Assessment and Treatment Programs for addressing the Mental Health Needs of Justice Involved Children in Nairobi County, Kenya

Abstract

Mental health screening, assessment and subsequent treatment is increasingly becoming necessary and fundamental in juvenile justice settings. Recent systematic reviews have reported an increase in the population of children with mental disorders (Beandry et al., 2021). Conversely, many children pass through the justice system without being assessed and end up being subjected to treatment interventions that do not match their mental health needs (Snehil & Sagar, 2020). The aim of this study was to explore the landscape of assessment and treatment of justice involved children with a focus on available tools and procedures for screening and assessment and to find out if there existed any evidence-based programs for addressing the mental health needs of children. This was a mixed methods study involving 193 child justice practitioners in Nairobi County sampled from courts, police, prosecution probation, prisons and children services. The study found that only one risk/need assessment tool (YLS/CMI) was being used by probation and children services and only with children committed to statutory institutions. Counseling and some forms of cognitive behavioral therapy were the only mental health interventions. Respondents cited various barriers to assessment and treatment and these included; lack of training, feeling incompetent, language barriers, high caseloads, non-prioritization of child clients, and limited resources. The findings of this study can be used by all agencies and child justice policy making bodies to streamline assessment and treatment so as to ensure access to justice and mental health service for children.