Child Molesters, Child Abuse Effects: Bulimia, Eating Disorders, Addictions

"I wish they would have had a group home that was specifically geared toward girls who were abused," said Collett, 21, of Tempe, Ariz. "I wanted something where people understood why I was there."

But most juvenile justice, mental health and child-welfare programs aren't designed for girls.

Boys represent the majority of children in the juvenile justice system, and behavior management programs, which use consequences and rewards, are better suited for them. Girls respond better to one-on-one relationships with counselors, trust and therapy, experts say.

"Girls have been getting the short shrift for a long time," said Marie Dils, policy manager for the Arizona Office of Policy, Strategic Diversity and Equity.

Dils and other Arizona child advocates are leading a national effort to restructure juvenile justice programs for girls, radically shifting the way girls are treated.

This week, more than 400 counselors, youth advocates, probation officers and group-home operators from across the country will meet in Scottsdale, Ariz., to kick off the National Girls Initiative, a conference that aims to shape programs and policies that affect services for girls.

The Girls Initiative is calling for gender-specific programs for girls in the areas of sex education and sexuality, vocational training and education and in mental health services.

"Times are changing," said Maria Garin-Jones, director of youth services for the Child Welfare League of America, a co-sponsor of the conference. "The needs of girls have changed."

A girl may drink or take drugs to hide the pain of sexual abuse. She may cut herself because of depression or post-traumatic stress syndrome connected to abuse. But she is generally punished for her delinquency and not helped to recover from the abuse.

In recent years, the number of girls across the country in the juvenile justice system is on the rise, sparking the discussion about why girls are being arrested. In 2000, girls made up 28 percent of all juvenile arrests, up from 19 percent in 1990, according to the Child Welfare League of America.

Researchers studying girls in detention found that more than 80 percent had a history of trauma, with at least one time in a psychiatric hospital, most likely for a suicide attempt. In Arizona, about half of the 16,000 girls in the state's court system were picked up for running away.

In a recent report by the Girls' Justice Initiative, girls in detention in five states said their biggest frustration was over "dead time" spent in detention with no access to mental health services.

Girls know they need help and start acting out when they don't get it, said Alyssa Rapisarda, clinical supervisor at the Florence Crittenton group home in Phoenix. The 40-bed facility is divided into four groups so counselors work with the same group of girls every day. It's an attempt to build relationships. But time is always limited, and therapy often short-term.

Collett said she felt like she was being punished for being abused. She was depressed. She cut and burned herself.

"I was confused," she said. "I just felt like I was a bad child."

She attended group counseling aimed at girls who drank alcohol and took drugs. At one facility, she took mandatory drug tests every week. But Collett never drank or took drugs.

Today, she works for a vocational recovery program for adults with mental illness. But the road has been tougher and longer than it needed to be, she said.

"It's taken me a long time to figure out that I'm not a bad person," Collett said