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Assessing behavioral health treatments available to children in, or at-risk of placement in, Connecticut’s juvenile justice system
Close to Home is the culmination of a year-long study of behavioral health resources available to children in Connecticut’s juvenile justice system. This report offers an analysis of current services, contrasts them with successful national effective practices and makes recommendations for system  enhancements that include the following:
- Establish timely and appropriate behavioral health screening and assessment to assist police, probation officers and judges in making well-informed decisions for referring children to the least-restrictive and clinically appropriate treatments.
- Allocate resources away from confinement and towards community-based services, which are more cost-effective.
- Focus services on families, not individual children, for the best long-term outcomes.
- Establish services that are responsive to gender differences, trauma and cultural relevance, with attention to disparities affecting people of color, and underserved and special populations.
In this country, it has been documented that as many as sixty percent of all children in the juvenile justice system have one or more diagnosable behavioral health conditions. Based upon national research and Connecticut trends, it is clear that we will not reduce these problems relying primarily upon residential placement, detention and secure confinement. Close to Home identifies and recommends effective behavioral health treatments for children and families that focus on promoting children’s strengths, rather than simply identifying their pathologies.
(For a downloadable version of the report, or its executive summary, click here.)
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