Youth spend less time in detention and are less likely to get in trouble with the law after participating in Alameda County's Collaborative Mental Health Court.
In this report, NCYL describes the workings of the Court, its participants, and the results the Court has seen since it began in 2007.
Juvenile mental health courts focus on treating rather than punishing incarcerated youth, most of whom suffer from a diagnosable mental illness.
"I didn't want them to [help me], but they did -- at school, at home, with my mental stages ... Everything is different, the way I smile and walk and act is different. I finally got to be a teenager again."
- Youth Participant, Alameda County Collaborative Mental Health Court
This report is made possible by the support of Alameda County's Department of Health and Human Services and the California Endowment.
For print copies, please contact Tracy Schroth, (510) 835-8098 ext. 3013, tschroth(at)youthlaw.org.
