Want to attend a free conference on juvenile justice? Check out this symposium, held at Princeton, on "Vulnerable Populations in the Juvenile Justice System": http://tinyurl.com/855xug.

Guest posted last Friday on how research has changed the face of adolescent substance abuse treatment. See http://tinyurl.com/a35u6a.

Rhode Island just launched a hotline for "children, adolescents, and adults" so they can get an addiction assessment within 24 hours-! This is amazing. It's actually a three-month pilot; be interesting to see what they learn, and how they'll know if they're successful. Some possible barriers: health insurance -- i.e., who's paying? -- having enough assessors/and treatment slots, and geography. (For example, I can't see doing this in Oregon, where you might have to drive hundreds of miles to get to your assessment, never mind on a regular basis for treatment.) But this is a great start - we need more initiatives like this. See the story here: ttp://tinyurl.com/4ws4rx.