Mental Health Screening in Juvenile Justice: A Grant Proposal
This grant proposal outlines a systematic initiative to address the high prevalence of mental health disorders among juvenile offenders in Connecticut. The paper argues that undiagnosed mental illness in children frequently leads to delinquent behavior and incarceration, and that punitive approaches have historically worsened outcomes, particularly for minority youth. The proposal presents two primary goals: integrating a standardized mental health screening instrument into schools and the juvenile justice system, and establishing effective mental health treatment programs including functional family therapy and cognitive-behavioral interventions. A budget of $119,000 and a network of organizational partners are identified to support legislative reform and rehabilitative program implementation.
- Project Description: Mental health disorders driving juvenile delinquency and incarceration
- Project Goals and Objectives: Screening integration and mental health treatment goals
- Implementation Strategies: MAYSI screening adoption across schools and justice system
- Legislative Changes: Shifting juvenile policy from punitive to rehabilitative
- Design of a Functional Family Therapy: Family-centered therapy for at-risk adolescents
- Supervision and Treatment: Cognitive-behavioral and multidimensional treatment approaches
- Budget and Timeline: Itemized $119,000 budget and funding sources
✍️ How to write this paper — guide, tools & examples ▾
What makes this paper effective
- The proposal clearly ties mental health diagnosis to juvenile delinquency outcomes using cited statistics, giving the argument empirical grounding from the outset.
- Goals and objectives are structured in a numbered, tiered format that mirrors professional grant writing conventions, making the proposal easy to evaluate.
- The inclusion of specific named partner organizations and a line-item budget adds credibility and demonstrates practical feasibility.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The proposal employs an evidence-based policy argument: it introduces a problem supported by research data (e.g., 80% of incarcerated youth have mental health disorders), critiques the existing punitive model using historical evidence, and proposes specific, costed interventions. This structure — problem, critique, solution — is a hallmark of effective grant writing and policy advocacy writing at the undergraduate level.
Structure breakdown
The paper follows a standard grant proposal format: a project description establishing need, a goals-and-objectives section with hierarchical numbering, an implementation section divided by strategy type (screening, legislation, therapy, supervision), a budget table, and a references list. Each implementation section maps directly to one of the stated objectives, demonstrating internal coherence between planning and execution.
Project Description
Mental health disorders have increased in recent years as uncertainty about job security and isolation from social interactions have grown. While these challenges have greatly affected adults, children are disproportionately affected when their parents suffer from a mental health disorder. These challenges in children often go undiagnosed and result in delinquent behavior and juvenile incarceration. According to Underwood and Washington (2016), 80% of children who have been incarcerated or involved in the juvenile justice system have a mental health disorder. Recently, the rate of juvenile incarceration has been rising alongside low tolerance by the education system for defiant behavior (Paternoster & Bachman, 2013).
Before 1980, rehabilitative measures were used to address juvenile offenders; however, due to a surge in delinquency, punitive measures were adopted. This approach was strategically a misstep, as it led to 40% of adults who had been in the juvenile system being incarcerated by age 25 — a trend that disproportionately affects individuals from minority communities. Consequently, this project aims to establish systematic changes in the approach adopted for handling children with delinquent behavior.
Project Goals and Objectives
Goal 1: Integration of a screening procedure for mental illness among delinquent children at school and in the juvenile system.
Objectives:
i. Screen for mental health illness among delinquent children before these cases are forwarded to the juvenile justice system.
ii. Adopt the Massachusetts Youth Screening Instrument — Version 2 in school counseling departments.
iii. Achieve early identification of mental health disorders among juvenile offenders.
Goal 2: Establishment of an effectively functioning management system for mental health illness in the juvenile justice system.
Objectives:
i. Establish a collaborative treatment plan for children's mental health illnesses with parents and healthcare providers.
ii. Design a functional family therapy system for children with defiant behaviors.
iii. Implement an intensive supervision program for juvenile probationers who display low conduct and mental health disorders.
Implementation Strategies
The Connecticut Juvenile Justice Alliance will lobby for the adoption of the Massachusetts Youth Screening Instrument (MAYSI-2) in Connecticut's juvenile justice and education systems to identify potential mental health problems requiring immediate intervention. Before the need for juvenile justice involvement arises, observation of juvenile conduct among children should be screened for behavioral problems such as drug abuse, depression or anxiety, suicidal ideation, trauma, and irritability (Underwood & Washington, 2016).
The adoption of the MAYSI-2 will be conducted in collaboration with the National Network for Youth, Shore Executive Director Sasha Bruce, the Child Health & Development Institute of Connecticut, the Connecticut Youth Services Association, The Village for Families, and the K–12 education board of Connecticut. The involvement of representatives from these organizations will help tailor the instrument to suit the specific needs of defiant children within the state.
References
Collective Impact Forum. (2018). Collective Impact Case Study: Connecticut Juvenile Justice Alliance [Ebook]. Collective Impact Forum. Retrieved July 24, 2021, from
Underwood, L., & Washington, A. (2016). Mental illness and juvenile offenders. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 13(2), 228.
Paternoster, R., & Bachman, R. (2013). Labeling theory. Oxford Bibliographies Online Datasets. DOI: 10.1093/OBO/9780195396607-0078
Always verify citation format against your institution’s current style guide requirements.