background
There are large numbers of youth involved with the juvenile
justice system- an estimated 2.3 million youth under the
age of 18 were arrested in the United Stated in 2002, and
it is estimated that on any given day, over 100,000 youth
are residing in juvenile detention and correctional facilities
across the country. Existing data suggests that a significant
portion of these youth- anywhere from 65-100%- have a diagnosable
mental disorder, and that approximately 20% have a serious
mental health disorder.
Recent investigations of juvenile facilities across the
country have documented that mental health needs among youth
often go undetected and untreated. At the same time, a number
of new treatment tools and approaches have been developed
that show great promise in identifying and helping
youth in the juvenile justice system. Despite the availability
of these new resources, mechanisms to get information
and practical help to juvenile justice and mental health
practitioners and policy makers are largely non-existent.
focus
In response to these and other concerns, the National Center for Mental Health and Juvenile Justice (NCMHJJ) was established in July, 2001 through a grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation to Policy Research, Inc. and the Council of Juvenile Correctional Administrators. The Center was created to promote awareness of the mental health needs of youth in contact with the juvenile justice system and to assist the field in developing improved policies and practices to respond to these needs based on the best available research and practice. To fulfill this mission, the Center:
- Provides a national focal point for the collection,
development and dissemination of information and
resources on youth with mental health disorders involved
with the juvenile justice system;
- Applies this information and various resources
intensively in select jurisdictions to help guide
and influence practice in the field and bring about
improved services for these youth; and
- Uses these experiences to inform and improve public policy at the national, state and local levels.
This three-pronged approach of the Center is designed to link research, practice and policy in an interconnected loop of activity intended to help the field better understand and respond to the complex needs of this population. Click here for more detail on the center's activities.
accomplishments
The Center works on a variety of levels to promote awareness of the issue of youth with mental health needs involved with the juvenile justice system, as well as provide practical help and assistance to the field to promote systems change and improve outcomes for youth. Highlights of the Center's accomplishments include:
- The establishment of a sophisticated Resource Center
that includes a toll-free number; an extensive database
of journal articles, program descriptions, media
accounts and relevant reports; and a recently revamped,
user-friendly website that includes, among other
things, publications, web-based training tools and
links to other relevant national groups and organizations
that focus on the issue, including all of the related
MacArthur grantees;
- The development and dissemination of a number of
useful products and resources for the field including
our Research and Program Brief series, information
on innovative programs and models throughout the
country, and a comprehensive Resource Kit containing
over 180 resources relating to the issue of youth
with mental health and substance use disorders involved
with the juvenile justice system;
- The provision of comprehensive technical assistance
and consultation to the Comprehensive System Change
Initiative (CSCI) sites, as well as to numerous individuals,
organizations and jurisdictions throughout the country,
provided directly by the Center or in conjunction
with numerous expert consultants who have agreed
to partner with the Center;
- The dissemination of information about evidence-based
practices and how these interventions can be used
to provide mental health treatment to youth involved
with the juvenile justice system;
- Numerous presentations to policy makers, administrators,
treatment providers and advocates at national conferences
and meetings throughout the country;
- The promotion of policy changes at the national, state and local levels through the convening of our Policy Forum and the development of recommendations for the President's New Freedom Commission on Mental Health.
For more information on the Center's activities, please click here.
emerging focus
In July 2003, the Center received an additional three-year grant from the MacArthur Foundation to continue the work initiated during the Center's first phase of operation as well as expend the focus of the Center in several exciting directions. These include:
Expanded Mental Health Focus : It is clear that many juvenile justice agencies have achieved success in their efforts to better identify and respond to the mental health needs of youth in their system. These efforts, no doubt, have in large measure been fueled by increasing pressure from the Department of Justice and legal and family advocates, to respond swiftly and appropriately to the lack of mental health services available to youth in the juvenile justice settings. While much more needs to happen, significant advances have been made within the juvenile justice system to begin to address these needs.
Far less effort has been put forth on the part of the mental health community, and there is a general feeling that more needs to be done to actively engage the mental health system in partnerships with the juvenile justice system. To begin to address this, the Center is now working with the Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS) to develop a series of technical assistance materials and activities specifically designed to assist the Comprehensive Community Mental Health Services for Children and their Families Program sites ( Systems of Care grantees) in their efforts to better serve youth in the juvenile justice system. Click here to learn more about this initiative.
Juvenile Diversion and Re-Entry: The "criminalization of the mentally ill" is a trend that we've seen at the adult level for some time, but are now beginning to see at the juvenile level as well. Many of the youth involved with the juvenile justice system are charger with relatively minor, low-level offenses but are detained or placed outside of their home because of the lack of community-based mental health services, where they might be better served. Further, while it is clear that many youth with mental health needs could and should be diverted, some youth, given the seriousness of their acts, will be placed in secure facilities. Recent attention has focused on treatment issues within juvenile justice facilities, but far less attention has been placed on addressing the variety of issues facing youth when they leave placement and transition home, particularly those youth with mental health and co-occurring substance use disorders.
Building on the President's New Freedom Commission's call for more diversion and re-entry initiatives for youth with mental health needs, and with support from SAMHSA, the Center is embarking on an effort to identify and assess- across the mental health and juvenile justice fields- effective and promising models and practices for both juvenile diversion and re-entry. Click here to learn more about this initiative.
Blueprint