Offender Ethnicity and Mental Health Service Referrals from Juvenile Courts

Juvenile courts play a critical role in facilitating access to mental health services for the large number of offenders with or at risk of emotional or behavioral problems. This research examines the decision of the court to refer offenders to treatment and whether offender ethnicity affects the referral decision. Results suggest that ethnicity has no independent effect on treatment recommendations. Rather, ethnicity modifies the effects of other variables, particularly legalistic variables such as petitioning and adjudication. Implications of the findings for research on ethnic disparities in juvenile court decision making as well as for Black offenders who are disproportionately involved in the juvenile justice system are discussed.