Review article
The health status of youth in juvenile detention facilities

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2005.06.008Get rights and content

Abstract

Youth exiting detention facilities have particularly high rates of co-occurring health-risk behaviors, while lacking access to the health care system. Not surprisingly, these youth suffer a disproportionate share of adolescent morbidity and mortality. Their time of incarceration often represents their only significant contact with a health care provider outside of an emergency setting. As such, it is critical that health care providers utilize the opportunity to educate and connect these youth with community resources to facilitate their access to health care upon their reemergence into the community. We review the factors affecting the health of youth in detention, and the health problems that are among the greatest sources of morbidity and mortality in this adolescent population.

Section snippets

General demographics

The population of incarcerated youth has remained high despite dramatic declines in the serious violent crime perpetration rates for youth. The trends in adolescent arrest rates indicate that the arrest rates for violent crime and property crime have shown substantial declines over the last decade, and the growth in arrests have come from lesser crimes [1]. Between 1985 and 2000, the serious violent crime offending rates for adolescents aged 12 to 17 years dropped about 43% [9]. Over the same

Effects of Health Care on Adolescent Recidivism

Recidivist youth differ from incarcerated youth without a previous detention in terms of both health-risk behaviors and impaired health. A 1996 survey of 486 male youth in detention found that youth with multiple versus first admissions were less likely to report using a condom with their last sex partner and were more likely to report having initiated sex before age 13, having eight or more lifetime sexual partners, having ever exchanged drugs or money for sex, and having ever impregnated a

Access to Care and the Medical Homes Model

In the early 1980s, in an effort to address the inadequacy of health services in incarcerated populations, the American Medical Association (AMA) established an independent not-for-profit National Commission on Correctional Health Care (NCCHC), which is now supported by 36 major national organizations representing the fields of health, law and corrections. The NCCHC is responsible for writing the national Standards for Health Services for detained populations, which are available on their

Conclusion

Youth transiting the juvenile detention system have particularly high rates of health-risk behaviors, and suffer a disproportionate share of adolescent morbidity and mortality. Mental health and sexual health are two areas of particular concern in this adolescent population. As their needs are diverse, and conventional familial and community support networks are typically absent, innovative methods are needed to reach these youth and connect them with community health-related resources. Lack of

Acknowledgments

This work was supported in part by a Santa Clara Valley Foundation Grant to M.G. and an AAP Child Access to Community Health (CATCH) grant to A.A.

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