1 Hour / 1 CE

On Demand | Self-Paced Professional Training

This on-demand professional training program on Youth Justice Issues is presented by Johanna Folk, PhD.

This badge-earning program can be shared digitally on platforms like LinkedIn or your resume and counts toward a certificate. Enroll in this program to earn credit towards the Correctional Mental Health Certificate and share your new digital credentials.

This program focuses on the unique needs of young people in carceral settings. The content explores the history of the juvenile legal system, inequities in representation and behavioral health outcomes among legally involved youth, and best practices for assessing and addressing youth behavioral health needs in carceral settings. 

This program also highlights considerations for the delivery of trauma-, gender-, and culturally-responsive care within carceral settings. Participants gain a better understanding of the historical context of the juvenile legal system and the  state of the empirical literature related to behavioral health needs and care in youth carceral settings.

This program is geared toward mental health and other allied professionals at all levels of training who work in youth carceral settings or with youth involved in the juvenile legal system.

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this training, participants will be able to:

  • 1 Describe individual and contextual factors that impact behavioral health among youth in correctional settings
  • 2 Describe current research and best practices for addressing youth behavioral health needs in correctional settings

  • Intended Audience

    This training is designed for providers who specialize in child and adolescent mental health, forensic psychology, social work, or related fields focused on justice-involved youth. It is intended for those who support the mental health and well-being of legally involved youth, including those with expertise in assessment, intervention, and advocacy within the juvenile justice system.


    Examples of Relevant Professionals:
    • Mental Health Professionals
    • Psychologists
    • Social Workers
    • Counselors
    • Forensic Psychologists
    • Case Managers
    • Youth Advocates

  • Experience Level

    This training is appropriate for licensed and pre-licensed mental health and allied professionals at all experience levels who work with or are interested in serving youth in carceral settings.

    • Beginner: Participants are new to working with legally involved youth or carceral settings and seek foundational knowledge of the juvenile legal system, behavioral health needs, and responsive care practices.

    • Intermediate: Participants have some experience with youth in carceral settings and are looking to deepen their understanding of systemic inequities, current research, and best practices for trauma-, gender-, and culturally-responsive care.

  • Practice Setting

    Providers practice within youth justice systems across secure and non-secure care, working in structured, policy-driven environments that require multidisciplinary coordination with legal, educational, and child welfare partners. Their work centers on assessment, intervention, and advocacy for legally involved children and adolescents, with emphasis on trauma-, gender-, and culturally-responsive care and continuity of services from confinement through community reentry.


    Examples of Practice Settings:
    • Juvenile detention and correctional facilities
    • Court-based or court-affiliated mental health clinics
    • Probation and parole offices serving youth
    • Residential treatment programs for justice-involved youth
    • Community-based diversion and reentry programs
    • School-based services for court-involved students
    • Forensic assessment services and evaluation units
    • Correctional health and behavioral health units

Presented By

Johanna Folk, PhD Director of Research, Evaluation and Analysis in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of California

Johanna Folk, PhD (she/they) is a licensed clinical psychologist, Assistant Professor, Associate Director of the Juvenile inJustice Behavioral Health Lab, and the Director of Research, Evaluation and Analysis in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of California, San Francisco at the Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center. Dr. Folk's research and clinical work focus on addressing the behavioral health needs of youth and families impacted by the legal system. She uses community engaged and longitudinal research methods to understand the effects of adverse childhood experiences and legal system contact on adolescent trajectories, as well as participatory co-design methods to develop and evaluate technology-based interventions.

View More Programs from this Presenter
Johanna Folk, PhD

Training Outline

Key topics covered in this training include:

  • Historical background on the juvenile legal system and relevant reforms Inequities in representation among youth in carceral settings

  • Behavioral health needs of youth in carceral settings

  • Evidence-based treatment of youth behavioral health needs in carceral settings

  • Considerations for trauma-, gender-, and culturally-responsive practice

Earning a Certificate

This is a badge-earning program, which means it will help you earn a certificate that can be showcased on digital platforms like LinkedIn.
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CE Sponsorship Information

Palo Alto University, Continuing & Professional Studies (CONCEPT) is approved by, recognized by, or maintains sponsorship provider status with the following boards and agencies. We maintain responsibility for all content in our CE/CPD programs. For more information, visit here. 

  1. American Psychological Association (APA): Approved sponsor of continuing education for psychologists.

  2. Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB): Approved continuing education provider (ACE program, Provider #1480), 11/22/2023–11/22/2026.

  3. Canadian Psychological Association (CPA): Approved to sponsor continuing education for psychologists.

  4. National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC): Approved Continuing Education Provider (ACEP No. 7190).



Palo Alto University, Continuing and Professional Studies (CONCEPT) is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. Palo Alto University, Continuing and Professional Studies (CONCEPT) maintains responsibility for this program and its content. Palo Alto University, Continuing and Professional Studies (CONCEPT), is approved by the Canadian Psychological Association to offer continuing education for psychologists. Palo Alto University, Continuing and Professional Studies (CONCEPT), SW CPE is recognized by the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Social Work as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed social workers #SW-0356 and the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed mental health counselors. #MHC-0073. Palo Alto University, Continuing and Professional Studies (CONCEPT) has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 6811. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. CONCEPT Professional Training, #1480, is approved to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Organizations, not individual courses, are approved as ACE providers. State and provincial regulatory boards have the final authority to determine whether an individual course may be accepted for continuing education credit. CONCEPT Professional Training maintains responsibility for this course. ACE provider approval period: 11/22/23-11/22/26. Social workers completing this course receive (clinical or social work ethics) continuing education credits.