Citation

Mackin JR, Weller JM, Tarte JM, Nissen LB. Juv. Fam. Court J. 2005; 56(2): 25-37.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2005, National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The field of juvenile justice has made great strides in developing a research base of effective practices and principles, including an understanding of risk factors and needs that contribute to juvenile offending. However, the research base and practice of systematic assessment has not yet fully incorporated youth, family, and community strengths. To address this need, three juvenile justice agencies in the northwestern United States participated in a pilot study to develop and implement an assessment tool (the Youth Competency Assessment) and process that would identify and utilize strengths to help balance the risk and needs focus of their assessment and case planning practices., This article provides descriptions and implementation strategies of the three pilot sites. The article concludes with recommended system changes and policy interventions to support ongoing utilization of this kind of strength-based tool in juvenile justice settings, and a clear set of recommendations for other communities wishing to implement strength-based assessment in their own agencies.

Language: en