Over the past decade, there has been a dramatic increase in the population of juvenile offenders in the United States. Juveniles detained or confined in correctinonal care facilities have been shown to have numerous health problems. Such conditions may have existed before incarceration; they may be closely associated with legal problems; may have resulted from parental neglect, mental health disorders, or psychical, drug or sexual abuse; or may have developed within the institutional enviroment. Delinquent youths are often disenfranchised from traditional health care services in the community. For these adolescents, health care provided through correctial services may be their major source of health services. Pediatricians and correctional health care systems have an opportunity and responsibility to help improve the health of this underserved and vulnerable group of adolescents. Since 1973, the American Academy of Pediatrics has published policy statements about health care for correctional care facilites. The American Academy of Pediatrics is one of more than 30 organizations represented on the Board of Directors of the National Commision on Correctional Health Care, a not-for-profit organization that comprises representatives from the fields of corrections, law, law erforcement, and medical, dental, and mental health care. Its primary purprose is to work with correctional facilities to assist in improving their systems for providing health care.