Estimates of mental health disorders among youth involved with the juvenile justice system range from 50% to 75%, while general population prevalence is 9% to 20%. The system is ill-equipped to supervise these juveniles, and many are funneled deeper into the system due to noncompliance and often preventable problems. The authors used a retrospective design and evaluated a pre-adjudication diversion initiative utilizing specialized juvenile probation officers in Texas. Use of specialized supervision was effective at diverting youth with mental health needs from adjudication and increased participation and access to services by juveniles with such needs. Youth who received specialized supervision were significantly less likely to be adjudicated for the initial offense than those in a comparison group who received traditional supervision.
AbramK.TeplinL.CharlesD.LongworthS.McLellandG.DulcanM. (2004). Posttraumatic stress disorder and trauma in youth in juvenile detention. Archives of General Psychiatry, 61, 403-409.
2.
American Psychiatric Association. (2000). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th ed., text revision). Washington, DC: Author.
3.
AtkinsD.JeffersG.MontgomeryL.NybroC.PumariegaA.SeaseFRogersK. (1999). Mental health and incarcerated youth. I: Prevalence and nature of psychopathology. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 40, 419-426.
CocozzaJ.ShufeltJ. (2006). Juvenile mental health courts: An emerging strategy. Delmar, NY: National Center for Mental Health and Juvenile Justice.
6.
CocozzaJ.SkowyraK. (2000). Youth with mental health disorders: Issues and emerging responses. Juvenile Justice Journal, VII(1), 3-13.
7.
DauphinotL. (1996). The efficacy of community correctional supervision for offenders with severe mental illness. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Department of Psychology, University of Texas at Austin.
8.
DemboR.WilliamsL.SchmeidlerJ. (1993). Gender differences in mental health service needs among youths entering a juvenile detention center. Journal of Prison & Jail Health, 12(2), 73-101.
9.
DittonP. (1999). Mental health and treatment of inmates and probationers. Washington, DC: Bureau of Justice Statistics.
10.
DodgeD. (1997). Due process advocacy (OJJDP, Fact Sheet No. 49). Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Office of Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention.
11.
FeldB. (2000). Juveniles’ waiver of legal rights: Confessions, Miranda, and the right to counsel. In GrissoT.SchwartzR. (Eds.), Youth on trial: A developmental perspective on juvenile justice (pp. 105-138). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
12.
FergusonA.DouglasA. (1970). A study of juvenile waiver. San Diego Law Review, 7, 39-54.
13.
FriedmanR.Katz-LevyJ.ManderscheidR.SondheimerD. (1996). Prevalence of serious emotional disturbance in children and adolescents. In ManderscheidR.SonnenscheinM. A. (Eds.), Mental health in the United States (pp. 71-89). Rockville, MD: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
GrissoT. (1980). Juveniles’ capacities to waive Miranda rights: An empirical analysis. California Law Review, 68, 1134-1166.
16.
GrissoT. (1981). Juveniles’ waiver of rights: Legal and psychological competence. New York: Plenum Press.
17.
GrissoT.BarnumR. (2006). Massachusetts Youth Screening Instrument–Version 2: User’s manual and technical report. Sarasota, FL: Professional Resource Press.
18.
GrissoT.PomicterC. (1977). Interrogation of juvenile: An empirical study of procedures, safeguards and rights waiver. Law and Human Behavior, 1, 321-342.
19.
GrissoT.SeigelS. (1986). Assessment of competency to stand criminal trial. In CurranW. J.McGarryA. L.ShahS. A. (Eds.), Forensic psychiatry and psychology: Perspectives and standards for interdisciplinary practice (pp. 145-165). Philadelphia: F.A. Davis.
20.
KataaokaS.H.Zima|mT.DupreD.A.MorenoK.A.YangX.McCrackenJ.S. (2001). Mental health problems and service use among female juvenile offenders: their relationship to criminal history. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. 40(5), 549-555.
21.
KazdinA. (2003). Adolescent development, mental disorders, and decision making of delinquency youths. In GrissoT.SchwartzR. (Eds.), Youth on trial: A developmental perspective on juvenile justice (pp. 33-65). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
22.
LeoR. (1996). Miranda’s revenge: Police interrogation as a confidence game. Law and Society Review, 30, 259-288.
23.
OglesB.LunnenK.GillespieD.TroutS. (1996). Conceptualization and initial development of the Ohio Scales. In LibertonC.KutashK.FriedmanR. (Eds.), The 8th Annual Research Conference Proceedings, A System of Care for Children’s Mental Health: Expanding the Research Base (pp. 33-37). Tampa: University of South Florida, Florida Mental Health Institute, Research and Training Center for Children’s Mental Health.
24.
OglesB. M.MelendezM. S.DavisD. C.LunnenK. M. (2001). The Ohio Scales: Practical outcome assessment. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 10, 199-212.
25.
Orlando-MorningstarD.SkolerG.HollidayS. (1999). Handbook for working with mentally disordered defendants and offenders. Washington, DC: Federal Judicial Center.
26.
PorporinoF.MotiukL. (1995). The prison careers of mentally disordered offenders. International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, 18, 29-44.
27.
RandallJ.HenggelerS. W.PickrelS. G.BrondinoM. J. (1999). Psychiatric comorbidity and the 16-month trajectory of substance-abusing and substance-dependent juvenile offenders. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. 38(9), 1118-1124.
28.
RoskesE.FeldmanR. (1999). A collaborative community-based treatment program for offenders with mental illness. Psychiatric Services, 50, 1616-1619.
29.
SchwankJ.EspinosaE.TolbertV. (2003). Mental health and juvenile justice in Texas. Austin: Texas Juvenile Probation Commission.
30.
SkeemJ.Emke-FrancesP.LoudenJ. (2006). Probation, mental health, and mandated treatment: A national survey. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 33, 158-184.
31.
SkeemJ.LoudenJ.PolaschekD.CampJ. (2007). Assessing relationship quality in mandated community treatment: Blending care with control. Psychological Association, 19, 397-410.
32.
SkowyraK.PowellS.D. (2006, June). Juvenile diversion: programs for justice-involved youth with mental health disorders. National Center for Mental Health and Juvenile Justice Research and Program Brief.
33.
SkowyraK.R.CocozzaJ.J. (2007). Blueprint for change: A comprehensive model for the identification and treatment of youth with mental health needs in contact with the juvenile justice system. National Center for Mental Health and Juvenile Justice.
34.
SolomonP.DraineJ.MarcusS. (2002). Predicting incarceration of clients of a psychiatric probation & parole service. Psychiatric Services, 53, 50-56.
35.
SolomonP.RogersR.DraineJ.MeyersonA. T. (1995). Interaction of the criminal justice system and psychiatric professionals where civil commitment standards are prohibitive. Bulletin of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, 23, 117-128.
36.
TeplinL.AbramK.McClellandG.DulcanM.MericleA. (2002). Psychiatric disorders in youth in juvenile detention. Archives of General Psychiatry, 59, 1133-1143.
37.
UlzenT.P. M.HamiltonH. (1998). The nature and characteristics of psychiatric comorbidity in incarcerated adolescents. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry. 43(1), 57-63.
38.
U.S. Department of Justice. (2005). Department of Justice activities under Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act: Fiscal year 2004. Washington, DC: Author.
39.
Vander StoepM.EvensC.TaubJ. (1997). Risk of juvenile justice system referral among children in a public mental health system. The Journal of Mental Health Administration, 24, 428-442.
40.
ViljoenJ.RoeschR.ZapfP. (2002). An examination of the relationship between competency to stand trial, competency to waive interrogation rights, and psychopathology. Law and Human Behavior, 26, 481-506.
41.
VincentG. M.GrissoT.TerryA.BanksS. (2008). Gender and race differences in mental health symptoms in juvenile justice. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 47(3), 282-290.
42.
WassermanG. A.McReynoldsL. S.KoS. J.KatzL.CarpenterJ. (2005). Gender differences in psychiatric disorders at juvenile probation intake. American Journal of Public Health, 95, 131-137.
43.
WassermanG. A.McReynoldsL. S.SchwalbeC. S.KeatingJ. M.JonesS. A. (2010). Psychiatric disorder, comorbidity, and suicidal behavior in juvenile justice youth. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 37(12), 1361-1376.
44.
WoodJ.FoyD.GoguenC.PynoosR.JamesC. (2002). Violence exposure and PTSD among delinquent girls. Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment and Trauma, 6, 109-126.
45.
WoodJ.FoyD.LayneC.PynoosR.BoydC. (2002). An examination of the relationships between violence exposure posttraumatic stress symptomatology and delinquent activity: An “ecopathological” model of delinquent behavior among incarcerated adolescents. Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment and Trauma, 6, 127-147.
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
