More mentally ill teens landing in justice system

More mentally ill teens landing in justice system

by Jacob Santini The Salt Lake Tribune January 3, 2005

Dec. 7 was the day Debby Stone had dreaded.

That was the day she picked up a ringing telephone and was told her 17-year-old son was in the hospital after attempting suicide a day earlier.

While the teen is racked by a list of mental illnesses - among them bipolar disorder and depression - those aren't what Stone believes prompted the suicide attempt. She contends Utah's juvenile justice system did that by letting the teen languish in a criminal facility for nearly eight months without the treatment he needed.

"He was just desperate," Stone said. "He just couldn't take it anymore. He was ready to explode."

Stone contends her son should have been placed in a treatment center instead of Wasatch Youth Center, a detention center in South Salt Lake. There, Stone argues, her son's mental illnesses intensified.

Stone isn't alone in that theory. The issue of holding mentally ill children in facilities meant for youth convicted of crimes has been raised across the country and already has been before federal lawmakers. A national study this summer found most juvenile detention centers were holding youths who are there only to wait for mental health services.

"There's no question this is a major societal problem," said 3rd District Court Judge Robert Yeates.

And it appears to be a growing one in Utah.

In December 2003, there were fewer than 10 teens held in secure facilities who were in the "serious mentally ill" category, said Blake Chard, director of the state's Division of Juvenile Justice. Early this month, the number spiked to 45.

"We are concerned because it appears more and more kids with serious mental illnesses are coming into our facilities," Chard said. "I don't think we're in a crisis."

The number of mentally ill youth ordered into detention is largely out of Chard's control, he notes.

While the division makes sentencing recommendations, juvenile judges alone hold the authority to decide whether a child is sentenced to juvenile detention or other placements, such as group homes and treatment facilities.

For judges, however, there are often few options.

"It's very frustrating for a judge," Yeates said. "Sometimes, you sit up on the bench and know what a kid needs. But you can't do anything."

Yeates, a juvenile court judge for nine years, said many judges try to place children in the custody of juvenile justice officials and the Division of Child and Family Services, allowing those agencies to make placement decisions, rather than ordering a youth into a secure facility.

On the opposite end of the system, the Youth Parole Authority is responsible for releasing teens from custody. Again, the division makes recommendations about when and where those youth should go, but the final decision is with a three-member panel representing the authority.

The Washington, D.C.-based Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law and the Special Investigations Division for the Democratic staff of the U.S. House of Representatives have investigated the issue.

Their study surveyed three-quarters of the juvenile detention facilities nationally, including some in Utah, and was released in July. The survey found the majority - 347 of the 500 facilities - of juvenile detention centers are home to youth awaiting treatment.

Over six months, those youngsters totaled 14,603.

Mentally ill children also stay longer - an average of 23 days compared with 17 days for all youth - in juvenile detention centers, according to the report.

It's a situation that officials at the Bazelon Center say is unacceptable.

"All child-serving agencies must stop using the juvenile justice system to avoid serving children they don't want, and police and judges should refuse to participate in the criminalization of a public health problem," Bazelon senior staff attorney Tammy Seltzer told the U.S. Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs when the report was presented.

"These children languishing in juvenile detention facilities may have been thrown away like yesterday's garbage, but they will be tomorrow's adults," Seltzer added.

An administrator for a Utah detention facility, not identified in the report, told investigators that access to treatment was the biggest concern here.

"The facility has to rely on [the] local mental health agency, and at times those staff are not available when a need arises," the administrator said in the report. "Availability is the biggest problem."

The Utah Division of Juvenile Justice has hired a psychiatrist and five clinicians so that detention centers along the Wasatch Front don't have to rely on community mental health providers in emergencies, Chard said.

The Bazelon Center, as well as the Utah advocacy group Allies with Families, argue a handful of qualified staff will not be the ultimate answer. Beds in treatment facilities, not lockdown detention centers, and services for families are the most commonly discussed solutions advocates seek.

That is what Stone wants, too.

She says she watched her son decline since he first entered the juvenile justice system in May, and has worried that he would attempt suicide. She is haunted by the 2000 suicide of her pregnant, 32-year-old daughter.

She acknowledges her son pleaded guilty to marijuana possession and assault - for using a fingernail clipper to threaten teens he felt were bothering him - but says the underlying cause was his mental illness.

"I don't know how he survived [his detention stay]," Stone said. "He lost his faith. He lost his hope."

Today, the teen has been paroled and is in a transitional program, heading toward an independent living program or home. He's also spending regular time at home with Stone.

Federal privacy rules prohibit Chard from discussing the teen's case or mental health, but he said the move is a "natural transition for him."

Although her son is out of detention, Stone isn't forgetting about her struggle and plans to continue to try to put the issue on the agenda of Utah's policy-makers.

"My heart goes out to those kids [still in detention]," she said. "They need to be helped instead of being treated like criminals."

Source: Salt Lake Tribune

This 'Mental Health E-News' posting is a service of the New York Ass'n of Psychiatric Rehabilitation Services, a statewide coalition of people who use and/or provide community mental health services dedicated to improving services and social conditions for people with psychiatric disabilities by promoting their recovery, rehabilitation and rights. To join our list, please click on the E-News Subscription button.

Last Updated on 01/06/05 webmaster@namiscc.org

Opinions expressed in this web site do not necessarily reflect the views of NAMI Santa Cruz County, NAMI California or any affiliated organizations. We attempt to present a balanced perspective on issues by presenting multiple viewpoints.

FAIR USE NOTICE: This may contain copyrighted (©) material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Such material is made available to advance understanding of ecological, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, moral, ethical, and social justice issues, etc. It is believed that this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml If you wish to use copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.