Proper health care can provide stability in the lives of children and adolescents, particularly those with serious mental and physical health problems. Yet young people seldom see doctors or other health care practitioners. They have little connection with health care providers in their communities.

For young people who are arrested and brought to juvenile detention centers, there is a tremendous opportunity to make a positive and significant impact on their lives by connecting them with community health care providers.

Juvenile Offenders Community Health Services (JOCHS) is an initiative to promote the positive role of health care in the lives of children and adolescents who are brought to juvenile detention facilities. Our goal is to expand community health care systems to provide services for youth who are arrested and brought to detention centers. We encourage partners and policymakers to view detention as an opportunity to rethink health care delivery for all children and youth in their jurisdiction, and to provide care that is age-appropriate and culturally sensitive, and reflects local standards. By bringing community health care providers into juvenile detention centers, JOCHS seeks to build bridges between juveniles and their communities and to create stable medical homes for juveniles in their communities.

Building health care connectivity for juveniles makes financial sense and is feasible. Working with community health centers, we can use existing resources to connect juveniles to the services they need and reduce recidivism.