A Review of Clinical Characteristics and Residential Treatments for Adolescent Delinquents with Mental Health Disorders

Abstract

As treatment systems throughout the country have deinstitutionalized, under-use of community-based residential treatment systems has escalated. Reliance on juvenile justice systems for the care of the mentally ill adolescent has increased. There is considerable overlap between the mentally ill adolescent population within the community-based mental health systems and the offender population within the juvenile justice systems. With the inconsistent epidemiological prevalence and longitudinal treatment data, mental health treatment providers have also begun addressing this problem. This is currently being done by designing and implementing community-based residential mental health programs for delinquent adolescents of the juvenile justice system as well as nondelinquent adolescents within the mental health treatment systems. Providers have relied on both systems’ literature in establishing theoretical treatment programs. The authors review critical treatment components currently used by both the treatment and juvenile justice systems. A promising integrative program is described.