The Overlap between Juvenile Justice and Child Protection-addressing Challenges of a Dual-system Response to Vulnerable Youth

Dual system youth are those involved in both child protection services and the juvenile system for their delinquency. The children and youths involved in these facilities usually have a history of maltreatment and neglect. While the dual systems have a common objective to ensure these children receive the needed care, support and guidance to lead a crime-free life and rehabilitate into society, their overlapping responsibilities often lead to institutional conflicts over ultimate authority to determine how the lives of these vulnerable children must be managed. The essay employs a qualitative research method relying on secondary academic sources to critically analyse whether eh responses of these dual systems to the vulnerable youths impair or ease their traumatic past and lead to better life outcomes. The essay findings will reveal that the dual system may not be completely effective in rehabilitating the vulnerable youths and instead often result in re-traumatising them by providing unstable placements out-of-home care, racial disparities and disengagement with education. Despite these shortcomings, the essay will identify strategies that promise to mitigate the challenges and offer pathways towards more supportive, equitable and better outcomes for the vulnerable crossover youths in the long run.