Transcript Document

N a t i o n a l
C e n t e r
f o r
Y o u t h
i n
C u s t o d y
First Things First:
Risk and Needs Assessment Data to
Determine Placement and Services
Alternatives to Detention Meeting
Hosted by OJJDP and the EDC Tribal Juvenile
Detention and Reentry TTA Center
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
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Complex Youth Needs
Youth in the JJ System Require
Individualized Treatment & Services
Educational Deficits
• Nearly one-half of youth in custody function below
the school grade level appropriate for their age
Past Trauma
• 70 percent have experienced past trauma, which
may include physical or sexual abuse
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Complex Youth Needs
Substance Abuse Problems
• 85 percent report using drugs—more than double
the rates of the general population
Mental Health Issues
• 65 to 70 percent of youth in residential facilities
suffer from mental health disorders
Sedlak, A. J. and McPherson, K. S. (2010). Youth's Needs and Services: Findings from the
Survey of Youth in Residential Placement. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency
Prevention, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice
Shufelt, J.L. & Cocozza, J.J. (2006). Youth with Mental Health Disorders in the Juvenile
Justice System: Results from a Multi-State Prevalence Study. National Center for Mental
Health and Juvenile Justice.
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Question for the Group
Based on your experience, what are
the most pressing issues and needs
facing youth in tribal communities
today?
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Individualized Treatment & Public Safety
Tribal courts, communities, and
stakeholders are tasked with reaching a
challenging balance:
Meeting the needs of youth while protecting public
safety.
What tools exist to achieve this balance?
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Risk and Needs Assessment Tools
Risk and Needs Assessment Tools Help:
1. Identify youth needs
2. Assess public safety risks
3. Guide decisions re: placements and
services
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Function of Risk Assessment
Risk assessment tools estimate
the likelihood of continued
delinquent behavior with no
interventions
- Based on information on the
particular youth, his/her family, and
other contextual/environmental
concerns
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Questions for the Group
What types of factors increase the risk
of re-offending for youth in tribal
communities?
Factors that decrease risk?
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Information Collected
Type of Information Collected by
Risk Assessment Tools
• Static risk factors (i.e., factors that aren’t likely
to change)
• E.g., age of first offense; history of violence; history of supervision
failure
• Criminogenic risk factors (i.e., factors that can
change due to interventions/development)
•
E.g., lack of social ties; negative peer associations; family problems; poor
school performance
• Protective factors (i.e., positive variables that
help youth deal with risk factors)
• E.g., good problem-solving ability; pro-social supports, such as
supportive parents
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Collecting Information
How the Information Is Collected:
• Youth interviews
• Family interviews
• Case file review, including evaluations,
assessments, and social studies
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Questions for the Group
Do tribal communities have adequate
access to information on youth?
Has the passage of the Tribal Law and
Order Act of 2010 impacted information
sharing?
- e.g., FBI’s National Crime Information
Center (NCIC)
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Tool Outputs
Most risk assessment tools rate the risk of
re-offending as low, moderate or high
• LOW: few (salient) risk factors
• MODERATE: some risk factors, neither low
or high
• HIGH: many (or some critical) risk factors
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Matching Risk to Services
Once you have the designated risk, you can
then match placement, monitoring and
service delivery
• LOW: minimal supervision & treatment
• E.g., home placement
• MODERATE: moderate supervision &
treatment
• E.g., community-based group home, electronic
monitoring
• HIGH: intensive supervision & treatment
• E.g., residential placement
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Why Use Risk Assessment Tools?
• Guide Intervention Planning to Identify
Targets to Reduce Recidivism
• What factors are driving the youth’s behavior?
• Offer Objectivity to Decisions, and
Minimize System Players’ Biases about a
Youth’s Risks and Needs
• Provide System Partners with Critical
Data to Optimize Resource Allocation
• In what types of services should we invest?
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What Risk Assessment Instruments
DON’T Do
Risk Assessment Tools Do NOT:
• Tell the decisionmaker EXACTLY what
placement or services to implement
• Merely a guide to inform decisions
• Identify or diagnose mental health or
substance abuse issues
• Hence the importance of also having needs screening
and assessment tools (e.g., mental health, substance
abuse), and other evaluations (e.g., psychological,
psychiatric)
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Additional Considerations
Not all high risk youth will require
incarceration
- Keep in mind that not all institutional placements
lead to better outcomes, and in some cases can do
more harm
Treatment & services should be as
individualized as possible
- Must be tailored to the youth’s risk level, needs, and
strengths
Implementation is key
- Need effective policies, training and oversight to
ensure fidelity to instrument design
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Question for the Group
Are risk assessment tools used by tribal
courts and communities today?
If not, why? What support, if any, is
needed?
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Risk Assessment Resources
Key Resources Used for this Presentation:
“Risk Assessment in Juvenile Justice: A Guidebook
for Implementation” by Gina Vincent, Laura Guy,
and Thomas Grisso
“Knowledge Brief: Can Risk Assessment Improve
Juvenile Justice Practices?” by the Models for
Change Initiative
Each available at www.nc4yc.org
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Contact Information
Michael Umpierre
National Center for Youth in Custody
Phone: 202-270-4962
Email: [email protected]
www.nc4yc.org
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