Costs of Incarcerating Youth with Mental Illness
The “Costs of Incarcerating Youth with Mental Illness” project was conducted for the primary purpose of informing public policy development by analyzing the costs and contexts related to incarcerating youth with mental illness and co-occurring mental illness/substance use disorders in California detention facilities. This study was one of the products of ongoing collaboration between the Chief Probation Officers of California (CPOC) and the California Mental Health Directors Association (CMHDA). Information obtained from this study will serve to advocate for better services in order to prevent the inappropriate criminalization of youth who would be better served in mental health treatment settings, to improve services to youth who must be separated from the community, and to ensure continuity of mental health care upon re-entry of such youth to their communities.
