Community behavioral health care linkages for youth

Abstract

Introduction and objective

behavioral health (BH) agencies have care linkages for youth including juvenile justice (JJ). However, there are few studies on youth care linkages. This study focuses on six sites with the objective of examining BH and JJ staff perceptions about information exchange on screening, assessment and treatment.

Methods

We developed an index to quantify BH and JJ staff perceptions of information exchange on youth screening, assessment and treatment. After Informed Consent, staff rated past year interactions from agree to disagree on a 7-point Likert scale. Chi-squares and T-tests were used.

Results

All 64 staff consented 17 (26.5%) BH staff and 47 (73.5%) JJ staff. Significant differences included BH staff were more likely to be licensed (P < .001) and had a masters degree or higher (P = < .01). Professional experience ranged from 9.8 to 15.8 years. However, there were no statistically significant differences. BH staff was somewhat higher from 5.7 for “shared assessment results” to 6.8 for “been easy to talk to” while JJ staff were from 5.1 for “shared screening results” to 6.1 for “treated youth with respect”.

Conclusions

This pilot study found high rates of staffs agreement including ease of talking and listening, sharing screenings and assessments information, and helping begin, continue, and complete treatment. This high agreement was not expected with confidentiality restrictions and traditions. Future studies should target care linkages including letters of agreement, case conferences, and guidelines.

The study is supported by the National Institutes of Health.

Disclosure of interest

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.