"It's not ever going to work, so why would I even try?": Black and Latino youths' perspectives on behavioral health treatment engagement during reentry after incarceration

The disproportionate representation of Black and Latino youth in the U.S. juvenile legal system relates to behavioral health disparities. This qualitative study examined the perspectives of Black and Latino youth undergoing community reentry after incarceration to better understand their behavioral health treatment engagement during reentry. Adolescents recently released to home from incarceration in the Los Angeles County juvenile legal system participated in a longitudinal series of semi-structured interviews at 1-, 3-, and 6-month post-incarceration. We performed thematic analysis of 42 total interview transcripts from 27 unique participants to explore Black and Latino youth perspectives on behavioral health treatment engagement during reentry. We organized participants' attitudes on their behavioral health treatment engagement during reentry into three categories: 1) perceived behavioral health needs; 2) perceived utility of behavioral healthcare; and 3) perceived connection with service providers. Participant perspectives elucidated psychosocial barriers related to the attitudinal aspects of treatment engagement, such as the minimization of behavioral health needs and feeling disconnected from their providers. Reported barriers could potentially be addressed to better promote and improve behavioral health treatment engagement among Black and Latino youth during reentry.