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Disparate Juvenile Court Outcomes for Disabled Delinquent Youth: A Social Work Call to Action

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Abstract

Current service delivery for at-risk youth is through four separate systems: special education; mental health and substance abuse; juvenile justice; and child welfare. Many youth (and their families) are involved with more than one of these systems, making early disability identification and subsequent systems coordination paramount in leading to more successful juvenile court outcomes. This coordination is an important and prioritized public policy concern because a majority of youth (disproportionately minority) within juvenile justice populations has been identified with mental health disorders, special education disabilities, or maltreatment histories. This study of a unique sample of probation-supervised delinquent youths (n = 397) identifies these disabilities and their corresponding court supervision, detention, and incarceration outcomes for a 48-month period in Cuyahoga County, Ohio (greater Cleveland). Within this youth sample over 32% had a special education disability, over 39% had a mental health disorder, over 32% had a substance abuse disorder, and over 56% were victims of maltreatment. Even higher disability rates were found for those youth who were subsequently detained or incarcerated. Many of these youth had multiple disabilities (and subsequently poorer juvenile court outcomes) and were concurrently involved in more than one disability service system. Policy and client services implications are reviewed and discussed.

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Notes

  1. Introduced February 16, 2005, by Rep. Tom Osborne, Senator Norm Coleman, and Rep. Donald Payne (H.R. 856/S. 409). Passed the House of Representatives on November 17th, 2005; passed the Senate on September 20, 2006, and signed by President G. W. Bush on October 17, 2006. Can be accessed at http://thomas.loc.gov.

  2. Senate Bill 3085 (106th Congress) had been “stuck”, and ultimately “died”, in the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee at the end of the 106th Congressional session. The bill was co-sponsored by Senators Cleland, Kennedy, Landrieu, and Murray. Can be accessed at http://thomas.loc.gov.

  3. 20 U.S.C. §1401(26)(A-C); 20 U.S.C. §1401(3); 34 C.F.R. §222.50. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA 2004) and Education for All Handicapped Children Act (1974) define disability as a child/adolescent with mental retardation, hearing impairments, visual impairments (including blindness), serious emotional disturbance, orthopedic impairments, autism, traumatic brain injury, other health impairments, or specific learning disabilities.

  4. O.R.C. §2151.031; O.R.C. §2151.03(A); O.R.C. §2151.031; 2907.01; 2919.22. Child welfare investigations have three possible outcomes: substantiated; indicated; or unsubstantiated findings.

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  1. School of Social Work, Cleveland State University, 2121 Euclid Avenue, #CB324, Cleveland, OH, 44115-2214, USA

    Christopher A. Mallett

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  1. Christopher A. Mallett
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Mallett, C.A. Disparate Juvenile Court Outcomes for Disabled Delinquent Youth: A Social Work Call to Action. Child Adolesc Soc Work J 26, 197–207 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10560-009-0168-y

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