Panel Presentation: A Prospective Approach to Identifying Risk, Need and Responsivity Factors for Juveniles

As part of the July 17-23 International Congress on Law and Mental Health in Berlin, Germany, University of Cincinnati researchers will make a panel presentation on identifying risk, need and responsivity factors for juveniles.

Support for the risk, need and responsivity principles in juvenile justice has grown significantly over the past decade. Key to these principles is the identification of risk factors and criminogenic needs for this population. Typically, juvenile justice systems face several barriers to adopting risk assessments including cost, training and staff time.

To circumvent these barriers, the State of Ohio recently developed a partnership with University of Cincinnati criminal justice researchers to create a risk assessment tool for juvenile offenders that will help staff design effective interventions. The Ohio Youth Assessment System (OYAS) was created from a study of 2,500 youth throughout the state’s juvenile justice system. The study resulted in the development of five assessment tools to aid juvenile justice staff in measuring risk, need and responsivity of juvenile offenders: diversion, detention, disposition, residential and reentry. The panel session will review development of the tools and explore the implementation of the system across a large jurisdiction.

Background on the Ohio Youth Assessment System:

http://www.uc.edu/corrections/OYAS_Overview.pdf

Presenting will be UC Research Associate Brian Lovins and Professor Edward J. Latessa, director of UC's School of Criminal Justice.