NCJ Number
88313
Date Published
1982
Length
19 pages
Annotation
The Georgetown Adolescent Intervention Team (GAIT), a team that identifies disabled and other handicapped youth involved with the juvenile justice system, is suitable for replication in urban or county jurisdictions.
Abstract
GAIT's ultimate goal is to secure appropriate treatment of handicapped youth through interdisciplinary evaluation followed by treatment plan recommendations. Disciplines represented on GAIT are psychology, special education, adolescent medicine, psychiatry, law, and early childhood development. Consultation from other disciplines are available as needed. Using itself as a model, GAIT has provided training and technical assistance to community professionals in the tristate area of Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia. Under the Regional Training and Technical Assistance Project, regional training and technical assistance expanded activities to include Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Delaware. Project activities included increased community awareness activities, development of an early screening tool, and the development of course materials relating to developmentally disabled youthful offenders. A statistical study of all youth referred to GAIT since its inception in 1975 showed that of the 179 clients, 88.8 percent were males, 98.3 percent black, average age at referral 14.4, and 58 percent had other family members known to the court. The average reading level was the low second grade, and intelligence testing yielded scores ranging from average to moderately retarded. Recommendations for future planning are that (1) all public agencies impacting on youth be included in the planning process for all youth programs, (2) a range of services for mentally retarded youth offenders be developed, (3) advocacy service be developed to ensure access to existing programs, (4) the use of parent training and inservice training for community professionals.