Impact of Juvenile Mental Health Court on Youth Recidivism

She's Nobody's Child/the Law Can't Touch Her at Alll: Seeking to Bring Dignity to Legal Proceedings Involving Juveniles

“…176 Participants had significantly lower arrest rates after enrollment than before enrollment and lower postenrollment arrest rates than comparison groups. 178 There also is preliminary evidence that postrelease recidivism rates of youth in the court were significantly lower than those for a sample of other youth in the juvenile justice system diagnosed with mental disorders. 177 In a comprehensive analysis of one such court in Colorado, researchers found that results "clearly support the efficacy of the Colorado First Judicial District's juvenile mental health court for reducing both recidivism while in the program and during at least [one] year following successful completion."…”

“…177 In a comprehensive analysis of one such court in Colorado, researchers found that results "clearly support the efficacy of the Colorado First Judicial District's juvenile mental health court for reducing both recidivism while in the program and during at least [one] year following successful completion." 178 There also is preliminary evidence that postrelease recidivism rates of youth in the court were significantly lower than those for a sample of other youth in the juvenile justice system diagnosed with mental disorders. 179 3.…”

The Prevalence of Trauma Among Participants in a Juvenile Mental Health Court

“…An evaluation of the first JMHC in Santa Clara County reported that participants committed significantly fewer violent, aggressive, and property crimes in the 23 months following program admission compared with the 18 months prior (Behnken et al, 2009). Heretick and Russell (2013) examined outcomes for 81 youth who entered a JMHC between 2005 and 2011, concluding that youth who participated in the JMHC were significantly less likely to recidivate during and after their probation supervision, and less likely to commit violent/aggressive and property offenses than youth adjudicated and assigned to other probation and diversion programs. Similarly, in a sample of predominately Black youth, JMHC participants were significantly less likely to be readjudicated and rearrested than youth on traditional probation supervision (Ramirez et al, 2015).…”

Race and Gender Recidivism Differences Among Juvenile Mental Health Court Graduates

“…There is even more paucity in available research on juvenile mental health courts, with most studies focusing on court processes (Callahan, Cocozza, Steadman, & Tilman, ; Davis et al., ). The few studies that have conducted outcome evaluations of juvenile mental health court participants found youth who participate in these alternative adjudication programs evidence reduced offending levels by program completion (Behnken et al., ; Heretick & Russell, ). Although prior research on the JMHC included in this study exists, (Behnken et al., ), that research focused primarily on court processes and recidivism of all CITA participants.…”