The High Cost of Health Care Within the Juvenile Justice System

Abstract

Correctional facilities experience increasing costs and demands while resources remain limited. This paper provides a matrix to identify and compare categorized health care costs. Methods: A 525-bed, primarily male, long-term juvenile correctional system's costs were categorized as either general health or mental health, and further divided as fixed, intermediate, or variable costs, depending on several factors. Results: Mental health costs were three times higher than general medical costs. Approximately 11% of the health costs are labeled variable and hard to predict, with prescription costs at 3.3% of the health care budget. Conclusions: This baseline pilot project suggests that previous studies have underestimated incarcerated juveniles' health care costs.

Predicting Medication Costs and Usage: Expenditures in a Juvenile Detention Facility

“…Using an incarcerated youth population, one researcher finds pharmaceutical costs increased 92% over a 5-year period, between 1995 and 2000 (Tennyson, 2004). In addition, the researcher finds that even one youth with a chronic disease can cause a tremendous increase in the facility's medical budget (Tennyson, 2003).…”