Integration of Health and Public Health Issues in Juvenile Justice Policy and Programs

Based on the growing understanding of health and developmental factors related to risk for involvement in the juvenile justice system, there has been evolution in thinking related to both juvenile justice policy and practice. The increased understanding of the impact of exposures to violence and trauma during early childhood has lead to an effort to integrate trauma informed practices of the criminal justice system in both the response to family violence when children are present as well as trauma informed care as part of the juvenile justice system as evidenced in one of the signiture programs of the US Department of Justice: Defending Childhood. Similarly, the growing understanding of the neurological and cognitive changes that occur in adolescence as well as the biological changes also occuring during this period of growth have begun to alter and modify how the juvenile justice system responds to youth, prioritizing strategies that accommodate this developmental stage of life in an effort to alter the trajectory of young people growing up in high risk communities. This presentation will describe and discuss what some of these changes in policy and practice have been and address the importance of integrating health and publich health into the thinking of the juvenile justice system.