Mn Juvenile Justice & Mental Health InitiativeMental Health Screen Best Practices

From: Blueprint for Change

Mental Health Screen Best Practice

Every youth who comes in contact with the juvenile justice system should be systematically screened for mental health needs to identify:

– Conditions in need of immediate response (i.e., suicide risk)

– Those youth who require further mental health assessment

Mental Health Screen Best Practice

The mental health screening process should include two steps:

– An emergency mental health screen

– General mental health screen

Mental Health Screen Best Practice

Access to immediate, emergency mental health services should be available for all youth who indicate a need based on the screen or observation of staff.

A mental health assessment should be administered to any youth whose mental health screen indicates the need for further assessment.

Mental Health Screen Best Practice

Instruments selected for identifying mental health needs should be standardized, scientifically sound, reliable, valid.

Mental health screening and assessment should be performed in conjunction with risk assessments to balance public safety with the need for mental health treatment.

Severity of Mental Illness and Risk to Public SafetyA guide to Dispositional Alternatives

Low Risk---------------------------------------------------------High Risk

A Continuum of Mental Health Need and Risk Levels Among the Juvenile Justice Population

IIIHigh Severity

Low Risk

Diversion to treatment

IVHigh Severity

High Risk

Security and Treatment

ILow Risk

Low Severity

Diversion

IIHigh Risk

Low Severity

Corrections

Mental Health Screen Best Practice

All mental health screens should be administered by trained staff.

Policies controlling the use of pre-adjudication screening information may be necessary to ensure that information is used appropriately and doesn’t jeopardize the legal interests of the youth as a defendant.

Mental Health Screen Best Practice

All screening & assessment instruments should target both mental health and substance use needs in an integrated manner.

Existing screening & assessment instruments may need to be adapted for critical groups of youth, i.e., youth of color and girls, pending further research.

Mental Health Screen Follow-up

Responsibility for providing mental health services to justice involved youth should be shared between the juvenile justice and mental health systems, with lead responsibility varying depending on the youth’s point of contact with the system.

• For example, youth who are diverted to community-based treatment at probation intake, detention or juvenile court would most likely be diverted to a mental health provider while justice system might still have supervision and oversight.

Mental Health Screen Follow-up

The recommended approach for detention centers is to systematically identify mental health needs among youth entering the detention system and have the capacity to link with community-based providers to provide treatment.• Actual mental health service delivery falls to

the mental health system• Example: New York state operates mobile MH

services to detention centers