Journal of Law and Criminal Justice

Policy Trends in the South on Youth Mental Health in Juvenile Justice
Melanie Prud’homme

Abstract
Research shows that youth in juvenile justice systems have high rates of mental disorders. This study compares and contrasts juvenile justice policies on juvenile correctional mental health care in four states: Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Arkansas since 2008. Each state’s progress regarding addressing youth mental challenges is described after a systematic literature review of the legislative postings in each state and information in various scientific databases. This progress is considered given recent attention nationally to the importance of identifying and addressing chronic trauma and other adverse childhood conditions to ward arresting the generational nature of individual and family dysfunction. Overall, Texas, the most fiscally sound of all the states examined made the most policy strides. Suggestions are offered for moving forward on youth mental health.

Full Text: PDF    DOI: 10.15640/jlcj.v6n1a10