Collaboration Between Community Mental Health and Juvenile Justice Systems: Barriers and Facilitators

Who decides? The decision-making process of juvenile judges concerning minors with mental disorders

“…These three solutions were also mentioned as preconditions for good collaboration in previous research (Darlington & Feeney, 2008;Darlington et al, 2004Darlington et al, , 2005Kapp et al, 2013).…”

“…The decision to refer minors to treatment resides with the juvenile judge, who has the authority and responsibility to determine case outcomes (Breda, 2001). However, this situation has engendered a need for collaboration between the mental health system and the juvenile justice system (Dickerson, Collins-Camargo, & Martin-Galijatovic, 2012;Kapp, Petr, Robbins, & Choi, 2013;Schwalbe & Maschi, 2012). This is challenging, because the two systems are different (Butler et al, 1995).…”

“…This is challenging, because the two systems are different (Butler et al, 1995). The relationship between the juvenile court and mental health services is quite fragile, partly because collaboration between the two systems is a fairly recent development (Cappon, 2014;Kapp et al, 2013). Both systems need to get to know each other and further explore the advantages of collaboration.…”

“…So social services investigators have an important role to play in providing detailed information to the juvenile judges in cases concerning minors with mental disorders -previous research has indicated that meeting the needs of minors appears to reduce recidivism (Vieira, Skilling, & Peterson-Badai, 2009). Therefore, (mental health) screening instruments should be used by social services investigators to better inform the juvenile judge through adequately matching their advice with the needs of minors with mental disorders (Kapp et al, 2013;Yan & Dannerbeck, 2011).…”

“…In future research, a differentiation should be made between psychiatric experts, and youth psychiatrists related to the mental health service to which a minor has been admitted, since the current study indicated that they have different roles. This research should further examine possible preconditions for successful collaboration between mental health and juvenile justice systems, and youth psychiatrists' role in obtaining access to mental health services for minors with mental health needs who are in contact with the juvenile court (Kapp et al, 2013).…”