ABSTRACT
Although incarcerated youth (i.e., youth sentenced to secure custody) have high health needs, the health of detained youth with limited justice involvement remains poorly understood. Between September 2018 and February 2019, social workers from the Los Angeles County Whole Person Care Juvenile Reentry Aftercare Program (WPC) assessed the health and social needs of youth in pre-trial detention. We partnered with the WPC team to analyze assessments completed by 83 youth participants. Youth were on average 16 years old, most (83%) identified as male, and all were from racial or ethnic minority groups. Participants reported high behavioral health needs, including a high prevalence of prior suicide attempts (16%) and history of substance use (81%). Participants demonstrated a pattern of crisis healthcare utilization. Youth also indicated areas of strength, including personal positive traits, engagement in extracurricular activities, educational achievements, and having multiple sources of social support. The majority of youth (74%) desired vocational training and nearly all (94 %) wanted to return to school after release. Overall, the findings indicate that detained youth with limited involvement in the justice system are a resilient group that have notably higher health risk than same-age peers, signifying a critical opportunity for intervention.
ABSTRACT
Effective treatments for combat trauma in military service members exist, but barriers to care abound, including poor access, stigma, and dropout. Although the effects of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can be severe, recovery is possible when proper treatment is implemented. Trauma and Resiliency Resources, Inc.'s Warrior Camp (WC) program is designed to address the effects of combat trauma in military service members and veterans. This intensive, 7-d treatment incorporates eye movement desensitization and reprocessing therapy, equine-assisted psychotherapy, yoga, and narrative writing in context of community. This single-group pretest-posttest design included paired t-tests and effect size analyses for 85 participants of WC. Outcome measures included the Mississippi Scale for Combat-related PTSD, the Patient Health Questionnaire, the Revised Adult Attachment Scales, and the Moral Injury Events Scale. Clinician-administered measures included the Davidson Trauma Scale and the Dissociative Experiences Scale. All measures showed statistically significant reductions in distress. The effect sizes ranged from small to large. Results suggest that WC participants experienced significant improvement in PTSD, depression, moral injury, dissociation and adult attachment. Clinicians should consider the potential benefits of this short-term, intensive treatment when addressing combat-related PTSD among military service members and veterans.
