2.3 Understanding the Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Treatment Needs of Commercially Sexually Exploited Girls: A Partnership with the STAR Court

Abstract

Commercially sexually exploited youth (CSEY) represent an underserved subset of the female juvenile delinquency population, with high need for substance use disorder (SUD) and mental health (MH) treatment. The Succeeding Through Achievement and Resilience (STAR) Court, a specialty diversion court in Los Angeles, provides MH and SUD referrals to CSEY on probation for trafficking related charges. Our objective was to better understand the SUD and MH characteristics of CSEY in order to inform future service planning.