Boston Juvenile Court Clinic

The Boston Juvenile Court Clinic is one of the oldest juvenile court clinics in the country. Under the leadership of Richard Barnum, M.D., the Clinic provides evaluation and some treatment services for the Boston Juvenile Court, seeing about 900 individuals referred by the court annually. The referrals typically involve cases of delinquency, status offense and child abuse matters, with problems related to a high prevalence of exposure to various types of trauma, as well as associated anxiety and mood disorders, substance abuse problems, disruptive behavior disorders, learning disorders and personality disorders. Faculty consists of a multidisciplinary team providing evaluation, consultation and treatment services for the court. The Clinic has an active research program, largely examining post-traumatic stress disorders and an eight-year longitudinal study of abused and neglected children. Residents will have opportunities to visit the courtroom, consult to attorneys, probation officers, judges and social service agency workers and may serve as expert witnesses in cases evaluated. The Clinic has close ties with the Children and the Law Service, a division of the Law and Psychiatry Service of MGH.