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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 cases, such youth who have been charged with crimes but are
able to be released must remain incarcerated for extended periods
because no inpatient bed, residential placement, or outpatient
appointment is available. This misuse of detention centers as
holding areas for mental health treatment is unfair to youth,
undermines their health, disrupts the function of detention
centers, and is costly to society.
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