Abstract
The Mental Health Alcohol Tobacco and Other Drugs Service (MHATODS) provides mental health and substance use treatment for young people in conflict with the law who are held in youth detention. This paper describes the Service's implementation of the Massachusetts Youth Screening Instrument Version 2 (MAYSI 2) mental health screening tool for all young people entering a Queensland Youth Detention Centre.
The MAYSI 2 has been validated in the adolescent forensic population, and its use as a screening tool has number of potential advantages. It offers a fuller picture of the clinical need of all young people in detention, not just those receiving mental health services, and creates the opportunity to assess how well such need is being met.
This paper explores the use of the MAYSI 2 as a key aspect in determining equity of access to services for different cultural groups in this forensic setting, and offers insights into whether there is equity of service provision in proportion to clinical need. It also examines a range of factors which had to be considered in the practical implementation of this screening tool.
Results of the screening program are discussed and its advantages and disadvantages for therapeutic engagement with this vulnerable and marginalized population are assessed.
