Characteristics of and Services Provided to Youth in Secure Care Facilities

Abstract

Youth who are incarcerated in secure detention and commitment settings display a complex array of educational, behavioral, and mental health issues that affect the services they require, as well as their responsiveness to interventions. Yet, seldom are these needs understood or taken into account when providing services in secure care settings. In this article, research documenting what is known regarding the characteristics of incarcerated youth is summarized. Current research on the use of evidence-based interventions and services for youth in secure settings is reviewed next. Finally, the limitations of existing research and practice and the use of response to intervention (Rtl) for linking youth characteristics to research-based strategies are discussed.

Mental Health and the Juvenile Justice System: Issues Related to Treatment and Rehabilitation

“…Gagnon and Barber (2010) point out that juveniles with E/BD in secure care often experience difficulties while incarcerated because they lack basic cognitive and social skills. For example, Leone (1994) found that youth with disabilities received more behavioral incident reports, were more frequently restrained, and spent more time in confinement and segregation than youth without disabilities.…”

“…Although believed to be a conservative number, Gagnon, Barber, Van Loan, and Leone (2009) estimate that 40% of youth in juvenile correction facilities have disabilities, which contrasts with the approximated 12% identified in public schools (Quinn, Rutherford, Leone, Osher, & Poirier, 2005). Since juveniles in secure settings often have academic deficits due to learning disabilities in both reading and mathematics (Gagnon & Barber, 2010), it is no surprise that detainees experience higher rates of school failure and lower academic performance compared with their same age peers. Krezmien, Mulcahy, and Leone (2008) examined reading and mathematics standardized academic achievement scores of 555 incarcerated male youth and found that the detained youth were approximately four years behind their same age general population peers.…”

“…Although juveniles in secure settings are known to struggle academically, Gagnon and Barber (2010) draw attention to the general lack of studies focused on the academic achievement of detainees with disabilities-a critical issue because academic difficulties are often significant contributors to poor outcomes for out-of-school co-occurring mental health issues. Because of the high rates of mental health problems and poor academic performance by many incarcerated juveniles, call for more accurate and comprehensive identification procedures and practices to obtain data on academic achievement, mental health and medication use.…”

“…First and foremost are the security concerns associated with juvenile justice facilities. Security is given priority over other supports and services that would be beneficial, such as funding for mental health and education services including staffing, screenings, and treatments (Gagnon & Barber, 2010).…”

Effcacy of Williams LifeSkills Training in improving psychological health of Chinese male juvenile violent offenders: a randomized controlled study

“…Mental health problems in this population are associated with further offending and these problems continue into adulthood, resulting in failure to mature into reasonably healthy and well-functioning adults [6,7] . Psychological researchers have found similar problems and s equelae among incarcerated young people in China who suffer from more serious mental health problems, such as anxiety and depression [8] .…”