Center for Behavioral Health and Youth Justice

The Center for Behavioral Health and Youth Justice (CBHYJ), directed by Dr. Katherine Elkington, is at the forefront of local and national efforts to promote behavioral health services in community and youth justice settings. Founded by Dr. Gail Wasserman (originally Center for the Promotion of Mental Health in Juvenile Justice), the Center is housed within the Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University, and the New York State Psychiatric Institute.

The Center's work focuses on identifying the mental health and substance use treatment needs of youth involved in the justice system, facilitating, and improving collaborations between the justice and behavioral health systems, and developing approaches to better serve vulnerable youth-- whether it be through prevention, treatment, or service linkage and engagement programs and protocols.

Since its inception in 2001, the Center has assisted with the delivery of behavioral health services at the state and local levels for youth involved in the justice system, impacting policy and research priorities nationwide.

Partnerships

• Justice Community Opioid Intervention Network Coordination and Translation Center, Rapid Innovation Grants Funding Opportunities
• HIV Center for Clinical and Behavioral Studies, New York State Psychiatric Institute and Columbia University
• Project Opioid Court REACH, Justice Community Opioid Innovation Network, New York State Psychiatric Institute and Columbia University
• Center for the Prevention and Treatment of Depression, Columbia University Department of Psychiatry
• Center for Mental Health and Justice, Columbia University Department of Psychiatry
• The Center for Advancing Correctional Excellence (ACE!), George Mason University
• Lighthouse Institute, Chestnut Health Systems
• Indiana University School of Medicine (IUSM)