An evaluation of the nation's first juvenile mental health court for delinquent youth with chronic mental health needs

The Santa Clara Juvenile Mental Health Court is the first court in the United States solely devoted to adjudicating mentally-disordered, juvenile offenders (Arredondo et al., 2001). This court is a version of a specialty court model designed to adjudicate mentally-disordered offenders with an emphasis on psychiatric treatment and utilization of community services. The model is based on the principles of increasing interdisciplinary communication and education among decision-making professionals who work with children to improve the understanding of mental health and developmental needs of juvenile offenders.;Scientific research of mental health courts provide mostly descriptive analyses of adult mental health courts (Goldkamp & Irons-Guynn, 2000; Sipes, Schmetzer, Stewart, & Bojrab, 1986). The few studies that provide preliminary outcome data (Boothroyd, Poythress, McGaha & Petrila, 2003; Christy et al., 2005; Trupin & Richards, 2003), established that use of the mental health court model reduces levels of incarceration (Griffin, Steadman, & Petrila, 2002), increases usage of mental health services (Trupin & Richards, 2003), and increases subjective reports of defendant satisfaction with the legal process (Poythress, Petrila, McGaha, & Boothroyd, 2002).;The Santa Clara Juvenile Mental Health Court, known as the Court for the Individualized Treatment of Adolescents ("CITA") focuses on interdisciplinary cooperation and is based upon the Children's System of Care Core Values as described by Arredondo (2001), which promotes a child-centered and family focused approach to treatment. Under this model, community resources are utilized that are culturally sensitive, involve the caregiver in the treatment process, provide integrated and coordinated services, and protect the child's rights.;Research questions focus on identifying demographic characteristics and rates of recidivism among the participants. Results reveal that minors who participate in CITA have similar characteristics to juveniles in other studies considered to be 'at risk' for psychological and behavioral disturbance. MacNemar Tests and Paired T-Tests reveal statistically significant reductions in the number of offenses committed by minors after entry into CITA (p < .0001). Wilcoxon Signed-Rank Tests reveal that these reductions occurred even though subjects were in the CITA program for longer periods of time than in traditional probation programs (p < 0.072).