Mental Health Needs of Juvenile Offenders
Published Jun 21, 2007, National Conference of State Legislatures
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Describes disorders, issues and strategies for addressing the mental health needs of youth in the juvenile justice system: as many as 70 percent of youth in the system are affected with a mental disorder, and one in five suffer from a mental illness so severe as to impair their ability to function as a young person and grow into a responsible adult.
The report is the first in a planned series to focus and provide research-based information on key policy issues in juvenile justice today. It is prepared under a partnership project of NCSL’s Criminal Justice Program in Denver, Colo., and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. The project is designed to highlight promising initiatives and state approaches and to inform state legislative efforts in juvenile justice. The second report in this series is Minority Youth in the Juvenile Justice System: Disproportionate Minority Contact.
Visit The National Conference of State Legislatures juvenile justice webpage for additional resources including the Juvenile Justice Bill Tracking Database.
