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August 15, 2009
States seen as relying on juvenile corrections system to handle young offenders with psychiatric disorders
On its front page, the New York Times (8/10, A1, Moore) reports, "As cash-starved states slash mental-health programs in communities and schools, they are increasingly relying on the juvenile corrections system to handle a generation of young offenders with psychiatric disorders."
Currently, approximately "two-thirds of the nation's juvenile inmates...have at least one mental illness, according to surveys of youth prisons, and are more in need of therapy than punishment."
A "recent survey of state mental health offices" indicated that "at least 32 states cut their community mental health programs by an average of five percent this year and plan to double those budget reductions by 2010." In fact, "juvenile prisons have been the caretaker of last resort for troubled children since the 1980s," the Times writes, "but mental health experts say the system is in crisis, facing a soaring number of inmates reliant on multiple -- and powerful – psychotropic" medications "and a shortage of therapists."
Related Links:
- Mentally Ill Offenders Strain Juvenile System ," Solomon Moore, New York Times, August 9, 2009.
Posted by admin at August 15, 2009 03:55 AM