The Center was created to promote awareness of the mental health needs of youth in contact with the juvenile justice system and to assist the field in developing improved policies and practices to respond to these needs based on the best available research and practice.

This documentary focuses on the struggles facing Texas children with mental illnesses, including the obstacles and painful choices facing families with a loved one suffering from mental illness as well as the daily struggles of mental health advocates, service providers and policymakers trying to help youth get appropriate treatment.

Signed into law late in 2004, this legislation would authorize $50 million in federal funding for grants to states to support pre- and post-booking interventions, including crisis intervention teams and law enforcement training, mental health courts, re-entry and transitional programs. The bill establishes one-year planning grants and five-year implementation grants that would require states to increase their share of the funding in the out years. For the legislative language, check S. 1194 at http://thomas.loc.gov/

Published by the American Correctional Association (2002), this book by Lisa Boesky, Ph.D. not only has information on screening/assessment and mental health treatment, but also describes how to recognize and manage juveniles with ADHD, Bipolar Disorder, Depression, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Learning Disabilities, Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, Psychosis, Co-Occurring Substance Abuse and Mental Health Disorders, Suicide, Self-Mutilation, and other mental health issues to help juvenile justice personnel understand what they are seeing and how to deal with difficult behaviors. A study guide is currently in development.

"Intensive Aftercare Programs" plan for reintegration when a youth first enters residential placement and involves the cooperative assistance of institutional staff, community aftercare staff, and community service providers, based on a model developed by Drs. David Altschuler and Troy Armstrong.

This National Health Policy Forum issue brief reviews two major issues in meeting children's unmet needs for mental health care—ensuring an adequate supply of providers and ensuring that the care delivered is effective.

According to this Policy Brief #20 from the MacArthur Foundation Research Network on Transitions to Adulthood, "the juvenile justice system not only arrests youth but can also arrest their development." The policy brief notes research by David Altschuler that documents the lack of communication, coordination and collaboration among corrections and other local agencies. The fractured chain of command and authority interferes with getting the appropriate services to detained youth during and after incarceration, and leads to a lack of accountability.

A survey of detention directors and community mental health providers found a wide disparity in their perspectives on whether and what mental health services were being provided to youth with mental health problems detained in Indiana detention facilities.

The results of this five-year study by the National Center on Substance Abuse at Columbia University found that the vast majority of juvenile arrests involve substance abuse or addiction, yet most of these young people go untreated. Of the 2.4 million juvenile arrests in 2000, 1.9 million had drug or alcohol abuse or addiction involvement. Only 68,600 juveniles received substance abuse treatment.

The report also found that up to three in every four incarcerated 10 to 17-year-olds have a diagnosable mental health disorder.

According to CASA, the juvenile justice systems cost $14.4 billion a year in law enforcement, courts, detention, residential placement, incarceration, substance abuse treatment and federal block grants...

The Coalition for Juvenile Justice provides a quick overview of the key facts and key recommendations