Frontline workers’ perceptions of youth with mental health issues at a residential treatment facility

Abstract

Despite the growing number of youths with mental health needs entering the juvenile justice system, few studies have been conducted on direct care workers’ (DCW) perceptions of youth with mental health issues. This study examined the perceptions of DCW at an all-male juvenile residential treatment facility for at-risk youth. Specifically, the study used both quantitative and qualitative techniques to survey DCW on their perceptions of youth with and without mental health issues, as well as their work with both populations. The findings suggest that DCW perceive youth with mental health issues less favorably than youth without mental health issues. They also report their work performance to be less effective with youth mental health issues compared to their work with youth without mental health issues. DCW further suggest more resources and training for work with youth who have severe mental health issues, to properly address their needs.

Keywords:

• mental health
• youth
• perceptions
• front-line workers
• direct-care workers
• treatment facility

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 In comparison, youth residing at this facility were 53% White and 34% African American. Other races comprised 13%. In terms of age, 4% of the youth were between 9 and 12 and 44% between 13 and 15 years old, 37% were 16 or 17 years old, and 15% were 18 years of age or older. Depending on the program they were assigned to, the average youth stayed between 120 and 400 days.