Children in the criminal justice and secure care systems: how their mental health needs are met.

A study was made of the perceptions among relevant service providers of the mental health needs of young people considered for secure placement. Information was obtained in 1996 from 75% of departments of child and adolescent psychiatry, forensic psychiatry, social services children's services, youth justice, probation, secure units and young offender institutions in England and Wales. The findings confirm that highly disturbed young people, who may be a danger to themselves and others, may present to a wide range of services, and that their mental health needs are neither well recognized, widely understood, nor adequately met. Availability of appropriate levels and types of expertise and resource is patchy and strictly limited, within secure settings and in local community services across all agencies.