The health of youth in the juvenile justice systems

A substantial number of adolescents are imprisoned each year in the United States. Many of them come to detention with significant medical and mental health problems which, in many cases, have been neglected. The time of detention provides an opportunity to address these problems, thereby benefiting both the juvenile and society. The medical department has a vital role in giving individual care and ensuring that the detention facility provides a safe, positive environment in which delinquents can be rehabilitated. There are substantial barriers impeding the care of detainees that can be overcome using a variety of collaborations in the local and national communities. Involving teaching institutions brings outside oversight as well as new ideas into these closed institutions. Research in areas that will benefit inmates can improve our ability to provide appropriate care. Adolescent medicine and pediatric training programs have a duty to expose physician trainees to detention medicine so that an adequate number of appropriately trained physicians are available to work in juvenile correctional facilities. Juvenile detention medicine should be fully integrated into mainstream medical care and seen as a valuable career.