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

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dc.contributor.authorMueni, Florence Muema
dc.date.accessioned2025-04-28T09:06:46Z
dc.date.available2025-04-28T09:06:46Z
dc.date.issued2023
dc.descriptionJournal Article
dc.description.abstractMental 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
dc.identifier.citationMueni, F. M. (2023). Assessment and Treatment Programs for addressing the Mental Health Needs of Justice Involved Children in Nairobi County, Kenya. Eastern African Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences.
dc.identifier.issn2958-4558
dc.identifier.urihttps://repository.daystar.ac.ke/handle/123456789/6667
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherEastern African Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences
dc.relation.ispartofseries2(1)
dc.subjectAssessment
dc.subjectChildren
dc.subjectJustice system
dc.subjectScreening
dc.subjectTreatment Programs
dc.titleAssessment and Treatment Programs for addressing the Mental Health Needs of Justice Involved Children in Nairobi County, Kenya.
dc.typeArticle

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