Problem-solving courts search for young people's strengths, and endeavor to support youth with needed educational, vocational, health, and mental health services. They seek to deliver services in a culturally relevant, developmentally appropriate manner, and they strive to link youth to effective aftercare. The youth court model evolved gradually over the last half century. Restorative justice conferences base their effectiveness on "principles of control, deterrence, and reintegrative shaming". Developers of mental health courts recognized the silo effect of two systems, mental health and juvenile justice, working independently to address the needs of the same severely emotionally and behaviorally disturbed youth who commit delinquent acts. Juvenile drug courts, mental health courts, and peer courts are innovative responses to justice-involved youth that restore the rehabilitative mission of the juvenile justice system. They promise to avoid the economic, and more importantly, the human cost of detention and punishment.

Children and adolescents generally enter the juvenile justice system as a result of externalizing behavior problems. Several areas of neuropsychological function have been the focus of studies of adolescent delinquency, and deficits in two areas, namely, executive functioning and verbal ability, have been associated with delinquency. Furthermore, preschoolers with co-morbid attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) were more likely to have verbal deficits than those with ODD alone. Some researchers have identified neuropsychological profiles associated with patterns of recidivism among adolescent delinquents. This chapter presents an overview of some of the most common instruments used to assess intelligence, cognition, executive function, academic achievement, personality, and behavior. All of the measures described have normative data based on national samples, and are published measures. It presents a few examples of each type of measure. The chapter also talks about personality questionnaires and behavioral questionnaires.

Data, with regard to overrepresentation in the juvenile justice system, show that the majority of youth in juvenile correctional settings are from either urban or rural communities. Several authors have suggested ways to improve delivery of appropriate educational programming to youth in juvenile correctional settings. One key component in ensuring that youth in juvenile correctional facilities receive the educational services they require is the implementation of a referral process by which all eligible youth with disabilities who enter a facility can be identified and assessed within a prescribed timeline. This process should include the identification of eligible youth with no prior history of special education, in addition to identification of youth who received special education services from previous school systems but who do not have a current individualized education plan (IEP). Additionally, youth with learning disabilities, mild to moderate mental retardation, and developmental delays are overrepresented in juvenile correctional settings.

Nearly two-thirds of males and three-quarters of females in the juvenile justice system have at least one psychiatric disorder as opposed to 20 percent of all children. In order to avoid youth involvement with the juvenile justice system, more emphasis needs to be placed on the early detection and intervention. This chapter concentrates on all risk factors that increase the risk for substance abuse, including psychiatric disorders. Clearly, all agencies involved with the juvenile justice system must continue to educate themselves about the mental health issues of these youth, and work to coordinate services and follow-up in order to, hopefully, turn negative risk factors into protective factors. In this way, these adolescents may not continue to move in a direction that leads to a lifelong history of crime and recidivism.

A comprehensive understanding of the prevalence of psychiatric disorders among juvenile detainees is an important step toward meeting their needs. Although epidemiological data are key to understanding the psychiatric disorders of juvenile detainees, few empirical studies exist. This chapter lists studies published in the United States since 1990 that examined the diagnostic characteristics of incarcerated and detained juveniles. The Northwestern Juvenile Project was designed to overcome the methodological limitations in two ways. Four directions for future research are recommended: pathways to co-morbidity, studies of females in the juvenile justice system, longitudinal studies, and studies of vulnerability to posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in high-risk youth. Research findings indicate that a substantial number of youth in detention need mental health services. However, providing services within the juvenile justice system poses a number of challenges: screening for mental health needs, providing services, community linkages, and avoid retraumatizing youth.

The groups of minority youth to which disproportionate minority confinement (DMC) pertains are those identified by the federal government, namely, African American youth, Latino or Hispanic youth, Asian American youth, and American Indian youth. The research in this field has varied extensively in regard to sampling, jurisdictions, hypotheses, data collection, and other aspects of methodology. Any coordination of efforts or direct reporting of information to the Immigration and Naturalization Service expands the mound of challenges for some of these youth and their families. The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention has sponsored several seminal publications relevant to DMC during the past decade. States have resorted to several actions to address DMC as a result of technical assistance among other reasons. The frequently adopted strategies have been community-based prevention, intervention, and diversion programs, and cultural sensitivity training.

This chapter reflects the dedication of a diverse group of professionals to the needs of an oft neglected population. With the realization that most justice-involved youth silently suffer from mental health problems, professionals have begun to seriously study both the prevalence of the disorders, and how they might effectively be treated. The chapter provides an overview of the key themes discussed in the book, which indicates the broad range of child and adolescent mental health needs in the juvenile justice system. The book points to strategies for screening and for assessing mental health issues, and it also indicates emerging evidence-based treatment interventions. For paths toward rehabilitation and reintegration to be forged, and for knowledge to be translated into effective interventions, communities must commit resources to these at-risk youth. The chapter also presents an overview of how the other chapters of the book are organised.