Chuang Emmeline, Wells Rebecca
Department of Health Policy and Management, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, United States.
Child Youth Serv Rev. 2010 Dec 1;32(12):1814-1822. doi: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2010.08.002.
Unmet need for behavioral health care is a serious problem for crossover youth, or those simultaneously involved with the child welfare and juvenile justice systems. Although a large percentage of crossover youth are serious emotionally disturbed, relatively few receive necessary behavioral health services. Few studies have examined the role of interagency collaboration in facilitating behavioral health service access for crossover youth. This study examined associations for three dimensions of collaboration between local child welfare and juvenile justice agencies - jurisdiction, shared information systems, and overall connectivity - and youths' odds of receiving behavioral health services. Data were drawn from the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being, a national survey of families engaged with the child welfare system. Having a single agency accountable for youth care increased youth odds of receiving outpatient and inpatient behavioral health services. Inter-agency sharing of administrative data increased youth odds of inpatient behavioral health service receipt. Clarifying agency accountability and linking databases across sectors may improve service access for youth involved with both the child welfare and juvenile justice systems.
行为健康护理需求未得到满足，对于“交叉青少年”（即同时涉及儿童福利和少年司法系统的青少年）来说是一个严重问题。尽管很大比例的交叉青少年存在严重情绪障碍，但相对较少的人能获得必要的行为健康服务。很少有研究探讨跨部门合作在促进交叉青少年获得行为健康服务方面的作用。本研究考察了当地儿童福利机构和少年司法机构之间合作的三个维度——管辖权、共享信息系统和整体连通性——与青少年获得行为健康服务的几率之间的关联。数据取自《全国儿童和青少年福祉调查》，这是一项针对与儿童福利系统有接触的家庭的全国性调查。由单一机构负责青少年护理，增加了青少年接受门诊和住院行为健康服务的几率。跨部门共享行政数据增加了青少年接受住院行为健康服务的几率。明确机构责任并连接各部门的数据库，可能会改善涉及儿童福利和少年司法系统的青少年获得服务的情况。
