Justice involvement and girls' sexual health: Directions for policy and practice

Abstract

Arrested girls in the United States (US) are often diverted from detention through referrals to juvenile specialty courts (e.g., juvenile drug court), community-based diversion programs, or preadjudicated probation services. Limited research suggests that sexual and reproductive health needs for diverted, or court-involved, non-incarcerated (CINI) girls are similar to that of their detained counterparts. Despite the US justice system's emphasis on diverting youth from detention, research and programmatic efforts to improve sexual and reproductive health outcomes has primarily focused on detained girls. Policy and programming for CINI girls is scant and thus warrants further attention. This report details the immediate sexual and reproductive health needs of CINI girls. We discuss implications of current health care policies and practices for this population and conclude with recommendations for research focused on improving access to sexual and reproductive health care.

The Influence of Familial and Peer Social Support on Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Among Black Girls in Juvenile Correctional Facilities

“…The content is solely the responsibility of the authors. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Camille R. Quinn, College of Social Work, The Ohio State University, 325U Stillman Hall, 1947College Road, Columbus, OH 43210-1132e-mail: quinn.395 G irls are the fastest growing group in the United States juvenile justice system, accounting for a third of all juvenile arrests (Kerig, 2018;Tam et al, 2019), and Black girls are overrepresented in the juvenile justice system when compared with their other racial/ethnic female counterparts (Hockenberry & Puzzanchera, 2017; Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention [OJJDP], 2019). Black girls aged below 18 years accounted for about 35% of all justice-involved girls although they comprise only 14% of the national population of American girls (OJJDP, 2019;Sickmund et al, 2020;Vafa et al, 2018).…”

Bringing juvenile justice and public health systems together to meet the sexual and reproductive health needs of justice-involved youth.

“…With few exceptions (Dembo, et al, 2009b, 2010; Johnson et al, 2008), research to date neglects the 80% of arrested youth who are never incarcerated or detained (e.g., CINI youth); yet, these youth experience similar disparities in access to SRH services—driven in large part by societal and structural determinants of health, such as poverty, neighborhood disorganization, and lack of access to general healthcare—as incarcerated youth (Puzzanchera, 2009). To wait until youth are detained to provide SRH prevention, treatment, care, and support services misses a tremendous public health opportunity (Tam et al, 2019).…”