Abstract
The use of psychotropic medications is a significant factor in the overall effort to respond to detained youth with mental illness, yet there are very few studies of psychotropic medication use in juvenile detention settings. It is important to understand the factors that influence the use of mental health services and psychoactive medications in these settings since youth with emotional problems are overrepresented in them. This paper addresses the proportion of youth in these settings who receive mental health services and psychoactive medications. In addition, the impact of a major statewide policy change—the shift of juvenile placement responsibility from the state to local government—on these proportions was examined using 8 years of publicly available data from county probation departments. Multivariate regression analyses of 1,760 observations of quarterly reports from 55 counties showed that the use of both mental health services and psychoactive medications in detention facilities increased concurrently with the policy change. While these proportions had already been gradually increasing in these facilities, it appears that after the policy change they increased even more. This contradicts the aim of most juvenile justice planners—to divert non-violent youth offenders with emotional problems away from incarceration settings and towards community based treatment alternatives. If adequately available, these support services could provide diversion alternatives to prevent inappropriate detentions, and to provide post-detention treatment to prevent lapses in continuity of care and, ultimately, to prevent reoffending.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abram, K. M., Choe, J. Y., Washburn, J. J., Romero, E. G., & Teplin, L. A. (2009). Functional impairment in youth three years after detention. Journal of Adolescent Health, 44, 528–535.
Asanova-Taylor, S. (2012, April 27). Closing juvenile facilities sparks debate, Capital News Service. Retrieved from http://news.jrn.msu.edu/capitalnewsservice/2012/04/27/closing-juvenile-facilities-sparks-debate/.
Burrell, S., & Bussiere, A. (2005). “Difficult to place”: Youth with mental health needs in California juvenile justice. San Francisco, CA: Youth Law Center.
California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. (2005). Juvenile detention profile summary: Annual report, 2005. Sacramento, CA: Author.
California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. (2011). Juvenile detention survey: Online Query (2011). Retrieved Nov 15, 2011, from http://www.bdcorr.ca.gov/joq/jds/query.asp?action=q.
California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation Office of Research. (2010). Youth population overview as of Dec 31, 2010. Retrieved Oct 30, 2011, from http://www.cdcr.ca.gov/Juvenile_Justice/DJJ_Quick_Facts/Youth_Population_Overview.html.
California State Commission on Juvenile Justice. (2009). Juvenile justice operational master plan: Blueprint for an outcome oriented juvenile justice system. Sacramento, CA: Author.
Cohen, E., & Pfeifer, J. (2008). The costs of incarcerating youth with mental illness: Final report of a statewide survey. Sacramento, CA: Chief Probation Officers of California.
Cohen, E., & Pfeifer, J. (2011). Mental health services for incarcerated youth: Results from a statewide survey. Juvenile and Family Court Journal, 62, 22–34.
Felton, M. C., Cashin, C. E., & Brown, T. T. (2010). What does it take? California county funding requests for recovery-oriented full service partnerships under the Mental Health Services Act. Community Mental Health Journal, 46, 441–451.
Grisso, T. (2004). Double jeopardy: Adolescent offenders with mental disorders. Chicago: IL: University of Chicago Press.
Harrell, J. (2012, June 11). State closing South Bend juvenile facility because of declining numbers, Indiana Economic Digest. Retrieved from http://indianaeconomicdigest.com/main.asp?SectionID=31&SubSectionID=66&ArticleID=65335.
Mendel, R. A. (2008). Detention reform in rural jurisdictions: Challenges and opportunities. In B. Lubow (Ed.), Pathways to juvenile detention reform (Vol. 15). Baltimore, MD: The Annie E. Casey Foundation.
Mulvey, E. P., Schubert, C. A., & Chung, H. L. (2007). Service use after court involvement in a sample of serious adolescent offenders. Children and Youth Services Review, 29, 518–544.
Osterlind, S. J., Koller, J. R., & Morris, E. F. (2007). Incidence and practical issues of mental health for school-aged youth in juvenile justice detention. Journal of Correctional Health Care, 13, 268–277.
Pajar, K. A., Kelleher, K., Gupta, R. A., Rolls, J., & Gardner, W. (2007). Psychiatric and medical health care policies in juvenile detention facilities. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 46, 1660–1667.
Plan to close juvenile detention centers pits advocates against labor. (2012). The State Journal Register (SJ-R.com). Retrieved from http://www.sj-r.com/top-stories/x1640250474/Plan-to-close-juvenile-detention-centers-pits-advocates-against-labor.
Shufelt, J. L., & Cocozza, J. J. (2006). Youth with mental health disorders in the juvenile justice system: Results from a multi-state prevalence study Research and Program Brief. Delmar, NY: National Center for Mental Health and Juvenile Justice.
Snowden, L. R., Masland, M. C., Libby, A. M., Wallace, N., & Fawley, K. (2008). Racial/ethnic minority children’s use of psychiatric emergency care in California’s public mental health system. American Journal of Public Health, 98, 118–124.
Stambaugh, L. F., Leslie, L. K., Ringeisen, H., Smith, K., & Hodgkin, D. (2012). Psychotropic medication use by children in child welfare. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Planning Research and Evaluation Report #2012-33. Washington, DC: Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Tennyson, D. H. (2009). Predicting medication costs and usage: Expenditures in a juvenile detention facility. Journal of Correctional Health Care, 15, 98–104.
Teplin, L. A., Abram, K. M., McClelland, G. M., Dulcan, M. K., & Mericle, A. A. (2002). Psychiatric disorders in youth in juvenile detention. Archives of General Psychiatry, 59, 1133–1143.
Teplin, L. A., Abram, K. M., McClelland, G. M., Mericle, A. A., Dulcan, M. K., Washburn, J. J., et al. (2007). Psychiatric disorders of youth in detention. In C. L. Kessler & L. J. Kraus (Eds.), The mental health needs of young offenders: Forging paths toward reintegration and rehabilitation (pp. 7–47). New York: Cambridge University Press.
Trupin, E. W., Turner, A. P., Stewart, D., & Wood, P. (2004). Transition planning and recidivism among mentally ill juvenile offenders. Behavioral Sciences and the Law, 22, 599–610.
U.S. Department of Agriculture-Economic Research Service. (2004). Measuring rurality: Rural–urban continuum codes. Retrieved Nov 11, 2011, from http://www.ers.usda.gov/briefing/rurality/ruralurbcon/.
U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Government Reform. (2004). Incarceration of youth who are waiting for community mental health services in the United States. Washington, DC: Author.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Cohen, E., Pfeifer, J.E. & Wallace, N. Use of Psychiatric Medications in Juvenile Detention Facilities and the Impact of State Placement Policy. J Child Fam Stud 23, 738–744 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-012-9655-4
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-012-9655-4