Recent advances in the development of screening tools for mental health in young offenders.
OBJECTIVE
To describe recent advances in the development of mental health needs screening tools for use with young offenders and implications for this vulnerable group.


RESULTS
The literature shows that young offenders in North America and Europe have high levels of diverse needs that often go unmet because of lack of methods for recognizing and assessing them. Effective screening could play an important role in improving recognition of these needs. Substantial developments have been occurring in the United States, England and Wales and the Netherlands in developing screening tools for this purpose and for this population. Now, the literature is beginning to provide a broad understanding of the optimal psychometric properties, utility and limitations of the screening tools that are required.


CONCLUSIONS
Several centres are engaged in work to construct mental health screening and assessment tools for use with young offenders. Psychometric measures are being used to determine their validity and reliability. The work has highlighted deficiencies in the healthcare of young persons involved in criminal justice systems but should assist policymakers, healthcare strategists, planners and commissioners to come to better informed decisions about how to utilize most appropriately the limited mental health expertise that is available and how to enhance awareness of nonhealth professionals of basic mental health risks, problems and disorders.
Bailey
Susan
S
University of Central Lancashire, c/o The Adolescent Forensic Service, Gardener Unit, Manchester, UK.
Tarbuck
Paul
P
D000293:Adolescent; D006801:Humans; D007604:Juvenile Delinquency / Q000145:classification* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods; D008609:Mental Status Schedule / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D006113:United Kingdom / Q000453:epidemiology