Mapping the social service pathways of youth to and through the juvenile justice system: A comprehensive review

The purpose of this review was to detail the human or social service needs and service use patterns (i.e., healthcare, education, social services, child welfare, mental health, and substance abuse) that influence youth's entry and prolonged involvement with the juvenile justice system. What emerged from the literature was a pattern of service needs and prior service usage that placed youth at risk of juvenile justice involvement. Extralegal factors, such as individual characteristics (e.g., race/ethnicity, gender, and mental health and trauma histories) and social/environmental characteristics (e.g., family conflict, unmet service needs, and prior social service use) influenced how youth traveled across the sectors of care. The authors present a social justice systems model that depicts the varied service pathways that youth may concurrently or sequentially travel across the social and justice systems of care. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications for practice, policy, and research.