NCJ Number
224589
Journal
The Future of Children Volume: 18 Issue: 2 Dated: Fall 2008 Pages: 143-164
Date Published
2008
Length
22 pages
Annotation
This article examines research and clinical evidence that may assist in shaping a public policy on how best to respond to youth with mental disorders processed in U.S. juvenile courts, with attention to their treatment needs, welfare, and prevention of reoffending.
Abstract
Based on the findings, the author recommends the development of community systems of mental health care that create a network of services that draw from but go beyond the services currently provided by public child welfare agencies. This would enable the juvenile justice system to have a more focused and limited treatment role in addressing the needs of the many youth with mental disorders processed by the system. The role of the juvenile justice system in treating these youth would be limited to emergency mental health services for those in its custody and more substantial mental health care only for the small proportion of youth who cannot be safely treated in the community. Research on delinquent populations suggests that youth with mental disorders are at increased risk for engaging in behaviors that bring them to the attention of the juvenile justice system. Changes in juvenile law and deficiencies in the child mental health system apparently have been responsible for bringing far more youth with mental disorders into the juvenile justice system. Although one reaction to this circumstance has been a call for a greater emphasis on mental health treatment services in the juvenile justice system, this could mean that being arrested is the best way to receive publicly funded mental health services. Moreover, many of the most effective treatment methods work best when delivered in the community, while youth are living with their families rather than being removed from them. 61 notes