Screening, Service Provision, and Information Sharing Practices

• In Event: Poster Session

Abstract

Facilities often struggle to provide adequate screening and services for youth during detainment and placement. Additionally, limited research has examined the information sharing practices of facilities upon youths’ departure.

Using data from the Juvenile Residential Facility Census from 2010-2018, facilities screening, service provision, and information sharing practices for education, mental health, and substance abuse were examined.

From 2010-2018, 86.8%-88.4% of facilities reported all youth were evaluated for educational needs, 56.7% - 63.4% did so for mental health needs, 89.5%-94.6% for suicidality, and 70.2%-75.2% for substance abuse. In 2018, over 90% of facilities provided services for some youth in the areas of education, mental health therapy and prescriptions, and below 80% provided substance abuse treatment. Over 90% of facilities shared information regarding some youths’ educational, mental health, and substance abuse statuses upon their departure. The proportion of facilities that did so for all youth decreased to near 80% for education and mental health and substance abuse dropped below 70%.

Improvement is needed across the board. Deepening our understanding of why, when, and how facilities share information about youth with other stakeholders and identifying current gaps is important for informing strategies that better target youths’ needs with appropriate and coordinated services.

Authors

• Daniel Michael Applegarth, University of California, Los Angeles

• Benjamin Adams, National Institute of Justice