Mandatory Mental Health Screening for Justice-Involved Youth: A National Priority

Abstract

The prevalence of mental health disorders is higher among justice-involved youth than youth in the general population. Despite mental health being a pressing contemporary issue in the juvenile justice system, fewer than half of the states in the United States mandate the use of a mental health screening for youth in the juvenile justice system. The need to utilize a mental health screening tool in all 50 states should be a national priority. The Massachusetts Youth Screening Instrument-Version 2 (MAYSI-2) is the recommended screening tool that should be adopted nationally. Currently, 21 of the 24 states that mandate the use of a screening tool utilize MAYSI-2. Furthermore, it is recognized as having the most empirical evidence as an instrument at the juvenile justice system’s entry and transitional points.