title: From placement to prison revisited: Do mental health services disrupt the delinquency pipeline among Latino, African American and Caucasian youth in the child welfare system?
abstract: Racial and ethnic disparities in delinquency among child welfare-involved youth are well documented. However, less is known about the mechanisms through which these disparities occur. This study explores the extent to which sets of variables predict the occurrence of juvenile delinquency and whether race/ethnicity moderates the strength of the relationships between (1) social, emotional, and behavioral (SEB) problems and delinquency and (2) mental health service use and delinquency. We used a nationally representative sample of 727 African American, Caucasian, and Latino youth between the ages of 12-17 who were referred to the child welfare system. Controlling for age, gender, placement instability, maltreatment history, poverty, and urbanicity, linear regression analyses revealed that African American and Latino youth engaged in more delinquent acts than Caucasian youth did. However, service use decreased the likelihood of engaging in more delinquent acts for African Americans. Additional efforts are needed to illuminate and address the contextual and organizational barriers to delivering effective mental health services as a strategy to reduce racial disparities in delinquent behavior.
authors.affiliation: School of Social Policy & Practice, University of Pennsylvania, 3701 Locust Walk, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA. Electronic address: antgar@sp2.upenn.edu.
authors.forename: Antonio R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Garcia
authors.affiliation: School of Social Policy & Practice, University of Pennsylvania, 3701 Locust Walk, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
authors.forename: Johanna K P
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Greeson
authors.affiliation: Department of Social Work, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
authors.forename: Minseop
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: School of Social Policy & Practice, University of Pennsylvania, 3701 Locust Walk, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
authors.forename: Allison
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Thompson
authors.affiliation: School of Social Policy & Practice, University of Pennsylvania, 3701 Locust Walk, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
authors.forename: Christina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: DeNard
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001741:Black or African American; D002648:Child; D002669:Child Welfare; D005260:Female; D006630:Hispanic or Latino; D006801:Humans; D007604:Juvenile Delinquency / Q000208:ethnology*; D016014:Linear Models; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008605:Mental Health Services; D011329:Prisoners; D011330:Prisons / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D057566:Self Report; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D044465:White People
keywords: Child welfare; Delinquency; Juvenile justice; Mental health services; Racial disparity; Youth