What kinds of mental health services are provided in the juvenile justice system?
The Inventory of Mental Health Services in Juvenile Justice Facilities, conducted in 1998, provides information on mental health services that are provided to youth in correctional institutions. The survey collected data from detention centers and shelters where youth are housed before adjudication, diagnostic centers where youth are evaluated, community based placements such as group homes and halfway houses, as well as institutional placements that include ranches, camps and farms, residential treatment facilities and training schools. Nearly all (94.3%) of these facilities provide mental health services to youth. The most common services available are medication (provided by 81.8% of the facilities), emergency mental health services (80.7%), evaluation (73.8%), therapy (69.0%) and mental health screening (64.2%). More than one-third of the facilities provide 24-hour mental health care (34.6%) and separate residential treatment for youth with mental health problems (37.1%).
