Mentally ill US children held in detention centres

The recent DHS legislative hearing in Oregon focused on the fact that large numbers of prisoners in Oregon are actually wards of the state committed and jailed on mental assessments, having committed no crime, no trial, often "indefintely" the sentence, often years for children and adults....

and the government and Congressman Gordon Smith in Oregon have just created these assessments for EVERY CHILD starting next year in all the states .... no remedy to reverse the "opinion" of the agency once assessed.... services are NOT VOLUNTARY.....

pamela gaston www.avoiceforchildren.com Read the breaking Oregonian Expose of the horrific abuse in the child jails and state institutions on NEWSWIRE at our website.

Mentally ill US children held in detention centres

From: Chuck and Pat
From: Debra Hamilton

ABC Online

Mentally ill US children held in detention centres.

Thousands of mentally ill American children, some as young as seven, are locked up in juvenile detention centres because there is nowhere else for them to go, a US congressional report has found.

The report painted a disturbing picture of children with mental illness and/or substance abuse warehoused in jail-like conditions where their mental health often deteriorates.

More than 160 of the 524 centres surveyed reported suicide attempts by youths held unnecessarily.
"The last place some of these kids need to be is in detention," the study quoted a Tennessee juvenile centre administrator as saying.

"Those with depression are locked up alone to contemplate suicide."

The House-Senate bipartisan report was initiated by Maine Republican Senator Susan Collins and California Democrat Republican Henry Waxman.

It was the subject of a hearing on Wednesday by the Senate Committee on Government Affairs, which Senator Collins chairs.

Health insurers often provide little or no mental health coverage, or pay so little doctors do not want to take part in the health plans.

The study found that 33 states hold youths who have no charges against them of any kind in juvenile detention centres.

On any given day, about 2,000 such young people are incarcerated, and over six months, the number is 15,000.

"Too often (children) are simply left to languish in juvenile detention centres which are ill-equipped to meet their needs while they wait for scarce mental health services," Senator Collins added.

--Reuters

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