Operationalizing a System of Care and Breaking Down Silos: The Sharing of a Senior Mental Health Clinician across Juvenile Justice Agencies

About the Program

Category: Criminal Justice and Public Safety (Best in Category)

Year: 2018

Chesterfield County, Virginia juvenile justice agencies, as part of a local System of Care community with other child-serving agencies, knew they needed to be innovative and collaborative when it came to addressing the many and varying needs of their court-involved youth. It was clear that youth were showing signs of trauma, mental illness and were at high risk to re-offend (based on YASI scores). The Court Services Unit, the Juvenile Detention Home, and the Adolescent Reporting Program were all targeting the issues, but in silos. Despite best intentions, there was fragmented sharing of information, and often, youth and their families had to re-tell their stories and provide redundant information to strangers, which is not a trauma-informed approach to working with court-involved youth. Therefore, a shared position was created: the Systems of Care Senior Mental Health Clinician. The Systems of Care Senior Mental Health Clinician endeavors to meet with youth and their families at every phase of the juvenile justice process. The shared position enables youth and families to see a familiar face at every proceeding and in varying levels of system involvement and subsequent crisis/trauma. Youth and their families are more comfortable with a familiar face, and the juvenile justice agencies are better able to track and assess the needs of their clients. As a result, the needs of this community’s juvenile justice clients are met consistently. Further, court-involved youth can remain in the community with tools, connections and resources that reduce recidivism and the symptoms of mental illness.