Module 4: Coordinating and Integrating Systems

1E. Effective Communication from Juvenile Justice

When youth with co-occurring disorders are released from a correctional facility and are reentering the community, it is critical that the following information is communicated to mental health and substance abuse treatment professionals.

• Course of mental health and substance abuse symptoms
• Participation in treatment services
• Deficits in psychosocial functioning that should be addressed following release

Policies and procedures should be developed within each criminal justice setting to ensure that treatment information follows the youth throughout the juvenile justice system and is routed to community-based treatment programs following release (American Correctional Association, 1993).

The youth must sign informed consent agreements to authorize release of correctional treatment information to other community, State, or Federal agencies. See sample Consent for the Release of Confidential Information. Procedures should be developed to routinely send a copy of the pre-release treatment plan, discharge summary, assessment data, and other relevant clinical information to aftercare treatment agencies. Similar procedures should be developed and implemented at the time a youth is placed on juvenile justice supervision to obtain relevant clinical information/records from community treatment agencies.