Screening and Assessment
"With respect to mental health, juvenile justice facilities have a legal and societal responsibility to respond to the needs of youth in their custody if those needs place the youth at risk of harm to themselves...addressing risk and mental health needs starts with appropriate and accurate identification." -Vincent, 2012
The American juvenile justice system must be able to effectively and efficiently identify the needs of their youth offenders, including their mental health needs. In order to ensure a proper course of rehabilitative (rather than punitive) treatment for these youth, an assessment and screening policy must be implemented at all levels of the system--from a youth's entry to exit.
Screening, or the preliminary evaluation of all youth entering the juvenile justice system, enables the youth, families of the youth, and correctional officers to identify mental illness.
Screening has two main purposes:
Assessment generally identifies:
Screening, or the preliminary evaluation of all youth entering the juvenile justice system, enables the youth, families of the youth, and correctional officers to identify mental illness.
Screening has two main purposes:
- To identify youth upon entering the system who might require an immediate response (e.g. those with an immediate need for medication)
- To identify those youth with the higher likelihood of having a problem requiring special attention (Vincent, 2012 & Grisso, 2005).
Assessment generally identifies:
- The risk of reoffending (high or low)
- Factors in a mentally-ill youth offender's life that are likely contributing to the youth's delinquent behavior (Vincent, 2012 & Grisso, 2005).
Benefits of Screening and Assessment
With screening, those who demonstrate symptoms of mental illness can be diverted into a program within the juvenile detention facility or in the community, that can better respond to and treat their mental health needs. As opposed to incarcerating every youth that enters the system, screening will allow for mentally-ill youth to be properly identified and treated (e.g. behavioral/cognitive therapy for anger management symptoms). Assessment will enable those with more serious mental illnesses to receive This can potentially minimize the rate of recidivism among mentally-ill youth offenders and promote more productive and positive behavior in society.
While screening does not offer an official clinical diagnosis, it does offer youth who demonstrate symptoms of mental-illness the opportunity to receive treatment. Because no two mental illnesses are the same, screening and assessment tools must be carefully selected.
Although implementing a screening and assessment policy can be costly, studies demonstrate that diverting youth into alternative programs to incarceration is effective in reducing recidivism rates. A decrease in the rate of reoffending mentally-ill youth reentering the system translates into a decrease in the amount of money the state spends on those youth. Therefore, the treatment offered by this policy will benefit the youth as well as society as a whole, in the long run. The effects of screening and assessment are evident at all levels of the juvenile justice system.
While screening does not offer an official clinical diagnosis, it does offer youth who demonstrate symptoms of mental-illness the opportunity to receive treatment. Because no two mental illnesses are the same, screening and assessment tools must be carefully selected.
Although implementing a screening and assessment policy can be costly, studies demonstrate that diverting youth into alternative programs to incarceration is effective in reducing recidivism rates. A decrease in the rate of reoffending mentally-ill youth reentering the system translates into a decrease in the amount of money the state spends on those youth. Therefore, the treatment offered by this policy will benefit the youth as well as society as a whole, in the long run. The effects of screening and assessment are evident at all levels of the juvenile justice system.
Example.
Cuellar, McReynolds and Wasserman (2006) provide an example of a benefits of screening and assessment.
They examined the influence of the 2000 Special Needs Diversionary Program (SNDP) on the mentally ill youth community in Texas. They demonstrated that:
They examined the influence of the 2000 Special Needs Diversionary Program (SNDP) on the mentally ill youth community in Texas. They demonstrated that:
- Diversion of mentally-ill juvenile offenders to alternative programs is more effective in reducing crime and recidivism than the strict punishment in juvenile justice facilities.
- Mental illness correlates with youth offending behavior and is predictive of delinquency; more than half of youth with mental disorders are re-arrested. Rather than simply pushing these offenders into juvenile detention facilities, problem-solving responses are more appropriate than punishment in treating mentally-ill individuals.
- Under mental health diversion programs, youth offenders with mental disorders can be more effectively treated, thus reducing recidivism and the severity of crimes committed by mental disorders. In addition, the number of youth in juvenile correction facilities would also be reduced with the introduction of diversion programs, thus, reducing society’s cost of crime in the long run.