 

In May, Denby seniors defended their capstone 

projects for 50 minutes before a panel of judges. That 

same month, they celebrated both their capstone and 

community accomplishments during a unique 

ceremony. Each senior laid a brick on the school 

lawn, forming a walkway called the "Pathway to 

Transformation." The path is to grow with each 

graduating class. 

"It changed my life," said Kaija Sherrell, former senior 

class historian and psychology major at Wayne State 

University in Detroit, when speaking about the 

partnership project. "It gave me hope to know that 

Detroit has people behind it to bring out its full 

potential." 

There is no doubt that the initiative has motivated 

more students to work toward achieving their own 

potential. Denby now has a 93 percent graduation 

rate, according to Haffner, which is a significant 

increase from a rate of roughly 62 percent in 2012.5 

Haffner noted with pride that student perceptions of 

the project have changed. Students now approach 

him to ask when they can start on their projects. 

"Eleventh graders are talking about their portfolios 

now," Haffner said. "They are saying, 'I don't just want 

to pass. I want to pass with distinction.'" 

References 

1Detroit Future City. 2014. Denby High School Curriculum. 

2Great Schools Partnership. 2014. Glossary of Education 

Reform. 

3Georgeta D. Vaidean, Sandeep S. Vansal, Ronnie J. Moore, and 

Stuart Feldman. 2013. "Student Scientific Inquiry in the Core 

Curriculum." American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education. 

77(8):176. 

4A.K. McGowan, A.E. Crosby, M. La Hasbrouck, M.L. Boulton, S. 

Kanluen, and N.A. Maseru. 2006. "Child and Adolescent Violent 

Deaths: An Epidemiologic Investigation." Journal of the National 

Medical Association 98(2):158–64. 

5Detroit Public Schools. 2012. Denby High School Annual 

Education Report. Detroit, Mich. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

M. Flegal. 2014. "Prevalence of Childhood and Adult Obesity in the 

United States, 2011–12." Journal of the American Medical 

Association 311(8):806–14. 

8With 33.0 percent of its adult citizens classified as "obese," the 

United States ranks no. 18 among the world's 191 countries in 

obesity rate. Source: Central Intelligence Agency. 2014. The World 

Factbook. Langley, Va. 

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-worldfactbook/rankorder/2228rank.html. 

9Sarah Treuhaft and Allison Karpyn. N.d. The Grocery Gap: Who 

Has Access to Healthy Food and Why It Matters. Oakland, Calif.: 

Policy Link and The Food Trust. 

10A.J. Midei and K.A. Matthews. 2011. "Interpersonal Violence in 

Childhood as a Risk Factor for Obesity: a Systematic Review of the 

Literature and Proposed Pathways." Obesity Reviews 12(5):e159– 

72. 

11Xavier Bonnefoy. 2007. "Inadequate Housing and Health: An 

Overview." International Journal of Environment and Pollution 30(3– 

4):411–29. 

12CDC. N.d. "Childhood Obesity Facts." 

13National Center for Education Statistics. 2013. NCES Digest of 

Education Statistics. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of 

Education, Institute of Education Sciences. 

14Chicago Public Schools 2012. Chicago Public Schools Policy 

Manual. Chicago, Ill. 

15Philadelphia Department of Public Health. 2013. Get Healthy 

Philly Annual Report. Philadelphia, Pa. 

16Jessica M. Robbins, Giridhar Mallya, Marcia Polansky, and 

Donald F. Schwarz. Prevalence, Disparities, and Trends in Obesity 

and Severe Obesity Among Students in the Philadelphia, Pa., 

School District, 2006–1010. Preventing Chronic Disease 9:120118. 

ANNOUNCEMENTS 

& UPCOMING EVENTS 

Funding Opportunities 

Education Department Awards $14.7M+ in School

Counseling Grants to Districts in 20 States 

The U.S. Department of Education has awarded more 

than $14.7 million to 41 school districts in 20 U.S. 

states to establish or expand counseling programs in 

elementary and secondary schools. "These grants will 

allow school districts to hire more professionals and 

provide additional services to those students who are 

struggling with mental health and emotional issues, 

and their families," said U.S. Secretary of Education 

Arne Duncan in a prepared statement, as the awards 

were announced. 

NEWS & 

VIEWS 

Reports National Academies Offer OJJDP 

Recommendations for Research-Based Role in 

Juvenile Justice Reform 

The juvenile justice 

system can be most 

effectively reformed 

through application of 

adolescent 

development 

research. And the 

federal government 

can play a key role in 

such reform, 

according to a new 

report. 

Implementing

Juvenile Justice 

Reform: The 

Federal Role is "a 

prioritized plan to 

implement a developmental approach in juvenile 

justice reform," intended as a blueprint for the federal 

government's support of juvenile justice and 

delinquency prevention in state, local, and tribal 

jurisdictions. 

The Committee identifies seven hallmarks of a 

developmental approach to system reform of juvenile 

justice: 

1. Accountability without criminalization 

2. Alternatives to justice system involvement 

3. Individualized response based on needs and 

risks 

4. Confinement only when necessary for public 

safety 

5. Genuine commitment to fairness 

6. Sensitivity to disparate treatment 

7. Family engagement 

Education Dept. Briefs Educators on Problem of

Sex Trafficking of Minors, How Schools Should Be

Involved 

The National Center for Homeless Education has 

published Sex Trafficking of Minors: What Schools

Need to Know to Recognize and Respond to the

Trafficking of Students. The brief outlines how 

schools can respond to signs that trafficking is 

occurring among students. The intent is to help guide 

states and school districts to address the problem of 

trafficking, with particular attention to homeless youth 

and other at-risk student populations. Specifically, 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The awards will aid schools in hiring qualified mental 

health professionals, with the goal of expanding the 

range, availability, quantity, and quality of counseling 

services. Research indicates that having adequate 

counseling services can help reduce the number of 

disciplinary referrals in schools, improve student 

attendance and academic performance, and enhance 

students' social skills. Parents of participating 

students will have input in the design and 

implementation of counseling services supported by 

these grants. 

As reported by the Education Department's 

Prevention News Digest, the states (with the 

number of school districts in each and the amount of 

funds provided in parentheses) are as follows: Alaska 

(2, $470,257), Arizona (1, $380,313), California (9, 

$3,417,968), Colorado (1, $363,112), Connecticut 

(1, $396,673), Idaho (1, $270,968), Indiana (1, 

$396,436), Kansas (1, $361,057), Kentucky (4, 

$1,463,682), Massachusetts (1, $366,605), 

Nebraska (1, $397,016), New Hampshire (1, 

$395,469), New York (5, $1,910,716), North 

Carolina (2, $727,263), Oklahoma (4, $1,257,244), 

Oregon (1, $326,291), Pennsylvania (1, $396,000), 

South Carolina (1, $306,409), Texas (2, $772,416), 

Wisconsin (1, $394,169). 

For further information on the Elementary and 

Secondary School Counseling grants programs, go

here. 

Training Opportunities 

G.R.E.A.T. Trainings for Officers and for Families

on Tap 

Gang Resistance Education and Training (G.R.E.A.T.) 

Officer Training is a classroom certification course 

teaching the fundamental aspects of G.R.E.A.T.—a 

school-based life-skills competency program taught 

by uniformed police officers. G.R.E.A.T.'s primary goal 

is violence prevention, especially through resistance 

to gang activity. This sequential course, hosted by the 

Institute for Intergovernmental Research, presents an 

effective course of interaction with communities and 

schools and demonstrates how to implement 

elementary and middle school curricula for the school 

year and summer. Upcoming trainings are Oct. 6–15 

in La Crosse, Wis.; Nov. 3–12 in New Orleans, La.; 

and Nov. 10–19 in Newark, N.J. Register here for a 

course near you. 

Gang Resistance Education and Training (G.R.E.A.T.) 

Families Training is designed to show active 

G.R.E.A.T. instructors how to effectively and 

consistently teach the G.R.E.A.T. families curriculum. 

The 2-day classroom course models each curriculum 

session, provides strategies for interacting with 

families, and gives an overview of other resources for 

Learning to recognize the signs of potential 

trafficking among minors is the first step in 

identifying victims. 

Schools can help end the physical, emotional, 

and mental trauma suffered by young victims of 

sex trafficking. 

School districts and state departments of 

education are encouraged to train staff and 

establish protocols for recognizing and 

responding to trafficking. 

OJJDP Cautions Healthcare Sector to Increase Its 

Capability to Recognize and Develop Solutions to

Trafficking Crimes

A new Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency 

Prevention guide for the healthcare sector highlights 

the frequent contact of healthcare professionals with 

youths who are victims of sex trafficking or at risk of 

involvement. Confronting Commercial Sexual

Exploitation and Sex Trafficking of Minors aims to 

reduce barriers to identifying victims and offers helpful 

strategies for professionals who see children and 

adolescents for prevention and treatment of injury, 

illness, and disease. 

OJJDP Releases Handbook for Law Enforcement 

Response to Child Abuse 

This step-by-step guide—Law Enforcement 

Response to Child Abuse: A Portable Guide to

Investigating Child Abuse—is a series of responses 

and protocols that emphasize the central role of law 

enforcement in child abuse cases and the need for a 

multidisciplinary team approach and "speaking a 

common language." The handbook provides 

information to help law enforcement personnel ensure 

consistency in child abuse investigations, understand 

their role on a multidisciplinary child protection team 

during a child abuse case, and establish procedures 

and protocols for working with other professionals to 

meet the needs of abused children. 

News 

DEA Has New Drug Education Web Site 

The Drug Enforcement Administration launched its 

new GetSmartAboutDrugs.com, a drug education 

Web site for parents, educators, and caregivers. The 

appealing site redesign allows easier navigation, and 

its updated content includes useful drug information 

and resources, videos, fact sheets, and short 

informative articles. 

On 40th Anniversary of Juvenile Protection Law,

Listenbee Details Progress

On the 40th anniversary of the signing of the Juvenile 

Justice and Delinquency Prevention (JJDP) Act into 

law, OJJDP Administrator Robert L. Listenbee reviews 

the law's impact on juvenile justice in a new blog 

post. Noting that "violent crime arrest rates for youth 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

families. Register here to attend Nov. 20–21 at 

Newark Police Training Academy in Newark, N.J. 

Webinar Offered on Alcohol and Evidentiary

Issues 

Research has shown that alcohol use—especially 

excess use—is a risk factor for perpetrating youth 

violence. Depending on state laws and the offense, 

underage drinking offenses may be referred to 

numerous courts, including juvenile court, traffic court, 

criminal court, or family court. "A Judicial 

Conversation on Emerging Evidentiary Issues and 

Alcohol," a Webinar on Nov. 13, beginning at 3 p.m. 

EST, discusses how courts should regard this topic. It 

covers electronic identification scanners, portable 

breath test devices, and passive alcohol sensing 

devices and whether they are admissible in court, 

while also exploring evidentiary issues that courts are 

finding on underage drinking. Register here. 

Registration Open for National Mentoring Summit 

The National Mentoring Summit 2015 will be hosted 

by the National Mentoring Partnership Jan. 28–30, 

2015 in Washington, D.C. Summit workshop sessions 

will explore how mentoring can help youths achieve 

positive outcomes. This event is intended for 

mentoring practitioners, researchers, corporate 

partners, government and civic leaders, youth-serving 

organizations, and MENTOR's network of affiliate 

Mentoring Partnerships. Early registration is now 

open, with early bird rates until Oct. 3. Register here. 

are at their lowest point since at least 1980," 

Listenbee highlights significant progress by OJJDP 

and its partners in juvenile justice reform. Challenges 

persist regarding youth in custody for nonviolent 

offenses and confinement rates for minority youth, 

Listenbee said. Learn more about the JJDP Act, 

which President Ford signed into law 40 years ago 

this month. 

Seven in Eight Detroit Students Affected by

Violence 

In Detroit, Mich., 87 percent of 1,301 Detroit Public 

Schools students surveyed in the past year said they 

knew someone who had been killed, disabled, or 

wounded by gun violence, according to the Detroit 

Youth Violence Prevention Initiative. 

Update 

Murder Rate Down Dramatically in Camden

Forum city Camden, N.J., is one of the nation's most 

crime-ridden and violent cities of its size. As Dave 

Marsden reported in the National Forum on Youth 

Violence Prevention News in January, the city tried 

a bold experiment in 2013, replacing its entire police 

force with another run by Camden County. 

Actually, many of the old officers reinterviewed for 

their old jobs and got them back. Since a tenfold 

increase in police–citizen contact, crime and violent 

crime have plummeted. 

As reported in the New York Times, the number of 

summer murders in Camden fell from 22 in 2012 to 6 

in 2014. National Public Radio also reported on the 

phenomenon. 

Other Resources 

OJJDP's Beyond Detention Bulletins Available in

Convenient Formats 

The Northwestern Juvenile Project is the first largescale longitudinal study of drug, alcohol, and 

psychiatric disorders in a diverse sample of juvenile 

detainees. These findings, detailed in bulletins from 

the OJJDP Beyond Detention series, are now 

available in EPUB and MOBI formats. The series 

covers suicidal thoughts and behaviors, posttraumatic 

stress disorder, and trauma among juvenile 

detainees; functional impairment after detention; 

psychiatric disorders in youth processed in juvenile or 

adult court; barriers to mental health services; violent 

death among delinquent youth; and psychiatric 

disorders in youth after detention. 

The National Forum on Youth Violence Prevention Newsletter Contact Us is prepared under Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency 
Send questions or feedback about the newsletter to 

NFYVP@dsgonline.com or subscribe. 

Prevention (OJJDP) Cooperative Agreement No. 2012–MU– 

FX–K009 with Development Services Group, Inc. 

The views, opinions, and content of this newsletter do not 

necessarily reflect the views, opinions, or policies of OJJDP.