Researchers at Stanford Medical School recently published the results of a large (2,000,000 hospitalizations) study of health issues for incarcerated juveniles in California. The researchers found a remarkable confirmation of the extent to which mental health issues drive juvenile incarceration: “We know young people in the juvenile justice system have a disproportionate burden of mental illness, but I was really surprised by the magnitude of the problem, because hospitalizations typically occur for very severe illness,” said the study’s lead author, Arash Anoshiravani, MD, clinical assistant professor of adolescent medicine. Stanford Medicine The study found that mental health diagnoses were responsible for 63 percent of hospital stays by young people in the juvenile justice system, compared to 19 percent for those not in the system.