There are many factors to implementing a successful physical activity program. A few are planning, variety and flexibility.

Planning ahead by choosing activities before students arrive makes it easier to begin quickly and allows more time for movement. This is also a great time to prepare and place equipment for quick access and actions.

Leading a variety of activities not only prevents youth from getting bored, it gives them access to equipment and skills they may not have experienced before and presents new choices that could become favorites—maybe for a lifetime.

As an afterschool leader, being flexible and adjusting activities is essential for success. Fine-tuning activities for varying age and skill levels, using smaller groups, fewer rules and more equipment makes it easier to get everyone engaged and moving.

Afterschool staff have a unique opportunity to make a positive impact on the lives of America’s youth. I hope you will take a few minutes to reflect on your program and what steps you might take to make it as physically and emotionally healthy as it can be. Our kids deserve it don’t they?

To review research on the importance of physical activity for youth, click here. To learn more about the obesity epidemic and what schools and parents can do to help, check out these informational videos: “Childhood Obesity: Quality Physical Education as a Solution” and “More PE.”

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Since its formation three years ago, JJIE.org has earned a reputation as the go-to source for juvenile justice news. The Hub builds on this, adding “layer upon layer of research into issues pertaining to youth and justice,” said Leonard Witt, executive director of the Center for Sustainable Journalism.

Practitioners, researchers, policymakers and journalists can now navigate seamlessly from the comprehensive journalism produced by JJIE.org to the underlying research and best practices in the Hub, deepening   their understanding of the treatment of youth in juvenile justice and of innovations that make juvenile justice approaches more responsive and effective.

The Hub will “put juvenile justice information and resources from Models for Change and other reform efforts into the hands of those who need them,” says Sarah Bryer, director of the National Juvenile Justice Network (NJJN).  NJJN is curating the Hub in partnership with JJIE.org.

“When we first put the words ‘information exchange’ on our site, that’s what we aimed for,” said Witt.

Funded by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Juvenile Justice Resource Hub focuses on six reform areas identified with Models for Change: mental health, disproportionate representation of minorities, indigent defense, evidence-based practices, aftercare and community-based alternatives for youthful offenders.

First Up: The intersection of mental health & juvenile justice

Timed to coincide with the Hub launch, JJIE.org is releasing the first article in a six-part series examining the issues raised by the problematic intersection between mental health and juvenile justice.

Many recent studies concur that as many as two-thirds or more of all youth enmeshed in the juvenile justice systems suffer from one or more mental health conditions. One in five suffer a serious and debilitating mental illness.

Mental health presents one of the most vexing challenges facing our nation’s juvenile courts and corrections systems.

Many experts argue that youth are being driven into the court system by a lack of mental health services in their communities. Due in part to crippling cuts to community providers, juvenile justice has become the nation’s de facto adolescent mental health system.

Failure to provide adequate mental health services has been alleged in dozens of lawsuits filed recently over conditions of confinement in juvenile facilities. And recent surveys show that the quality of mental health treatment is sorely lacking in many or most youth detention and corrections facilities.

Meanwhile, a wave of new research has emerged showing that new “evidence-based” mental health treatment models – most of them offering family-focused therapy to youth in their own homes – are far more effective than incarceration, group home care, or standard community supervision in steering troubled youth away from delinquency. Yet states have been slow to adopt the new models, and many questions remain regarding how these evidence-based models should fit into an effective juvenile system.

The series, “Mental Health and the Juvenile Justice System: Progress, Problems and Paradoxes” will examine these problems and offer solutions through case studies of successful and progressive reforms in states. 

First in the series: a look at the treatment of mentally ill youth in Cook County, the cradle of juvenile justice, and throughout Illinois. Then, stay tuned for the next installments, launching weekly throughout the month of May: 

• The only national survey to gather data directly from confined youth on mental health and substance abuse issues.
• Missouri’s widely acclaimed juvenile corrections system’s approach to mental health.
• Georgia’s progress in embracing evidence-based and therapeutic practices.

What you can do

Please help spread the word about this comprehensive Hub to colleagues and networks interested in juvenile justice. SparkAction—which is providing social media support to the launch—has sample social media posts, images and video you can share here.

After the April 24 launch, JJIE and NJJN are looking for beta-phase feedback. If you find errors or issues on the site, please share feedback at http://jjie.largoproject.org/beta-feedback.

Please also share resources and tools that you’d like to be considered for inclusion in the Hub.

More about the Hub: