Mental illnesses and disorders have long been intertwined with the criminal justice system, yet there has been a lack of focus on addressing mental health issues of juvenile offenders. Problem-solving courts like juvenile mental health courts (JMHC) have been introduced in order to engage juvenile offenders with mental health treatment services. JMHC not only provide access to these services for juvenile participants but serve to reduce recidivism rates upon completion. The limited number of these courts currently existing in the United States are examined in this paper to determine what components are most effective in decreasing rates of reoffending, which in turn are used to propose a nationwide, standardized JMHC program. Presently, there are neither standardized JMHC programs nor implementation procedures; rather, each jurisdiction must individually determine how to process a juvenile. In this proposed program, jurisdictions will be screened to identify the need for a JMHC and will have unique components given available resources, yet all implemented courts will follow a regimented procedure of processing juvenile participants. This program is expected to expand the numbers of juvenile offenders able to receive mental health treatment while in the juvenile court system and decrease their rates of recidivism, effectively preventing them from entering the criminal system as adults.

Keywords: juvenile mental health courts, recidivism, juvenile justice

Hannah Foley would like to thank their faculty sponsor Kenya Brumfield-Young for their support of this project.