Tennessee’s Youth in Juvenile Justice Facilities: Mental Health and Substance Abuse Issues

In order to assess the prevalence of mental health and substance abuse among youth in one state’s juvenile justice facilities, a survey was conducted of 40 Tennessee facilities. A total of 1215 youth were being held on the “one day census” that was taken as part of the survey. The survey documented many mental health and substance abuse issues: 1) 53 percent of the youth in juvenile justice facilities were experiencing mental health problems; 2) 15 percent were taking some type of psychiatric medicine while in the juvenile justice facility; 3) 42 percent were known to have substance abuse problems; and 4) 30 percent had co-occurring mental health and substance use problems. Policy and program recommendations based on these findings are discussed

Measuring children’s involvement as an indicator of curriculum effectiveness : a curriculum evaluation of a selected child study centre in Singapore

This paper presents one aspect of a research project evaluating a curriculum model of a selected child study centre in Singapore. An issue of worldwide interest and concern is the ‘quality of learning’ debate as it relates to early childhood centres. In Singapore, the government is focusing on expansion in child care settings and increases in the amount of funded training. One of the issues surrounding prior-to-school education raises the question of how one measures the quality of teaching and learning, to describe the value of using, funding and promoting early education. The research reported in this study used a quasi experimental research paradigm to assess one aspect of the quality of a curriculum programme in a child study centre in Singapore. Children aged between 18 months and 6 years (N = 81) participated in the research. Using the observation scale of Laevers’ Child Involvement Scale, the active involvement of children in learning experiences was measured. The findings are presented and discussed