Community Notebooks

In Boston there are many state, city, and community-based agencies that provide outstanding services -- if you know where to look. Since funding for youth services is often in flux and services can come and go, it is important to maintain a user-friendly guide to services with regular updates.

The community notebooks include programming information, articles, and other resources intended to help bar advocates and other youth service providers connect their clients to services that fit their needs.

• Girls Edition
  The Girls Edition was created to help professionals better serve the fastest-growing population of the Massachusetts juvenile justice system.  The Girls Edition contains a guide to nearly 70 programs in the Greater Boston area that have a gender-specific focus appropriate to girls in high-risk situations.  It also contains articles outlining how to become the caring adult that girls need, information on how mental health issues particularly affect system-involved girls, and some reflections from girls themselves about what issues they think about and face everyday.
  
  Released: Winter 2009
  
  Girls Edition Fall 2007
  Girls Edition 2006
  
  
• Out-of-School Time
  The Out-of-School Time Programming Edition of the Community Notebook features a resource guide listing over 55 specific programs and services in the Boston area. It also contains several brief articles about children in the juvenile justice system and suggestions for how to best serve them. This resource was created for attorneys and other court professionals who work with juveniles, but should be useful for anyone who works with youth and wants to connect them to the services and programs they need.
  
  Released: July 2008
  
  
  
• Health & Counseling
  The Health and Counseling edition of the Community Notebook focuses on young people’s health as an important factor in their overall development into successful members of their communities. Research has shown that youth in the juvenile justice system experience mental health disorders at over twice the rate of youth in the general population, and a clear link has been made between mental and physical well-being. Therefore, the Community Notebook: Health and Counseling Edition pays special attention to issues that affect young people’s health, and details health services that are available to juveniles within both the justice system and the community. In addition, this edition also includes a guide to resources for addressing the range of health concerns that affect youth in high risk situations.
  
  Released: Fall 2008
  
  Health & Counseling Edition Summer 2007
  
  
  
• Education
  The Education Edition of the Community Notebook is intended as a primer to the educational system in Massachusetts. Failure in school is one of the clearest pathways to court-involvement. This Notebook navigates topics to help lawyers, other court professionals, case workers, youth workers, and all caring adults ensure that students have the best chance for school success. The topics covered include, among others, No Child Left Behind, the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System, special education services, and the rights of homeless students. A listing of advocacy resources and helpful websites is also included.
  
  Released: September 2007