NCJ Number
148080
Editor(s)
P M Sheahan
Date Published
1991
Length
61 pages
Annotation
This report summarizes three regional workshops held in 1991, sponsored by the Maternal and Child Health Bureau of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, and intended to promote interagency cooperation and to highlight the health needs of incarcerated youth.
Abstract
The workshops brought together professionals in maternal and child health and juvenile justice to share current information on health needs, resources and issues in health delivery and to promote collaborative planning at the local, State, and regional levels. Each workshop included a historical overview; presentation of workshop goals; a keynote speaker focusing on a unique aspect of adolescents in custody; and presentations on standards for health care, financing health care for incarcerated youth, mental health and substance abuse issues, and academic and university involvement with adolescents in custody. The speakers noted that the juvenile and adult correctional systems process almost 1.3 million children each year. These children have high rates of untreated chronic illness, respiratory infection, and respiratory disease, because they begin smoking early suffer other environmental risk factors, are exposed to violence and trauma at greater rates, and have a variety of serious psychiatric disorders. All States were represented at these working conferences; each developed a State action plan. Recommended measures included increasing the number of health care professionals serving juvenile offenders, developing a referral and followup mechanism for youth discharged from the criminal or juvenile justice system, developing a training curriculum addressing the health and social needs of juvenile offenders, establishing interagency councils, and exploring alternative funding sources. Workshop agendas and publication order form