Promoting Justice Through Interdisciplinary Teaching, Practice, and Scholarship Mental Health Assessment of Minors in the Juvenile Justice System

Source: (2003) Washington University of Law and Policy. 11: 141.

In the late 1800s legal professionals with social workers and others to seek social reform addressing juvenile delinquency and other issues. Thus began the juvenile justice system. According to the authors of this paper, today many question the effectiveness and very rationale of the juvenile justice system; the nation at large seems uncertain about how to address the problem of juvenile crime. In the midst of this situation, recent reports indicate that children and adolescents with undiagnosed mental health problems make up a significant proportion of youth in the juvenile justice system. In response, the Illinois Cook County Juvenile Court convened an interdisciplinary committee to address this issue. The authors therefore look at the findings of this committee with respect to the components and protocol for mental health assessments, the handling of results of such assessments, and what to do with troubled youth.