Each of the five main chapters focuses on a different topic, including the definition and prevalence of mental illness among the population of youth involved with the juvenile justice system, the various structural and organizational arrangements used to support services for this population, the legal context, program models, and cultural and racial competence in service delivery. The chapters emphasize several common themes: that more attention must be given to clarifying and strengthening the legal, programmatic, and policy framework that affects these youths' needs and their impact on service delivery; that the existing body of research is inadequate; that there is confusion and conflict within individual systems and across multiple systems regarding goals and responsibilities for this population; that the prevalence of mental illness among this population is significant; that relevant systems of care tend to be culturally biased; and that current mechanisms for screening and evaluating young are nonexistent and treatment approaches are ineffective. Chapter references and 1 appendix