The prevalence of mental health disorders is higher among justice-involved youth than youth in the general population. Despite mental health being a pressing contemporary issue in the juvenile justice system, fewer than half of the states in the United States mandate the use of a mental health screening for youth in the juvenile justice system. The need to utilize a mental health screening tool in all 50 states should be a national priority. The Massachusetts Youth Screening Instrument-Version 2 (MAYSI-2) is the recommended screening tool that should be adopted nationally. Currently, 21 of the 24 states that mandate the use of a screening tool utilize MAYSI-2. Furthermore, it is recognized as having the most empirical evidence as an instrument at the juvenile justice system’s entry and transitional points.

参与司法的青年中精神健康障碍的患病率高于一般人群中的青年。尽管心理健康是少年司法系统中一个紧迫的当代问题，但美国只有不到一半的州要求在少年司法系统中对青年进行心理健康筛查。在所有 50 个州使用心理健康筛查工具的需求应该是国家优先事项。马萨诸塞州青年筛查工具第 2 版 (MAYSI-2) 是推荐的筛查工具，应在全国范围内采用。目前，强制使用筛选工具的 24 个州中有 21 个使用 MAYSI-2。此外，它被认为是具有最多经验证据的少年司法系统进入和过渡点的工具。