Webinar on Risk/Needs Assessment in Juvenile Justice

From the Council of State Governments' Criminal Justice/Mental Health Consensus Project comes news of a webinar you might be interested in. Here's the press release:
 


Webinar - Maximizing The Impact Of Juvenile Justice Interventions: The Importance Of Risk/Needs Assessment

 
Emerging research demonstrates that punishment and sanctions do not deter juvenile reoffending and, in some cases, may even increase it. This research shows that juvenile justice agencies are more effective when they base interventions on a youth's level of risk for re-offending and specific "criminogenic needs" (factors that contribute to the youth reoffending that can change over time), and apply these interventions in a way that is responsive to individual learning styles. This is known as the "Risk-Needs-Responsivity" principle. To promote this principle, agencies should identify youths' level of risk for reoffending and specific criminogenic needs by adopting and properly implementing an evidence-based risk assessment tool.
 
This webinar will review the foundational concepts of risk assessment and its implementation in juvenile justice agencies. Topics to be covered include how to select a tool, how risk assessment differs from mental health screening, how the approach should differ depending on the juvenile justice setting, and some key points for effective implementation.
 
 
Presenter
Gina M. Vincent, Ph.D. Dr. Vincent is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, and Co-Director of the National Youth Screening and Assessment Project. Dr. Vincent has received funding from NIDA, NIMH and the MacArthur Foundation for studies relevant to youth risk for reoffending, mental health problems, and substance abuse. She has published, lectured, and presented research at over 100 international and national conferences and juvenile justice facilities in the areas of juvenile callous-unemotional traits, implementing risk/needs assessment, and mental health symptoms in juvenile justice.
 
 
Date: Thursday, May 5th, 2011, 2:00-3:00pm EST
 
To register, please click here.
  

Photo: B Tal.