American Academy of Pediatrics: Health Care for Children and Adolescents in the Juvenile Correctional Care System

Over the past decade, there has been a dramatic increase in the population of juvenile offenders in the United States. Juveniles detained or confined in correctional care facilities have been shown to have numerous health problems. Such conditions may have existed before incarceration; may be closely associated with legal problems; may have resulted from parental neglect, mental health disorders, or physical, drug, or sexual abuse; or may develop within the institutional environment. Delinquent youths are often disenfranchised from traditional health care services in the community. For these adolescents, health care provided through correctional services may be their major source of health services. Pediatricians and correctional health care systems have an opportunity and responsibility to help improve the health of this underserved and vulnerable group of adolescents.