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Screening the Mental Health Needs of Youths in Juvenile Detention
Author(s) -
NORDNESS PHILIP D.,
GRUMMERT MICHELLE,
BANKS DENNIS,
SCHINDLER MICHELLE L.,
MOSS MALLIE M.,
GALLAGHER KEN,
EPSTEIN MICHAEL H.
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
juvenile and family court journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.155
H-Index - 19
eISSN - 1755-6988
pISSN - 0161-7109
DOI - 10.1111/j.1755-6988.2002.tb00061.x
Subject(s) - mental health , juvenile , psychiatry , economic justice , psychology , juvenile delinquency , medicine , population , clinical psychology , environmental health , political science , genetics , biology , law
There is an increasing number of juveniles coming into the justice system with a variety of mental health and substance abuse concerns. While the actual number of youths with mental health disorders in the juvenile justice system has been difficult to determine, it is estimated to be substantially higher than it is for youths in the general population. In addition, researchers have estimated that a high number of these juveniles experience co‐morbid mental health disorders. The purpose of this study was to examine the number of youths who present symptoms of a mental health disorder at intake into a juvenile detention center in the Midwest. Two hundred‐four youths were assessed with the Massachusetts Youth Screening Instrument‐Second Version (MAYSI‐2; Grisso & Barnum, 2000), a mental health screening instrument. At least 68% of the youths identified symptoms of a mental health disorder at intake. Given the significant number of youths who identified symptoms of a mental health disorder at intake into detention, the need to provide mental health services for juvenile detainees should not be ignored.