Mental Health Issues and Juvenile Justice Videoconference

• NCJ Number: 188036
• Date Published: April 2001
• Length: 0 pages
• Publication Series: OJJDP Teleconference Videotapes
• Grant Number(s): 98-MU-MU-0005
• Agencies: OJJDP-Sponsored
• Publication Type: Program/Project Description; Conference Material

Annotation

This live national satellite broadcast provides an overview of the status of mental health needs and services in the juvenile justice system and then provides video profiles of three programs of juvenile justice mental health services in Milwaukee, WI.; New York; and Rhode Island, followed by phoned-in or online questions from conference participants to panel representatives of the three programs.

Abstract

The overview of the mental health needs and services of juveniles in the juvenile justice system notes that such youth have substantially higher rates of mental health disorders than youth in the general population (at least one in five of every youth in the juvenile justice system has serious mental health problems). Moreover, many of the youth in the juvenile justice system with mental illness also have a co-occurring substance abuse disorder. One of the programs described in this satellite conference is Wrap Around Milwaukee, which is part of the Milwaukee County Human Service Department, Mental Health Division, which provides juveniles probation and child welfare services. Wraparound Milwaukee serves children to age 18 who have serious emotional, behavioral, or mental health needs and are identified by Child Welfare or Juvenile Justice as being at immediate risk of placement in a residential treatment center and/or psychiatric hospital. The program's focus is on family strengths, including support systems that exist within their neighborhood and community. Program features include family involvement in the treatment process, needs-based service planning and delivery, an outcome-focused approach, care coordination, a child and family team, a mobile crisis team, a provider network, family advocacy, and resource teams. The second program is New York State's Mobile Mental Health Teams, which were established by mental health and juvenile justice agencies to provide and coordinate mental health services to youth in facilities. Eight teams with a total of 32 staff, including clinical psychologists, psychiatric social workers, and mental health nurses, provide mental health services to youth in juvenile justice facilities. Although each team is able to tailor services to meet the specific needs of the region, facilities, and program it serves, there is a core of basic services provided statewide. The third program profiled is Project Hope in Rhode Island, a statewide initiative that serves youth with co-occurring mental health and juvenile justice needs who are being released from the Rhode Island Training School for Youth, the State's coed secure correctional facility for juvenile offenders. The program aims to meet the multiple needs of these youth by forming strong linkages with an array of diverse community providers, including health care, education/vocational services, domestic violence and abuse support groups, recreational programs, and day care services.