Citation

Brady CM, Childs KK. Behav. Sci. Law 2023; 41(1): 1-18.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2023, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1002/bsl.2558

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The need for specialized training programs that are focused on youth mental health needs, awareness of community-based services, and de-escalation skills is growing across law enforcement agencies due to calls for service that involve youth in mental health crisis. The current study evaluates a juvenile mental health training for law enforcement that was developed based on agency needs. The training was completed by 159 officers and a pre-/post-test design was used.

FINDINGS suggest that officers were satisfied with the training and improvements were seen across several training constructs (confidence, preparedness, stigma, resource awareness, and de-escalation skills). Satisfaction with the training predicted change in confidence and preparedness. Recommendations for future research and the implementation of juvenile mental health trainings are discussed.

Language: en

Keywords

evaluation; juvenile mental health; law enforcement training; training development