Treatment Services for Youths with Mental Health Problems, Substance Use Problems, and Sex Offenders: Examining Funding Sources for Services and Youth Outcomes

• In Event: Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services for Youth

Abstract

The juvenile justice system has had a long history of attempting to provide treatment services and ensure the needs of youth are met, while also providing crime control for delinquent youth. The high prevalence rate of mental health disorders and substance use problems in the juvenile justice system has led to concern among practitioners and researchers because of the difficulty of providing treatment given limited resources and the implications these disorders have for recidivism. The current research uses data from Maricopa County Juvenile Probation Department (MCJPD) to examine how juveniles receive general mental health services, substance use services, and/or sex offender services through internal and external funding sources. Specifically, the study will examine whether treatment services are funded internally or externally and whether there are difference between youth whose services are funded internally compared to those whose services are funded internally. This research will help inform practitioners how youth in the juvenile justice system receive treatment services through different sources of funding and how youth effective those treatment services are in reducing recidivism among juveniles in Maricopa County.

Author

• Clair White, Arizona State University