Child Removal and Dual-Involvement: Crossing Over and Crossing Out Nevada’s Youth

• In Event: Poster Session

Abstract

Dually-involved youth, also called “crossover youth,” are defined as individuals receiving services from both child welfare and juvenile justice systems at the same time (Huang, Ryan, and Herz, 2012; Bilchik, 2010). These individuals are often placed in foster care at a young age and, as a result of maltreatment and poor placement, find themselves involved in the juvenile justice system (Bilchik, 2010). Rates of child removal in the state of Nevada reflect how children are often placed in the child welfare system as opposed to family reunification (Myer-Thompson, 2013; Liebmann, 2006). Jonson-Ried (2000) uncovered that juveniles involved in both the child welfare system and juvenile justice system are at an increased risk for incarceration as an adult for serious and violent offenses. Children involved in the child welfare system, who are entering the juvenile justice system, often find themselves at an extreme disadvantage due to their “foster care” label. This poster will discuss the unique consequences associated with child removal and being a dually-involved youth in the state of Nevada; namely abuse that occurs within the child welfare and juvenile justice systems, long-term consequences of removal and dual-involvement, and how these individuals ultimately lack access to justice in Nevada.

Authors

• Carolyn Willis-Casey, University of Nevada, Las Vegas

• Amy Magnus, University of California, Irvine