From Juvenile Offender Institutions to Residential Treatment Centers: Evidence of the Shifting Paradigm to Improved Youth and Community Outcomes.

Hundreds of thousands of youth are held every year in U.S. juvenile justice detention centers and incarceration facilities. Increasingly it is known that these facility placements are at best ineffective and at worst lead to additional youth recidivism outcomes. What is most concerning, though, is that a majority of these incarcerated youth have one or more mental health/substance abuse disorders, special education disabilities, or maltreatment victimization histories-comorbid situations that negatively impact their involvement with the juvenile courts. In this article the authors summarize the epidemiology of these youth problems within the juvenile justice system. The authors then compare the outcome evidence for the youth placed in juvenile justice facilities with those placed in residential treatment centers, finding significant advantages to addressing the problems through rehabilitative efforts. Recognizing that there are a small number of serious youthful offenders who will need placement, their analysis finds that the juvenile courts must continue (or in many instances begin) reshaping their detention and incarceration facilities reliance on punishment toward a rehabilitative residential model.

Association between mental health disorders and juveniles' detention for a personal crime.

BACKGROUND: Youth involved with juvenile courts often suffer from mental health difficulties and disorders, and these mental health disorders have often been a factor leading to the youth's delinquent behaviours and activities. METHOD: The present study of a sample population (N = 341), randomly drawn from one urban US county's juvenile court delinquent population, investigated which specific mental health disorders predicted detention for committing a personal crime. RESULTS: Youth with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and conduct disorder diagnoses were significantly less likely to commit personal crimes and experience subsequent detention, while youth with bipolar diagnoses were significantly more likely. CONCLUSION: Co-ordinated youth policy efforts leading to early identification and treatment of bipolar disorder symptoms may be necessary.