NCJ Number
238423
Date Published
January 2012
Length
17 pages
Annotation
This document, produced by the Technical Assistance Partnership for Child and Family Mental Health, provides information identifying the mental health needs and risk of reoffending for youth involved with the juvenile justice system.
Abstract
This report provides information for mental health professionals working with youth involved in the juvenile justice system on how these youth are best served by conducting mental health assessments and screening for risk of reoffending at the same time. The report notes that while having psychologists on staff at all points of entry into the juvenile justice system would ensure that a detailed assessment of a youth's risk of reoffending or need for mental health services would be available to juvenile justice personnel, this approach to dealing with this problem is cost prohibitive. The report instead proposes the use of a two-tiered process that involves both screening and assessment. The report begins with a discussion on the differences between screenings and assessments, followed by a discussion on how these two concepts differ for risk assessment tools. Information is then provided on how agencies can select a valid tool for use in screening/assessment, along with examples of tools used in juvenile justice facilities and community-based services around the country. These examples include the Massachusetts Youth Screening Instrument - Version 2; the Suicidal Ideation Questionnaire; the Global Appraisal of Individual Needs - Short Screener; the Voice-Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children; the Child and Adolescent Functional Assessment Scale; the Behavioral Assessment System for Children; the Washington State Juvenile Court Assessment; and the Youth Level of Service/Case Management Inventory. The report also details the benefits of conducting screening and assessment of mental health problems and risk for reoffending simultaneously. References