Mexico has general education and disability laws that guarantee special education services to children and adolescents with disabilities as part of their basic human rights. As youth with psychosocial disabilities, such as depression and anxiety, are not recognized within the special education system as a separate category, in practice, they are…

The incidence of co-occurring language and behavior problems has been described and explored for more than 25 years. As many as 62% to 95% of students with emotional or behavioral disorders (E/BD) have undetected language impairments (LI). Without recognizing language and behavioral challenges, serious learning consequences may result. Solely…

Collaboration between special educators and transition coordinators is important to lower recidivism rates among juvenile offenders with disabilities. This column provides best practice transition guidelines and urges special education teachers, special education coordinators, and transition coordinators in juvenile correctional facilities to…

In this article, Mark Freado and Howard Bath present the case of an 11 year boy who had been arrested and charged with the murder of his two-year-old cousin. Because of the severity of the criminal charge against this boy, and despite his age, a transfer hearing was set to determine whether he would be tried as a juvenile or an adult. Such…

Many youth involved with the juvenile justice system have education-related disabilities and are eligible for special education and related services under the Federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). In most cases, the rates of disabilities in the court-involved youth population are much greater than those in the general youth…

Alternative education programs (also called alternative schools) first appeared on the American landscape in the 1960s. Despite the proliferation of these programs, a generic description of what constitutes an alternative education program, historically, has been elusive. Most alternative education programs have the general criteria of serving…

Youth with emotional and behavioral (E/BD) and other disorders, who in many cases have not received needed interventions and supports in school, are overrepresented in the juvenile justice system. This article considers how parents of youth with E/BDs can become more involved in the process when their child is referred to juvenile court, thereby…

Discusses family therapy as one means of intervening in the social decay that is rapidly occurring in the Virgin Islands and Caribbean community and that is manifested in the antisocial behavior of young people, focusing on the evolution of this antisocial behavior and the therapist's and the community's role in maintaining juvenile delinquency or…

This article describes an Escambia County, Florida, program that serves male, middle school, juvenile delinquents or adjudicated youth with disabilities. It describes the program's development, components, successes, and failures. It notes program eligibility, intake and orientation processes, social skills intervention, academic program, and the…

This report focuses on the critical needs and problems facing juvenile justice efforts nationwide, highlighting eight significant challenges: (1) reducing overreliance on incarceration for non-dangerous youthful offenders; (2) developing a continuum of community-based sanctions and interventions for delinquent but non-dangerous youth; (3)…

Describes the EQUIP Program, a new psychoeducational model that teaches antisocial youth to think and act responsibly through a peer-helping approach. Highlights the challenges presented by antisocial youth, reviews the development of earlier psychoeducational methods, and outlines basic program components. Initial research shows significant…

This collection of papers presented at a 1996 conference on children's mental health focuses on the juvenile justice system. Papers have the following titles and authors: (1) "Delinquency and Mental Illness: The Intersection of Problems and Systems" (Carolyn S. Breda); (2) "Assessing the Mental Health of Adolescents in the Mental Health and…

This paper argues for a broad interpretation of the definition of social maladjustment; presents a hypothetical model of the relationship between adequacy of parenting and adequacy of environment; discusses methods for identifying social maladjustment; and describes programing for prevention and rehabilitation through development of social…

Oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) is a common clinical problem in children and adolescents. Oppositionality and associated types of aggressive behavior are among the most common referral problems in child psychiatry. Grouped among the disruptive behavior disorders, ODD is frequently comorbid with other psychiatric conditions and often precedes…

The "Handbook of Youth Prevention Science" describes current research and practice in mental health preventive interventions for youth. Traditional prevention research focused on preventing specific disorders, e.g. substance abuse, conduct disorders, or criminality. This produced "silos" of isolated knowledge about the…