Health Care Liaison Role Creation for Utah's Juvenile Justice System

The Juvenile Justice System (JJS) provides a system of rehabilitation and interventions for adolescents accused of committing a delinquent or criminal act (Youth.Gov, n.d.). The Utah Division of JJS provides a variety of interventions and programs to promote rehabilitation opportunities for youth offenders while working to prioritize public safety (Utah Department of Human Services, n.d.-b). These programs range from in-home and outreach services for youth who are able to remain in the community to correctional facilities including detention and long term secure care (Utah Department of Human Services, n.d.-b). Utah Department of Human Services (n.d.-a) states that the goals of the Division of Juvenile Justice Services are to improve short- and long-term outcomes for adolescents, offer support to adolescents' families, and prioritize the safety and well-being of adolescents and employees associated with the JJS. The Division of Juvenile Justice Services focuses on a variety of fields and participates inmany interventions and programs to promote these goals (Utah Department of Human Services, n.d.-a; Division of Juvenile Justice Services, 2016). One of the areas of focus that contributes heavily to meeting these goals for adolescents in the JJS is access to high-quality health care, especially for adolescents living in detention or long term secure care facilities ( Division of Juvenile Justice Services, 2016). Many adolescents in a JJS have underlying health disparities likely as a lack of access to care prior to entry into JJS, engagement in high-risk behavior, or exposure to violence (Barnert et al., 2016). Youth in the JJS are more likely to come from lower socioeconomic environments(Savage et al., 2017) and, as youth in the JJS are disproportionally from minority races (Division of Juvenile Justice Services, 2016), they often face inequities and inequality in gaining access to health care (Division of Juvenile Justice Services, 2016; Savage et al., 2017). According to Balogun et al. (2018), the youth in a JJS represent a medically underserved and vulnerable population. As incarcerated youth are such a vulnerable population, high-quality health care for adolescents in detention or long term secure care facilities is extremely important (Simonian & John, 2018).