The Promise of Adolescence Realizing Opportunity for All Youth (2019) / Chapter Skim
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The challenge for a caring society is to take maximum advantage of the developmental opportunities afforded by adolescence to forge positive trajectories into adulthood for all adolescents. ADOLESCENT DEVELOPMENT Puberty occurs over an extended period of a young person's life during which developmental changes result in the maturation of primary and 1
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Consequently, adolescent brains are not simply "advanced" child brains or "immature" adult brains, but have evolved to meet the needs of this stage of life. Indeed, the temporal discrepancy in the specialization of and connections between brain regions makes adolescence unique.
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The future condition of the brain and body will be affected by events that have changed the trajectory in the past, and interventions undertaken in the present have the potential to remediate past developmental challenges. Adolescents' heightened sensitivity and responsiveness to environ mental influences also implies "resilience," meaning adolescents have the opportunity to develop neurobiological adaptations and behaviors that leave them better equipped to handle adversities that emerge throughout the life course.
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Together, these disparities grow as youth age and result in large disparities in their adult outcomes, such as poorer rates of employment and earnings, increased likelihood of criminal justice involvement, and poorer health and well-being. However, disparities in adolescent outcomes are not immutable: they are responsive to changes in underlying conditions, and adolescents themselves show resilience and demonstrate strengths and assets that may be utilized to overcome inequities.
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Racial differences in wealth are three times greater than racial differences or gaps in income, with the average White household in 2010 having nearly six times the wealth of the average Black household (see Chapter 4)
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Progress has already been made in reducing disparities in adolescent outcomes, especially in the areas of education, health, and teen pregnancy. With the notable exception of the juvenile justice system, the evidence suggests that as overall adolescent health and well-being improve, disparities fall.
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Growing recognition of the importance of skills other than reading, writing, and arithmetic for both personal fulfillment and success in modern life requires schools to broaden their mission to incorporate the teaching of nonacademic skills such as decision making, practical knowledge, and adaptability. The growing diversity of U.S.
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Access is particularly important while they are developing habits that will affect their long-term health, such as diet, exercise, and substance use. Yet adolescents face a ariety of barriers to accessing health care, which contributes to longstandv ing disparities in their use of such care that are measurable by race and ethnicity, GBTQ status, ability status, and socioeconomic status.
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To ensure the health and well-being of all adolescents, health systems should offer integrated, comprehensive health services that prepare youth for the distinct physical, cognitive, and social changes that take place during adolescence, prepare them to navigate the health system independently, and provide services that are culturally informed and attentive to the needs of all youth. A systemic approach to prioritizing the health and well-being of adolescents is needed on a national level, including clear goals and priorities to help mobilize both the public and private sectors to improve adolescent health.
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As a result, children of color are both more likely to be removed from a home and more likely to remain in foster placements longer without a permanent resolution. Over the past two decades, Congress has gradually enacted statutory changes that better align the child welfare system with the developmental assets and challenges that adolescents face, including focusing attention on family reunification, prioritizing placement with relatives over strangers, and providing services for those adolescents aging out of foster care.
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Recommendations for the Justice System Over the past 15 years, advances in the science of adolescent development have had a substantial impact on juvenile justice reform and have also focused attention on the potential value of developmentally appropriate practices for older adolescents involved in the criminal justice system. Findings regarding adolescent brain development have highlighted the diminished culpability of adolescent offenders and their potential responsiveness to preventive interventions based on evidence-based risk- and needs-assessments.
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Previous National Academies' reports on juvenile justice outlined recommendations for needed reforms to ensure that the juvenile justice system accounts for and attends to the developmental needs of youth. This committee reaffirms those recommendations, and offers several additional recommendations in five key areas: RECOMMENDATION 9-1: Reduce disparities based on race, ethnicity, g ender, ability status, and sexual orientation or gender identity and ex pression among adolescents involved in the justice system.
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However, in the United States today many families lack adequate resources and neighborhood supports, leaving many adolescents at significant disadvantage during this critical period of development. To fail to address the sources of these disparities is to waste human capital: lower worker productivity, lost wages and employment, worse health and mental health, increased criminal justice involvement, and a drain on public support.
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