Home SPRC > Populations and Settings > Juvenile Justice

Scope Note: The juvenile justice system and the youths the system serves.

Advocacy handbook: A guide for implementing recommendations of the criminal justice/mental health consensus project
URL: http://consensusproject.org/advocacy/
A how-to guide for advocates who want to improve the response to people with mental illness who are in contact with the criminal justice system. The guide is a joint effort among the Consensus Project, NAMI, the National Mental Health Association, the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors, and the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law.
Show Details
 
Blueprint for change: Improving the system response to youth with mental health needs involved with the juvenile justice system
URL: http://www.ncmhjj.com/Blueprint/pdfs/Blueprint.pdf
Research and Program Briefs series. Describes the Blueprint for Change, a model which provides a practical framework for juvenile justice and mental health systems to use when developing policies and programs aimed at improving mental health services for youth in the juvenile justice system.
Show Details
 
Characteristics of juvenile suicide in confinement
URL: http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/ojjdp/214434.pdf
This publication examines 110 juvenile suicides that occurred in confinement between 1995 and 1999. It describes the demographic characteristics and social history of victims and examines the characteristics of the facilities in which the suicides took place. Drawing on this data, the researchers offer recommendations to prevent suicides in juvenile facilities.
Show Details
 
Critical components of a suicide prevention policy: Suicide prevention in juvenile facilities
URL: http://www.ncjrs.org/html/ojjdp/jjjnl_2000_4/sui_4.html
[Journal article]. Published in: Juvenile Justice - Youth With Mental Health Disorders: Issues and Emerging Responses April 2000;VII(1). Using a combination of American Correctional Association (ACA) and National Commission on Correctional Health Care (NCCHC) standards, the author has developed a comprehensive suicide prevention plan for juvenile facilities that addresses the following key components: staff training, intake screening and ongoing assessment, communication, housing, levels of supervision, intervention, reporting, and followup/mortality review. These components form a continuum of care intended to minimize suicidal behavior within secure juvenile detention and correctional facilities.
Show Details
 
CWLA Best practice guidelines: Serving LGBT youth in out-of-home care
URL: http://www.nclrights.org/site/DocServer/bestpracticeslgbtyouth.pdf?docID=1322
These best practice guidelines provide direction to agencies responsible for the care of LGBT youth in out-of-home care specifically, child welfare and juvenile justice professionals. Based on the Legal Services for Children and the National Center for Lesbian Rights' Model Standards Project, the guidelines address the institutional failure to consider gender orientation or identity, an consideration necessary in order to provide appropriate and equitable care to LGBT youth in state custody.
Show Details
 
Endangered youth: A report on suicide among adolescents involved with the child welfare and juvenile justice systems
URL: http://www.chdi.org/publications.php?category=juvenile-justice
This report familiarizes professionals from a broad range of agencies with an interdisciplinary framework that addresses the suicide risk factors for children, youth and their families involved in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems. Case studies illustrate the challenges confronting families, communities and professionals, while offering opportunities for learning and development of effective service delivery.
Show Details
 
Getting it right!: Promoting mental health in juvenile justice
URL: http://www.promotementalhealth.org/newsletters.htm
[Newsletter] Quarterly newsletter from the Center for the Promotion of Mental Health and Juvenile Justice.
Show Details
 
In harm’s way: A primer in detention suicide prevention
URL: http://www.sprc.org/library/LaneCoJuvJust.pdf
The Lane County, Oregon Model for suicide prevention in juvenile detention and residential facilities. This document is meant to benefit those who work in juvenile detention and residential settings. It encompasses the lessons learned in providing a safe setting for youth for many years in a county detention center and is primarily based on empirical data and not on controlled scientific studies.
Show Details
 
Incarceration of youth who are waiting for community mental health services in the United States
URL: http://www.senate.gov/~govt-aff/_files/040707juvenilereport.pdf
At the request of Rep. Henry A. Waxman and Sen. Susan Collins, the Special Investigations Division surveyed every juvenile detention facility in the United States to assess what happens to youth when community mental health services are not readily available. This report, the first national study of its kind, presents the results of the survey. It covers the period from January 1 to June 30, 2003. The report finds that the use of juvenile detention facilities to house youth waiting for community mental health services is widespread and a serious national problem.
Show Details
 
OJJDP Model Programs Guide
URL: http://www.dsgonline.com/mpg_non_flash/mpg_index.htm
The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention's Model Programs Guide (MPG) is designed to assist practitioners and communities in implementing evidence-based prevention and intervention programs that can make a difference in the lives of children and communities . The MPG database of evidence-based programs covers the entire continuum of youth services from prevention through sanctions to reentry. The MPG can be used to assist juvenile justice practitioners, administrators, and researchers to enhance accountability, ensure public safety, and reduce recidivism. The MPG is an easy-to-use tool that offers the first and only database of scientifically-proven programs across the spectrum of youth services.
Show Details
 
Practical strategies for preventing juvenile suicides in confinement settings
URL: http://www.sprc.org/grantees/pdf/2006/Cox_JuvenileJustice.pdf
State/Tribal/Adolescents at Risk Suicide Prevention Grantee Technical Assistance Meeting. December 12–14, 2006, North Bethesda, MD. Focuses on: facilities where juveniles are confined; the problem of juvenile suicides in confinement facilities; national strategy and standards related to the subject; and key prevention strategies.
Show Details
 
Psychiatric disorders of youth in detention
URL: http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/ojjdp/210331.pdf
Juvenile Justice Bulletin, 2006 Apr:1-16. Examines the prevalence of alcohol, drug, and mental disorders among youth at the Cook County (Illinois) Juvenile Temporary Detention Center, by gender, race/ethnicity, and age. Drawing on research conducted by the Northwestern Juvenile Project, this Bulletin finds that nearly two-thirds of males and three-quarters of females studied met diagnostic criteria for one or more psychiatric disorders. The Bulletin presents information that can help the juvenile justice system detect youth psychiatric disorders and respond with an integrated system of services.
Show Details
 
Screening and assessing mental health and substance use disorders among youth in the juvenile justice system: A resource guide for practitioners
URL: http://www.ojjdp.ncjrs.org/publications/PubAbstract.asp?pubi=11936
Presents information on instruments that can be used to screen and assess youth for mental health- and substance use-related disorders at various stages of the juvenile justice process. The Guide includes profiles of more than 50 instruments, guidelines for selecting instruments, and best practice recommendations for diverse settings and situations. It is intended as a basic tool for juvenile justice professionals working toward the goal of early, accurate identification of youth with mental disorders. Once identified, these youth can receive the services required to improve their lives, reduce recidivism, and promote community safety. Available online only.(Description from the OJJDP Web site)
Show Details
 
Utah Youth Suicide Study Phase VI: Treatment for those at highest risk for suicide in Utah Juvenile Offenders (SPRC Discussion Series)
URL: http://www.sprc.org/traininginstitute/disc_series/disc_3.asp
Presentation on the results of Utah study of juvenile offenders at highest risk for suicide. The Research to Practice Webinar webpage contains an author biography, PowerPoint slides, and an audio file of the discussion.
Show Details
 
Youth and young adults suicide prevention checklist
URL: http://www.rochesterpreventsuicide.org/checklist.html
This checklist of the elements needed for a successful prevention effort was created at the Youth and Young Adults conference, which was held as part of the Preventing Suicide: A Scientific Consensus process developed by the University of Rochester Center for the Study and Prevention of Suicide. The checklist emphasizes prevention efforts in youth, but can be used as a checklist for prevention efforts with any population.
Show Details
 
Youth suicide and self-harm: What advocates need to know
URL: http://www.sprc.org/library/PilnikABA_suicidepreventionandFC.pdf
This article was developed for attorneys who work with adolescents in the child welfare system. It provides background information on youth suicide and self-harm and describes what attorneys can do to identify warning signs and ensure that at-risk youth receive the mental health care they need. It also describes ways attorneys can help reduce risk factors, promote protective factors, and advocate for policy change.
Show Details
 
Youth with mental health disorders in the juvenile justice system: Results from a multi-state prevalence study
URL: http://www.ncmhjj.com/pdfs/publications/PrevalenceRPB.pdf
Research and Program Briefs series. Summarizes the results of the most comprehensive mental health prevalence study to date on youth involved with the juvenile justice system.
Show Details
 
Youth with Mental Health Disorders: Issues and Emerging Responses
URL: http://www.ncmhjj.com/pdfs/publications/Youth_with_Mental_Health_Disorders.pdf
Article originally appeared in Juvenile Justice, Volume 7(1): 3-13, April 2000. The article covers the topics of recognition of the mental health needs and the prevelance of mental health disorders in youth, as well as emerging strategies and models.
Show Details