Question
Select a future trend of crisis intervention and mental health services within the law enforcement system.
Create?a 7- to 12-slide Microsoft??PowerPoint??presentation about your selected trend with detailed speaker notes.
Include?the following in your presentation:
Overview of the trend
How the trend will affect the practice of crisis intervention within law enforcement
How the trend will affect the practice of mental health within law enforcement
Potential law enforcement challenges associated with the trend
Recommendations on how law enforcement can proactively address the trend to include:
Training, policy, practice, potential issues?
Sample paper
Future trend of crisis intervention and mental health services within the law enforcement system
This presentation addresses the issues experienced in the criminal justice system regarding the cases of mentally ill juvenile offenders. The presentation will discuss the effects of this trend and the challenges that the trend brings in addition ,it will provide recommendations and why training is important in the criminal justice system.
For more than a decade, the juvenile justice system has been faced with the need to meet the needs of mentally ill juvenile offenders. It is estimated that at least two million youths are arrested annually in the United States. Out of this number, at least 70 percent have one or two mental health conditions. Most of these youths are in the system because they can access treatment easily than they can in the community. If they do not get treatment, they end up getting worse. For those with severe psychiatric symptoms, solitary confinement is used in most correctional facilities. The problem is that solitary confinement worsens the condition and causes extreme suffering. When juveniles are placed in solitary confinement, they face the risk of having permanent developmental issues and increased chances of committing suicide. Juveniles in the system have a four times greater risk of committing suicide than those who are not. The challenge is that there are 75 percent re-arrest chances within three years after release (Nami.org, 2017).
The juvenile system (probation, youth corrections facilities, detention, etc) was originally a place where the justice system offered preventive and rehabilitative services. The system prioritized and emphasized that observing the rights and needs of children was better than punishment. The juvenile system enabled the youth and children from being charged as adults since adult prisons are not good for them. What followed was the establishment of community based programs to offer treatment to the young offenders. However, it has never been easy to rehabilitate offenders with these programs. The programs do not assure that the young offenders will stop reoffending. Hence the short lived surge raises the need to protect the community. The criminal justice system not only has a responsibility to rehabilitative offenders, but its primary goal should be enhancing public safety. Incorporating the treatment of mentally ill offenders is putting too much burden on the justice system. However, despite this fact, the system has no choice but to embrace it since if the mentally ill offenders do not receive treatment, the danger they pose to the public is tripled (Mericle, . Teplin, Abram, McClelland, & Dulcan, 2010).
Every offender has the right to access mental health care whether they are in prison or not. Since the inception of the juvenile system, the number of juvenile cases has been increasing. The national juvenile justice council ( NJJC) indicated that there was a 30 percent increase in the number of delinquency cases between years 1985 and 2009 (Underwood & Washington, 2016). Most of these delinquency cases involve person offences, drug offences and public order offences. Drug abuse is noted to increase chances of developing metal illnesses. The fact that drug offence cases are on the increase means that mental illness challenges among juveniles are not increasing.
Mental disorders are more prevalent among juvenile offenders more than adolescents within the general population. Out of the 2 million youths who go through the system annually, approximately 50 to 70 percent have mental health disorders. In addition, approximately 40 to 80 percent of the juvenile offenders have at least one diagnosed mental illness. Most of the illnesses trigger aggressive behavior among the offenders. They are accompanied by emotional symptoms such as anger as well as self regulatory symptoms.
Image retrieved from http://www.foundationsforfreedom.net/References/OT/Pentateuch/Deuteronomy/Deut21_18-21_Rebellious-Sons.html
One major challenge that arises in treating mental disorders is that the available treatment options do not accommodate everyone. Most programs are designed to treat the offenders with either substance abuse issues, the mentally ill, or the developmentally disabled. Most of the programs do not consider the offenders who have multiple problems such a mentally ill drug abuser. Those with multiple conditions comprise a majority of those in the system, and thus they have a hard time fitting into most treatment programs.
Lack of knowledge about most mental illnesses is also a challenge. Law enforcement officers are the first to get in contact with the juvenile offenders. As a result, it may be hard for them to know to deal with a violent mentally ill offender since most treatment programs are available in the correction facilities or community based organizations.
Most mentally ill youths have the tendency to commit crime. While it is obvious in such cases that their actions are controlled by their mental disorders, they can be violent and pose danger to the public. When one has a mental illness, it is necessary that they get help. However, it is the duty of law enforcement officers to make sure that public safety is not compromised. Thus regardless of what they need, such people end up being incarcerated in the hope that they get treatment in correction facilities. This could be conflicting since the offenders are not I their right state of mind in such circumstances. The juveniles end up being separated from their families when they need them most (Allen, 2008).
Law enforcement officers have the responsibility to summon or bring in young offenders to the juvenile division of the police department. This is followed by questioning, taking fingerprints, booking and to detain them if necessary. During the arrest, the officers should make a decision whether the cases do not require to be taken to the justice system or to refer the offenders to juvenile courts. Most juvenile court referrals are made by law enforcement officers. There are polices that stipulate the rules and regulations that should be observed in these circumstances. Law enforcement is the model of modern society.
In addition to handling criminal cases, the officers should also deal with noncriminal behavior which is known as status offences. Status offences involving the young population include running away from home, failing to observe curfews, and skipping school among others. Police officers should look into such cases to ensure that they are not habitats to criminal behavior. Law enforcement department should liaise with mental health experts to ensure that cases of substance abuse and mental disorders are identified and treated immediately. This will ensure that the number of delinquent cases is reduced.
Police departments often have crime units dedicated to juvenile matter the crime units responsible for handling juvenile matters should also intervene in non delinquent cases where young people go missing to establish if they are abused or neglected. Fighting juvenile delinquent cases and mental health issues require law enforcement department, parents, school officials and the whole community to be on the lookout of behavior that could lead to committing crime.
As noted earlier, law enforcement officers are the first to encounter with offenders. The officers should be well trained on how to handle mentally ill offenders. They should refrain from using deadly force when making arrests and be trained on how respond to violent offenders. Most of the cases do not require force; they just require an officer to understand how to approach the offender without causing further damage. Some criminals are daring and shoot at police officers. It is therefore important for officers to know when to use certain approaches.
Image retrieved from http://golfhiawathatrails.com/2016/12/06/why-attorneys-must-handle-juvenile-cases/
Juvenile mental health is a global issue. Government agencies and the criminal justice system have embraced the need to address mental health issues to ensure the health and wellness of young offenders. As a result, there are many counseling organizations that have been established to help the justice system deal with the issue. When young people are neglected and exposed to violence, their mental health may deteriorate and if treatment is not started at the right time, the situations are endangering. The earlier these cases are addressed the better for both the young offenders and the society.
Develop individually, a criminal justice case study that involves the need for an intervention.
