Assessment and Treatment Programs for addressing the Mental Health Needs of Justice Involved Children in Nairobi County, Kenya

Abstract

Mental health screening, assessment and subsequent treatment is increasingly becoming necessary and fundamental in juvenile justice settings. Recent systematic reviews have reported an increase in the population of children with mental disorders (Beandry et al., 2021). Conversely, many children pass through the justice system without being assessed and end up being subjected to treatment interventions that do not match their mental health needs (Snehil & Sagar, 2020). The aim of this study was to explore the landscape of assessment and treatment of justice involved children with a focus on available tools and procedures for screening and assessment and to find out if there existed any evidence- based programs for addressing the mental health needs of children. This was a mixed methods study involving 193 child justice practitioners in Nairobi County sampled from courts, police, prosecution probation, prisons and children services. The study found that only one risk/need assessment tool (YLS/CMI) was being used by probation and children services and only with children committed to statutory institutions. Counseling and some forms of cognitive behavioral therapy were the only mental health interventions. Respondents cited various barriers to assessment and treatment and these included; lack of training, feeling incompetent, language barriers, high caseloads, non-prioritization of child clients, and limited resources. The findings of this study can be used by all agencies and child justice policy-making bodies to streamline assessment and treatment so as to ensure access to justice and mental health service for children.

Full text

Eastern African Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences
Vol. 2 No. 1 (2023): ISSN (Online): 2958-4558
DOI: https://doi.org/10.58721/eajhss.v2i1.206
Assessment and Treatment Programs for addressing the Mental Health Needs
of Justice Involved Children in Nairobi County, Kenya
63
Assessment and Treatment Programs for addressing the
Mental Health Needs of Justice Involved Children in
Nairobi County, Kenya
Florence Mueni Muema
United States International University - Africa
Article History
Abstract
Mental health screening, assessment and subsequent
treatment is increasingly becoming necessary and
fundamental in juvenile justice settings. Recent
systematic reviews have reported an increase in the
population of children with mental disorders (Beandry et
al., 2021). Conversely, many children pass through the
justice system without being assessed and end up being
subjected to treatment interventions that do not match
their mental health needs (Snehil & Sagar, 2020). The aim
of this study was to explore the landscape of assessment
and treatment of justice involved children with a focus on
available tools and procedures for screening and
assessment and to find out if there existed any evidence-
based programs for addressing the mental health needs of
children. This was a mixed methods study involving 193
child justice practitioners in Nairobi County sampled from
courts, police, prosecution probation, prisons and
children services. The study found that only one risk/need
assessment tool (YLS/CMI) was being used by probation
and children services and only with children committed to
statutory institutions. Counseling and some forms of
cognitive behavioral therapy were the only mental health
interventions. Respondents cited various barriers to
assessment and treatment and these included; lack of
training, feeling incompetent, language barriers, high
caseloads, non-prioritization of child clients, and limited
resources. The findings of this study can be used by all
agencies and child justice policy making bodies to
streamline assessment and treatment so as to ensure
access to justice and mental health service for children.
Received: 2023.04.13
Revised: 2023.05.07
Accepted: 2023.05.10
Published: 2023.05.12
Keywords
Assessment
Children
Justice system
Screening
Treatment Programs
How to cite:
Muema, F. M. (2023). Assessment and
Treatment Programs for addressing the
Mental Health Needs of Justice Involved
Children in Nairobi County, Kenya.
Eastern African Journal of Humanities
and Social Sciences,1 (1), pp. 63-75.
Copyright © 2023 The Author

Eastern African Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences
Vol. 2 No. 1 (2023): ISSN (Online): 2958-4558
DOI: https://doi.org/10.58721/eajhss.v2i1.206
Assessment and Treatment Programs for addressing the Mental Health Needs
of Justice Involved Children in Nairobi County, Kenya
64
Introduction
Since the promulgation of the constitution in 2010, there has been a sustained discourse
within the children’s sector on the need to institute reforms in child justice in line with
chapter 53 of the constitution of Kenya. These developments have helped steer justice
agencies away from the past punitive approaches to rehabilitation of children in conflict with
the law to rights and welfare-based models (Hay et al., 2018).
Screening and assessment of young offenders is one of the issues gaining acceptance within
the justice sector especially because the incidence of serious and violent crimes by children
and young people continues to be in the rise (Office of Juvenile Delinquency Prevention
OJJDP, 2021). Good practice requires that young offenders are screened for mental health
problems. However, in many jurisdictions, screening remains a challenge due to limited
training and lack of protocols to guide the process (Hovey, 2017). Assessment is critical as
it assists justice professionals make accurate projections about an offender’s likelihood of
changing and /or re-offending (Onifade et al., 2019). Through assessment, child justice
providers are able to identify appropriate treatment interventions to correct, change, or
ameliorate young offenders’ mental health problems (American Psychiatric Association
(APA), 2013).
Despite the push for reforms in treatment and rehabilitation, justice involved youth with
mental health problems remain an underserved population as the system is still adversarial
and slow in shifting focus from law enforcement to treatment (Underwood & Washington,
2017). In Kenya, there is paucity of research on mental health screening, assessment and
treatment for justice involved children. However, recent task forces on juvenile justice and
mental health have decried the services provided by various child justice agencies especially
the lack of effective responsive systems to the mental health needs of children who come
into contact with the system (Ministry of health (MOH), 2020; National Council for the
Administration of Justice (NCAJ), 2019). The aim of the study was to explore the landscape
of assessment and treatment of justice involved children.
Methods and Procedures
Permission to conduct the study was obtained from the National Commission for Science,
Technology and innovation (NACOSTI). The researcher visited each of the agencies and
sought authority from the heads of the agencies. Some respondents filled the survey online
while hard copies were administered on those found on duty. The informed consent form
was attached to each survey tool. The tool contained 20 questions including demographic
information and those related to assessment and treatment programs. Piloting of the survey
tool was carried out in Prisons, Probation, Police and Children services. The piloting was
useful in pretesting the questions and making revisions where appropriate.
A mixed methods approach was adopted so as to enhance the understanding of assessment
and treatment programs and the barriers to their implementation. Probability and non-
probability sampling methods were used to select the sample. Specifically, stratified random
and purposive sampling methods served to sample justice professionals. In using stratified
sampling, the researcher categorizes each population into groups and then selects
respondents from these groups. The purpose was to ensure that selected respondents
accurately portrayed the parameters of population under observation (Zaman, 2021). This
sampling method was appropriate for this study as the population consisted of six different
sub groups of child justice agencies drawn from six mainstream agencies in Nairobi County
namely; Magistrates, Police officers, Prosecutors, Probation, Children and Prison officers.

Eastern African Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences
Vol. 2 No. 1 (2023): ISSN (Online): 2958-4558
DOI: https://doi.org/10.58721/eajhss.v2i1.206
Assessment and Treatment Programs for addressing the Mental Health Needs
of Justice Involved Children in Nairobi County, Kenya
65
Moreover, each of these agencies provide different services to children hence gathering data
from each agency would ensure a greater degree of representativeness and accuracy and
make it possible to generalize findings. A sampling frame was constructed, and purposive
sampling carried out to select stations where the respondents were derived. At the stations,
simple random sampling was used to select specific respondents. Of the 230 survey tools
sent out, 225 were returned. Out of these 225, some had only the sociodemographic
information filled in where others were blank as the respondents decline participation.
Therefore,193 questionnaires were found suitable for analysis.
Data Analysis
The data was analysed using SPSS version 29. Qualitative data was transcribed, coded and
organised into categories as guided by the research aim and questions. Quantitative data
was computed to present descriptive analysis of the study variables. Triangulation was
applied so as to present both statical information and support the figures with qualitative
data.
Results
There were 193 justice professionals drawn from all the six agencies. The demographic
characteristics are explained in table 1.
Table 1: Demographic Characteristics of Child Justice Professionals
Demographic
n
%
Sex
Males
61
31.6
Females
132
68.4
Agency of respondent
Judiciary
5
2.6
National Police Service
66
34.2
Probation and Aftercare
Service
35
18.1
Directorate of children
services
16
8.3
Kenya Prisons Service
64
33.2
Directorate of public
prosecution
7
3.6
Total
193
100
As shown in table 1, of the total number of respondents, females formed the majority
(68.4%), while males were 31.6%. National Police Service had the majority number of
respondents (34.2%) followed by Kenya Prisons Service (34.2%), Probation and Aftercare
service (18.1%), Directorate of Children Services (8.3%), Directorate of Public Prosecution

Eastern African Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences
Vol. 2 No. 1 (2023): ISSN (Online): 2958-4558
DOI: https://doi.org/10.58721/eajhss.v2i1.206
Assessment and Treatment Programs for addressing the Mental Health Needs
of Justice Involved Children in Nairobi County, Kenya
66
(3.6%) and Judiciary with (2.6%). The respondents worked in field stations, providing
direct services to children, while others were based at Nairobi County offices or the
national headquarters hence primarily involved in coordinating national programs and
making policy decisions. The respondents’ education level was deemed important in this
study. Table 2 displays a distribution of education level.
Table 2: Child Justice Professionals’ Education Level
Education Level
n
%
Certificate
40
20.7
Diploma
45
23.3
Undergraduate degree
74
38.3
Masters
27
14.0
Post graduate Diploma
7
3.6
Total
193
100.0
Respondents with bachelor’s degrees formed the majority (38.3%). Diploma holders were
23.3% and closely followed by certificate level respondents who comprised 20.7%. Those
with master’s degrees were14% and the least was post graduate diploma respondents at
3.6%.
The study sought to find out if there are any standardised assessment tools used by the
agencies. In table 3, the distribution of responses as provided by each agency is presented.

Eastern African Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences
Vol. 2 No. 1 (2023): ISSN (Online): 2958-4558
DOI: https://doi.org/10.58721/eajhss.v2i1.206
Assessment and Treatment Programs for addressing the Mental Health Needs
of Justice Involved Children in Nairobi County, Kenya
67
Table 3: Use of Standardized Assessment tools
Agency use of standardized assessment tools
Agency of
Respondent
Yes
No
I don’t
know
Total
χ2
National Police
service
22
32
12
66
11.4%
16.6
%
6.2%
34.2%
p<0.0
1
Judiciary
1
2
2
5
0.5%
1.0%
1.0%
2.6%
Probation &
Aftercare Service
15
15
5
35
7.8%
7.8%
2.6%
18.1%
Directorate of
Children Services
11
4
1
16
5.7%
2.1%
0.5%
8.3%
Kenya Prisons
Service
40
5
19
64
20.7%
2.6%
9.8%
33.2%
Directorate of Public
Prosecution
3
2
2
7
1.6%
1.0%
1.0%
3.6%
92
60
41
193
47.7%
31.1
%
21.2%
100.0%
Table 3 indicates that police, probation, children and prison officers used some form of
assessment. A minimal number of magistrates (0.5%) and prosecutors (1%) responded in
the affirmative. Probation officers were split in the middle in their responses as 15% reported
the use of assessment tools while another 15 % did not. Chi-square computation yielded a
p<0.01 signifying a relationship between the agencies and use of standardized assessment
tools.
When asked to state the reasons for non-utilization of assessment tools, respondents gave
a variety of factors. One participant explained “We have not been provided with any tool or
inventory. We only see some of these tools when we attend workshops and seminars, but we
don’t have them in our offices”. A good number of respondents cited the lack of training as
a contributing factor to limited use of assessment. One respondent clarified this by stating
that “There are no permanently employed psychologists and counsellors in our institutions
who can consistently conduct assessments. We heavily rely on volunteers and partners”.
Another reason given was limited commitment by policy makers in the agencies to invest in
purchase of assessment tools. To substantiate this view, a probation officer exp lained,
“Assessment has never been factored as a serious issue. So, the tools out there are yet to be
brought down to the field”. According to some respondents, the failure to use assessment

Eastern African Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences
Vol. 2 No. 1 (2023): ISSN (Online): 2958-4558
DOI: https://doi.org/10.58721/eajhss.v2i1.206
Assessment and Treatment Programs for addressing the Mental Health Needs
of Justice Involved Children in Nairobi County, Kenya
68
with children was because some agencies concentrated more on assessment of adult clients
and not children. In their view, adult offenders were “taken more seriously than children
and “The tools available are only for adults”.
Despite these challenges some justice professionals like probation and children officers used
youth level of service case management inventory (YLS/CMI) but only for children committed
to statutory institutions. Children officers also reported that they also use case management
guidelines while police and prison officers used general guidelines and standard operating
procedures. Overall, most of the tools used by most agencies were in the form of guidelines
and data collections forms. There was no mention of psychometric screening or assessment
tests for gauging the mental health needs of children.
With regard to availability of treatment programs, the respondents had mixed responses as
presented in table 4.
Table 4: Availability of Treatment Programs n=193
Of those who responded to the question related to availability of mental health treatment
programs, 53.4% held that they did have programs while another 35.2% explained that they
do not have the programs. A fairly good percentage (11.4%) reported that they were not
aware if their agencies had such programs. The Pearson’s Chi-Square statistic found a
significant relationship between the agency of the respondent and availability of treatment
programs. Those who reported availability of programs mentioned spiritual guidance,
counselling, relapse prevention for drug use, life skills training, family therapy, family group
decision making, play therapy, art therapy, cognitive behavioural therapies, positive
parenting, mentorship and good lives model.
The 35.2% of respondents who reported that their agencies did not have treatment programs
gave various reasons for their response. One overriding theme was that mental health issues
are not prioritised in the child justice sector as described by respondent R-23:
I have never seen any programs that address mental health. There is lack of
recognition by the agencies that children have unique special needs. Most of these
children are ignored. Their mental health is not a primary concern. Also, there lacks
guidelines for use by agencies on rehabilitation and treatment of children.
(Respondent R-23).
Availability of treatment programs
Agency of respondent
Yes
No
I don’t
know
χ2
National Police Service
22(11.4%)
37(19.2%)
7(3.6%)
p=0.01
Judiciary
2 (1.0%)
2 (1.0%)
1 (0.5%)
Probation & Aftercare
Service
11(5.7%)
21 (10.9%)
3 (1.6%)
Directorate of Children
Services
11 (5.7%)
4 (2.1%)
1(0.5%)
Kenya Prisons Service
52 (26.9%)
4 (2.1%)
8 (4.1%)
5 (2.6%)
0 (0.0%)
2 (1.0%)
103 (53.4%)
68 (35.2%)
22 (11.4%)

Eastern African Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences
Vol. 2 No. 1 (2023): ISSN (Online): 2958-4558
DOI: https://doi.org/10.58721/eajhss.v2i1.206
Assessment and Treatment Programs for addressing the Mental Health Needs
of Justice Involved Children in Nairobi County, Kenya
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Others noted that the available programs are generic and applied across all children as
opposed to individual treatment. Still some respondents were of the view that the over-
reliance on external partners prevents agencies from improving their own programs. The
lack of professional counsellors and counselling rooms in most of the agencies was also
linked to failure to implement programs.
Another reason given for non-availability of programs was the absence of standard
procedures on rehabilitation and treatment of children. A respondent explained this further
by stating: “We do not have guidelines on how to handle mental health issues. Individual
officers use their experience and training.
Participants were asked to explain who within their agencies is responsible for the
implementation of mental health related programs. The findings are displayed in table 5.

Eastern African Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences
Vol. 2 No. 1 (2023): ISSN (Online): 2958-4558
DOI: https://doi.org/10.58721/eajhss.v2i1.206
Assessment and Treatment Programs for addressing the Mental Health Needs
of Justice Involved Children in Nairobi County, Kenya
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Table 5: Provision of Mental Health Services for children handled by each Agency
Intern
s
Psychologist
s from
partner
organization
s
Volunteers
Agency has
employed
counsellors
I provide
service
part of
my work
All
cases
referre
d out
Total
Frequency & Percentage
Agency
National
Police
Service
2
(1.0%)
14
(7.3%)
9
(4.7%)
8 (
4.1%)
16
(8.3%)
15
(7.8%)
66
(34.2%)
Judiciary
3
(1.6%)
1
(0.5%)
2
(1.0%)
0
(0.0%)
0
(0.0%)
2
(1.0%)
5
(2.6%)
Probation
& Aftercare
Service
1
(0.5%)
4
(2.1%)
0
(0.0%)
4
(2.1%)
23
(11.9%)
3
(1.6%)
35
(18.1%)
Directorate
of Children
Services
4
(2.1%)
3
(1.6%)
0
(0.0%)
1
(
0.5%)
10
(5.2%)
1(0.5%
)
16
(8.3%)
Kenya
Prisons
Service
4
(2.1%)
9
(4.7%)
18
(9.3%)
22
(11.4%)
5
(2.6%)
4
(2.1%)
64
(33.2%)
Directorate
of Public
Prosecutio
n
1
(0.5%)
2
(1%)
0
(0.0%)
0 (
0.0%)
0
(0.0%)
4
(2.1%)
7 (3.6%)
Total
13
(6.7%)
33
(17.1%)
29
(15%)
35
(18.1%)
54
(28.%)
29
(15)%)
193
(100.0%
)
As shown in table 5, practitioners who reported that they are the ones providing treatment
programs were (29.5). Another 18.1% reported that their agencies have employed
counsellors and psychologists for this specific purpose. The remaining percentage (52.1) rely
on volunteers, interns, partner organizations and referring children to other mental health
professionals. A further analysis of individual agency revealed that courts and prosecution
do not provide direct treatment but refer out all cases to other mental health service
providers. For National police services 24.9% indicated that they use the services of interns,
volunteers, partner organizations, while 8.3% provide treatment as part of their work. Data
from respondents working with Probation & Aftercare service revealed that majority (11.9%)

Eastern African Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences
Vol. 2 No. 1 (2023): ISSN (Online): 2958-4558
DOI: https://doi.org/10.58721/eajhss.v2i1.206
Assessment and Treatment Programs for addressing the Mental Health Needs
of Justice Involved Children in Nairobi County, Kenya
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of the officers are direct implement treatment programs, although 8.3% rely on providers
from outside the agency. Directorate of children services had 5.2% of officers as programs
implementers and 4.7% who refer child clients to interns, volunteers and partner
organizations. Compared to their counterparts, Kenya prisons service had the highest
number of internally employed mental health service providers (11.4%) and another 9.3%
reporting that the counselling is provided by volunteers.
Training on mental health related issues is important. The findings on child justice
practitioners’ training on mental health issues is presented in table 6;
Table 6: Training on Mental Health
Training on mental
health
f
%
Yes
70
36.3
No
123
63.7
Total
193
100.0
As described in table 6, respondents not trained (63.7%) were more than those who had
been in some form of training (36.7%). The lack of training of officers in mental health
prevented most agencies from implementing mental health related programs as one
participant from probation services said, “We lack the technical expertise to handle mental
health needs of children”. A police officer based in a child protection unit explained that
“Police officers are not trained in mental health. We refer all cases to stakeholders and
children officers”.
Another respondent explained how lack of training affects their ability to deliver services:
“Lack of know-how and special training in this area makes me unable to identify the child
with mental illness which renders me helpless in addressing those needs”. It also interfered
with their care and protection role as respondent R-47 put it:
Some staff who are not trained wait until the child has had a session with
a counsellor then they take the child aside to ask them what they were sharing
with the counsellor. Sometimes this makes children feel discouraged and
demoralised. (Respondent R-47).
The respondents gave their views on the effectiveness of these programs. Table 7 shows their
rating.

Eastern African Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences
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Assessment and Treatment Programs for addressing the Mental Health Needs
of Justice Involved Children in Nairobi County, Kenya
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Table 7: Respondents’ Rating of Effectiveness of Treatment Programs
Program effectiveness
n
%
Effective
72
37.3
Not sure
44
22.8
Somewhat effective
39
20.2
Total
193
100.0
Across the agencies, respondents who appraised the programs as effective were 37.3%.
There was a good number who were not sure if the programs were effective or not (22.8%).
Those who rated programs as somewhat effective were 20.2% of the sampled respondents.
Those who found them very effective made up 19.7%.
Barriers to mental health screening, assessment and treatment of justice involved
children
Participants further cited other challenges related to their role as law enforcement
personnel. Majority noted that children fear them because of their position of authority. This
was a barrier to rapport building and meaningful interactions as most children did not open
up to them. When children were not able to share their issue, then the officer would be
unable to understand what the child was going through. One respondent put it succinctly:
“Some children refuse to open up due to fear especially when we interact with them in
uniform, yet I am expected to be in uniform when on duty”. Another participant explained
that child victims or witnesses in a court case are afraid of giving their testimony and
therefore they failed to open up”.
According to the respondents, inadequate resources were a hindrance to provision of
effective services. The specific resources lacking were counselling rooms, child protection
units, equipment’s and materials for working with children, safe places for accommodation
of child witnesses, transportation and stationery.
Another barrier mentioned was inadequate time to serve children. The respondents
acknowledged that they spent a minimal amount of time on each case of a child. A
respondent explained: “This is because of the many roles that we play and the heavy
workload.” Others explained that the dual roles make them interact in non -empathic ways
with children and also show little patience. In explaining the link between time and helping
children effectively, a respondent stated, “Addressing the psychological and mental health
needs of children requires a lot of time. With other pending duties, one is not able to give
the support needed notwithstanding that I do not have the necessary skills”.
Language was identified as a barrier to communicating with children in the system. Some
respondents explained that they lacked the skills to ‘communicate with very young children’
and that some children only spoke their mother tongue. The participants explained they
handled children with special needs yet were not trained in specific skills such as sign
language. Respondents explained that uncoordinated multi agency working and poor
coordination was preventing most children from receiving efficient services. According to the

Eastern African Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences
Vol. 2 No. 1 (2023): ISSN (Online): 2958-4558
DOI: https://doi.org/10.58721/eajhss.v2i1.206
Assessment and Treatment Programs for addressing the Mental Health Needs
of Justice Involved Children in Nairobi County, Kenya
73
participants, there was minimal cooperation and inter-agency support. A respondent
quantified this: “There is lack of unity of purpose among departments that deal with
children.”
Agency procedures and practice towards children was another difficulty experienced
throughout the system. Some respondents felt that it was not within the mandate of their
agencies to stated that to provide mental health services”. Other respondents reported that
some agencies detained children in the same facility/room with adults, and that some
officers used abusive language in the presence of children or on the children. Another
respondent stated that in institutions where mothers were detained with their children,
sometimes the mothers are punished when the children are watching, and this traumatised
the children even more.
Absence of specialised officers trained and equipped with skills to handle children’s matters
was highlighted by many of the respondents. In their view, the current practice where any
employee including non-professionals are allocated the case of a child with a mental disorder
was detrimental to the welfare of the child.
Discussion of Results
The study found that mental health assessment of children is not mainstreamed and
standardized. Additionally, none of the agencies use any standardized screening or
assessment tools to identify psychological needs of children. The lack of screening and its
impact on children is well documented. Holland and Smirnov (2023) argued that these
children interact with professionals who are unaware of the child’s underlying issues and
this denies the child to access treatment. There was absence of evidence-based treatment
programs especially in the three main agencies responsible for rehabilitation (Children
services, probation and prison service). This may have adverse effects on the degree of
change by the young person as metanalytic studies have shown that increase in recidivism
is related to the lack of effective programs (Papas, 2023; Daftrary-Kapur et al., 2022).
There were indications of use of psychological treatments by officers serving in other
agencies except courts and prosecution. The study found a common trend of over reliance
on referral to volunteers, student interns and private organizations for provision of mental
health services. The agencies responsible for treatment and rehabilitation (Probation and
Aftercare Service, Directorate of children services, Kenya Prisons Service) did not have
specific programs targeting mental health problems. Most programs in the rehabilitation
institutions were vocational training and skills empowerment courses.
Limited competence of professionals in providing mental health treatment and rehabilitation
of juvenile offenders was a highlight of the study. Reasons provided included lack of training
in this area, related, specialization, interest, and high case-loads. Studies in other countries
have found similar findings. In Sweden, Ahonen and Degner found that 70% of justice
professionals lacked training in program implementation thus most of them did not feel
competent.
Conclusion
The study established that the Kenyan child justice system has limited capacity to detect
and deal with the mental health needs of justice involved children. The lack of capacity led
to failure to distinguish between psychological disturbance and discipline issues. It emerged
that there was ignorance in all agencies as to how screening and assessment can assist
agencies to identify the most appropriate interventions. Evidence based treatment programs

Eastern African Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences
Vol. 2 No. 1 (2023): ISSN (Online): 2958-4558
DOI: https://doi.org/10.58721/eajhss.v2i1.206
Assessment and Treatment Programs for addressing the Mental Health Needs
of Justice Involved Children in Nairobi County, Kenya
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to address mental health were non- existent as the system focused more on formal education
and vocational training. There were no protocols for child centered forensic interviewing by
police, and prosecution. The findings of this study can be used by the child justice system
in Kenya to improve rehabilitation and treatment of children. One possible way would be by
developing joint protocols that will standardize screening and assessment of children
entering the justice system. Training of child justice workforce on mental health needs of
children will enhance the capability of the system to respond effectively to the mental health
needs of children. Child justice policy making bodies need to invest resources in evidence-
based treatment and continuing research.
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Eastern African Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences
Vol. 2 No. 1 (2023): ISSN (Online): 2958-4558
DOI: https://doi.org/10.58721/eajhss.v2i1.206
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