Thesis (LL.M.)--University of Toronto (Canada), 2018
Includes bibliographical references
A significant majority of children who are engaged with the family law (child welfare) and youth criminal justice systems suffer with mental health issues. Only a fraction of them get treatment. Without adequate supports and services these children may become enmeshed in a "vicious cycle", with significant short and long-term consequences for children and families, as well as society as a whole. In this Thesis, I explore the role of the law, in theory and in practice, in the failure to provide these children with needed mental health services. Specifically, I investigate how the definition of mental health issues in the family law (child welfare) and criminal justice systems, and the failure in both systems to recognize the impact of the intersection of various factors (e.g. socioeconomic status, race, gender) on individual children (and families), leads to a systemic failure to adequately protect children with mental health issues
Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, Mich. : ProQuest, 2019
