Incarceration of Youth Who Are Waiting for Community Mental Health Services in the United States

July 2004 Incarceration of Youth Who Are Waiting for Community Mental Health Services in the United States The U.S. Surgeon General has found that debilitating mental disorders affect one in five U.S. youth, but access to effective treatment is often limited. This report documents a serious consequence of the health system's failure to ensure effective mental health care: the inappropriate incarceration of youth who are waiting for community mental health services to become available. Without access to treatment, some youth with serious mental disorders are placed in detention without any criminal charges pending against them. In other . . .