OYAS OHIO YOUTH ASSESSMENT SYSTEM Development and Implementation

WELCOME

Objectives

 To understand what the OYAS is and how it benefits the Juvenile Justice System  To have an understanding of the research and development of the OYAS instruments

Background

   2005 – RECLAIM Ohio Evaluation:   Some low risk youth placed in residential centers showed an increase in risk level Moderate risk youth had lower recidivism when served in the community (22% versus 55%)   High risk youth recidivated at similar rates Very high risk youth had better recidivism rates when served in DYS University of Cincinnati recommended in the report that Ohio needed to develop a risk/needs assessment 88 courts using 77 different risk assessments

Background

    2006 – DYS contracted with the University of Cincinnati to develop a system-wide risk/needs assessment 2006 – Applied for and received a grant from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention 2006 – Pilot steering committee of 23 courts plus facilities (37+ courts involved in research and pilot); committee has continued since Prospective Study  Preferred to a retroactive study  Takes more time

Steering Committee

 Created a Steering Committee comprised of county and agencies across Ohio

Special Thanks to the Following Juvenile Courts Belmont Brown Butler Clark Clermont Coshocton Crawford Cuyahoga Delaware Franklin Geauga Hamilton Hardin Huron Knox Licking Lorain Lucas Mahoning Marion Medina Miami Montgomery Muskingum Ottawa Pickaway Richland Ross Sandusky Scioto Seneca Summit Trumbull Union Warren Williams Wood COYC

Data Collection

 Interviewed youth at all stages of the juvenile justice system  Detention/Diversion interviews were conducted by court staff  Disposition, Residential, and Reentry interviews were conducted by University of Cincinnati Staff

Interviews

 Face-to-face interviews were conducted  Follow-up interviews were conducted with a sub sample of the population  Questions across multiple domains  Self-report questionnaire was collected  File review

Tracking and Follow-up

 Youth were tracked for a minimum of 12 months  Counties provided follow-up data  Additional follow-up data were captured through the Department, Community Corrections Facilities, and ODRC

Sample Sizes

 Total Project  Diversion/Detention  Disposition  Residential  Reentry N = 2,457 N = 790 N = 594 N = 823 N = 250

What is Risk?

 When we refer to risk  Risk of recidivism  High risk likely to recidivate  Low risk not as likely

Risk and Need

 Static and dynamic factors that are associate with new criminal/delinquent behavior  Higher risk = more intensive services  Lower risk = lessser intensive services

Responsivity

 Specific responsivity  Barriers to service  Non-Criminogenic needs  Motivation  Childcare  Support for change  Race/ethnicity

Actuarial Assessment

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Based on research

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Predicts group behavior

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Combination of dynamic and static factors

The Instruments

 The Ohio Youth Assessment System (OYAS)  Diversion  Detention  Disposition  Residential  Reentry

OYAS Flow Chart

OYAS: Diversion (DIV)

 Identify youth who can be diverted from formal processing  Six items  File review or interview  10 minutes

OYAS: Detention (DET)

 Divert lower-risk youth from detention  Six items  Brief face-to-face interview  10 minutes

OYAS: Disposition (DIS)

 Youth adjudicated by the court  Comprehensive tool that assesses risk, criminogenic needs and barriers to treatment  Provides case planning  Face-to-face interview and collateral information

OYAS: Residential (RES)

 Use for long-term residential programs (3+ months)  Youth committed to DYS  Builds off the OYAS: Disposition  Face-to-face interview and collateral information

OYAS: Reentry (RET)

 Reassess youth while in a residential program (i.e. DYS)  Assess youth as they transfer to the community  Face-to-face interview and collateral information

Domains (DIS, RES, RET)

 Criminal history  Family  Education / employment  Mental health / personality / substance abuse  Pro-social skill sets  Peers  Anti-social attitudes

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OYAS Benefits

Based on Ohio youth Expand as needed depending on setting Include major risk and criminogenic need domains, as well as major responsivity factors Includes indicators of change in a residential or institutional setting Designed to measure change in youth over time Provides a common definition of risk across settings Long-term cost savings Public domain Fully automated Dramatically improves our research and evaluation capabilities Provided by DYS at no cost to juvenile courts and facilities

County/DYS Partnership

   Through the steering committee and other research activities, juvenile courts and facilities became invested in the development and success of the OYAS Pilot counties became the first certified users (on the pen-and-paper tools) County representatives have been trained as trainers and serve on the Training Advisory Committee

Implementation Challenges

      Promoting use by all counties Assuring qualified users Training  In-person versus online    Three days versus two days Costs Sustaining statewide Information sharing / confidentiality Lack of authority to mandate use Integrating into DYS

Roll-Out

     September 2009 – OYAS roll-out event September 2009 – Web-based system live December 2009 – Implemented at DYS Reception February 2010 – Implemented throughout DYS facilities April 2010 – Implemented in DYS parole regions

OYAS Training

          Two-day training Covers all five tools Written and video tests for certification Classes held at DYS Training Academy Pilot trainings held, summer 2009 41 trainings were conducted by UC in FY 2010 - 11 6 trainings scheduled for FY 2012 Must be trained and certified to use the OYAS Disposition, Residential and Reentry tools 1,500 + certified users 78 courts and 12 CCFs trained to date

OYAS Training Process

       Sessions are posted on DYS website Participants register online for any session with available slots DYS confirms each participant via email Following the class, trainers notify DYS of attendance and test results If a participant does not pass the test, he/she is contacted for a re-test (if the re-test is not passed, then the class has to be re-taken) DYS produces a certificate for each participant that is a certified user of the OYAS Training completion and certification are recorded by DYS in the training registration database (three-year re-certification)

OYAS Case Planning Training

 Half day Training  Training in a computer lab for hands on practice  Core components of building an individualized case plan are covered  No certification  Four Trainings in FY 2011  Four Trainings scheduled for FY 2012

Training of Trainers

 Necessary to sustain users  A total of seventeen county and DYS staff were trained in August 2009 and May 2010, along with UC trainers  Two-day course for 12 prospective trainers  Two levels of Trainer Certification

Trainer Qualifications

 Attend two-day user session  Certified as a user  Two-day OYAS trainer class  Present the course under UC observation (two-day)  Willing and available to train others  Assessment experience  Experience as a trainer

Training Advisory Committee

 Committee formed to plan for sustaining statewide training • • Regional training scheduling Train the Trainers  Members from juvenile courts, juvenile facilities and DYS  Six meetings since 2010

OYAS Web-Based System

           Developed by UC through a subcontractor Housed on server at UC Fully automated No software to install Different user levels Repeated questions automatically populate throughout different tools User reports Online tutorial Forum (questions and answers) Email communication to all users Case plan is in process of being Title IV E approved and parts of it automatically populate from the OYAS tools

OYAS User Levels

 Court/Program Detention/Diversion  Court/Program/DYS Inquiry  Court/Program/DYS End User  Court/Program/DYS Supervisor  Court/Program/DYS Admin  Super User

OYAS User Levels Defined

      Detention/Diversion – Administers only the detention and diversion tools Inquiry – Views data and reports; can not edit End User – Enters assessment data Supervisor – Reviews and can enter assessments; receives notices when assessments are due Admin – Create and manage accounts at the site Super User – Complete control; only at UC and DYS for monitoring, trouble-shooting and creating admin accounts

Managing OYAS Accounts

    Each county or program designates an admin user DYS creates the admin user account The admin user then sets up all supervisor, user or inquiry accounts for the county or program DYS only has to manage one account and password for each site; limits the amount of trouble-shooting to be done by DYS Inside DYS  DYS Super User assigns 1-2 admin accounts for each DYS site

OYAS Permissions

 To protect youth data, permissions are in place  Users can only view or edit data from their site  However, users can share assessment data by giving online permission (i.e. when transferring a case between counties or committing a youth to DYS)  Courts are to send the OYAS Residential on all youth committed to DYS

DYS Information Technology

 DYS staff complete OYAS assessments in the web based system  JJCMS draws data from the OYAS system  OYAS data is being used to populate DYS system, reports, case plans, etc.

Implications for Research

     OYAS data can be used to study risk level distributions in five different arenas of juvenile justice Consistent risk level data on diverted youth and youth in community programs, as well as youth committed to DYS RECLAIM tracking database was integrated into the OYAS database in June 2010 Measure success rate of youth based on risk level and intervention Risk level history for youth arriving at DYS

Quality Assurance Measures

      Testing and certification conducted to assure qualified users Web system creates notifications to supervisors when re assessments are due UC and DYS can monitor whether certified users are completing the Disposition, Residential and Reentry assessments online UC monitors assessment scores, over-rides and risk level distributions Screening youth at DYS reception based on OYAS risk level Contracted for an Inter-rater Reliability Study in FY2011

Questions