While scrolling through journal articles, I found one on a juvenile justice topic that never occurred to me. We talk all the time about counseling or treatment being more beneficial than jails and prisons for many adult offenders, but I realized I have never heard this argument for juvenile offenders. The topic with juveniles is usually how and why to keep them out of the adult system.
This article compares the outcomes of individuals in Juvenile Mental Health Courts (JMHC), Intense Supervised Probation (ISP), and "regular" supervision (min., med,, or max.). The article states that "70% of youth who enter the juvenile justice system are diagnosed with mental disorders (Heretick & Russell, 2013)" Seems like a very high number! The article also reports that recidivism rates are around 52%.
This retrospective study examined the results of 81 youth, focusing on recidivism rates vs. the type of probation. The results table shows that in the pre-release probabation category, JMHC ranked higher than regular min/med probation, but lower than ISP and regular max probation. As for post-release, JMHC had the lowest percent of reoffenders, This shows that JMHC successfully reduce recidivism rates while in the program and for at least one year after completion.
http://www.journalofjuvjustice.org/JOJJ0301/article01.htm
Heretick, D.M. & Russell, J.A. (2013). The Impact of Juvenile Mental Health Court on Recidivism Among Youth. Journal of Juvenile Justice. Vol. 3, Issue 1.
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