Screening, Assessment and Detention
Continuum for Juveniles
Presented by:
Jeff McDonald
April 12 – 13, 2011
Why an Assessment Center?
Why an Assessment Center for Jefferson County?
1992-93
 Lack of coordinated juvenile services
 Juvenile information exchange
 Increased lethality of juvenile violence
 Need for a single point of entry
 Too many separate juvenile court filings
 Lengthy time between arrest and court
 Low-level offenses-high level of intervention
JSPC Mission
The mission of the Jefferson County Juvenile
Assessment Center:
We are an assessment center that is responsive to
the safety and well being of youth, families, victims,
and the Jefferson County Community.
JCJAC Goals
The goals of the Jefferson County Juvenile
Assessment Center:





Family and youth have a single access point
Reduce time officers spend with juveniles
Respond comprehensively to the whole juvenile
Provide multi-agency screening and assessment
Ensure community safety
Ten Essential Elements of a Juvenile Assessment Center
First Essential Element
Target Population
Target Population
Juveniles from the age of
10 - 17
Mildly Intoxicated (BAC
below .05)
Mild drug impairment
Delinquent youth
Truant, suspended,
expelled youth
Fire setters
Beyond control of parent
Parent/child conflict
Mental health issues
Municipal juvenile
violators/warrants
Second Essential Element
Referrals
Who Refers to JCJAC ?
School District
Truant
At risk youth
District Attorney
Sheriff’s Dept.
Low risk offenders and
case management services
School based threat assessment
Suspended and expelled youth
JCJAC
District Attorney
Community Education
In person or by phone
SB-94
Juvenile Justice education and
training:
Self referral
R-1 Schools
Parents who need help
with children
JCMH
Advice Center:
Semi-annual police training
Teacher in-services
Human Services
Arvada & Golden
Runaways & homeless
Municipal probation and
diversion services
Beyond control of parent
Abused and neglected
Police officers:
Whether to detain
Alternative to detention
Criminal and academic information
Municipal warrants: all police
agencies
Third Essential Element
Single Point of Entry
Single Point of Entry
 Law enforcement
 Stakeholder referrals
 Family referrals
 Self referrals
 No wrong door
JCJAC Benefits for Law Enforcement
 Law enforcement transports from municipalities and the
sheriff's office make up 85% of the youth seen at the
JCJAC
 Average length of stay of the officer is 5 minutes
 Average length of stay of the youth is 4 hours





Financial benefit per transport avg. $90.00 per hour
1594 youth served in 2008
1594 X $360 = $573,840
1594 X 4 hours = 6376 officer hours saved
3 years transport: 2008-1594; 2009-1337; 2010-1267
Primary Services:
Law Enforcement Transport
After Transport to JCJAC

Screening and assessment

Referral and recommendations

Release to parents/adults

Detain/placement via Human Services

Psychiatric hold

Detention
Fourth Essential Element
Comprehensive Assessments
Immediate and Comprehensive Assessment
 Strength based needs assessment
 Validated/evidence based screening and assessment
tools
 Best principles and practices interventions
 All community focused
Immediate and Comprehensive Assessment
 Colorado Juvenile Risk Assessment (CJRA)
 Massachusetts Youth Screening Instrument Second
Version (MAYSI-2)
 Substance Use Survey Second Version (SUS-2)
 FEMA Fire Risk Interview Forms
 Kearney School Refusal Assessment Scale
Primary Services: Detention Screens
Youth assessed in the field with the Colorado
Juvenile Detention Screening and Assessment
Guide (JDSAG)
1. Mandatory hold factors
2. Juvenile warrants
3. Risk of serious/repeated delinquency
4. Risk of self harm (weapons)
5. Public safety risk
6. Family or community resources
Primary Services:
Community Based Treatment Referrals:
Linkage to services made based on screens and
assessment:






Counseling services
Anger management
Drug/alcohol intervention
Mentoring
School based interventions
Mediation services
Menu of Services
Primary Services
 Detention Screens
 Law Enforcement
Transports
 Phone Screens
 Court Information
 Juvenile Justice Training
 Community Intervention
Referrals
 Case Management
Secondary Services
 Arson Education
 Time Out
 Bonding
 Sex Offender Supervision
 School Risk Assessment
 School Notification
 Data Access
 Future….
Fifth Essential Element
Terms of Participation
Terms of Participation
 Voluntary participation
 Limited length of stay
 Controlled entrance
 Informed consent and confidentially
Sixth Essential Element
Confidentiality
Confidentiality
 Follow federal and state guidelines
 Memorandum of Understanding
 Mandatory reporters
 Protect to the best ability
Seventh Essential Element
Juvenile Information Systems
Juvenile Information Systems
 Access to view multiple databases
 All systems web based
 JAC based systems are individualized
 All systems secure
Information Systems Based or used by JAC’s
Colorado Trails
Lexis Nexis / Courtlink
Case Management
Systems
Record Management
Systems
Juvenile Information Sharing
C.O.P.S.
COPLINK
CCIC/NCIC
Infinite Campus
Mental Health databases
From the Office of the Colorado Attorney General
(10.5) "Assessment center for children", as used in
sections 19-1-303 and 19-1-304, means a multidisciplinary, community-based center that provides
services to children and their families, including, but not
limited to, detention screening, case management, and
therapeutic intervention relating to delinquency, abuse
or neglect, family conflict, and truancy.
http://www.michie.com/colorado/lpext.dll?f=templates&fn=main-h.htm&cp=
From the Office of the Colorado Attorney General
Sharing of Information
(4.3) School and school district personnel, employees of the
state judicial department, employees of state agencies,
employees of criminal justice agencies, and employees of
assessment centers for children who share information
concerning a child pursuant to this part 3 shall be immune
from civil and criminal liability if such personnel or employee
acted in good faith compliance with the provisions of this
part 3.
http://www.michie.com/colorado/lpext.dll?f=templates&fn=main-h.htm&cp=
National JIS Initiative
 A national OJJDP initiative
supported by the Center for
Network Development
 JCJAC is the local pilot site
vetting the Juvenile Justice
XML Data Model (JJXDM)
 JJXDM is based on the
National Information Exchange
Model (NIEM)
 JCJAC is participating with the
State of Colorado’s Children
and Youth Information Sharing
Project using the JIS
Guidelines and the NIEM.
 JJAC will be the first site in the
nation to conduct data
exchanges in a juvenile
environment using the JJXDM
Juvenile Information Sharing
Colorado Children and Youth Information Sharing
http://www.juvenileis.org/ccyis.html
Eighth Essential Element
Program Administration
Program Administration
 Diverse board representation
 Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for multi-agencies
 Multi-funding of program
 Federal, state and local
 Established mission/goals
Ninth Essential Element
Sustainability
Sustainability
 Multi-agency co-location
 Ongoing assessment of community needs
 Diversity of board
 Multi-funding streams
JCJAC IGA Contributions
The breakdown for contributing partners in the
Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA) is as follows:
 Jefferson County (including the District Attorney, Social Services,
Mental Health)
46%
 Jefferson County Public Schools
14%
 12 Local Municipalities and Sheriff’s Office
40%
Why JCJAC Works
Cost-effectiveness: co-located
budget + operating expense
Collaboration with multiple
agencies
Family limitations: less travel=less
time=better rapport
Multi-systemic approach to youth
and families
Ability to be flexible meeting local
needs
Maximizing community
partnerships
Low-cost alternative to detaining
youth
Co-location of data/information:
more comprehensive view of
juvenile & family history
Reduction in recidivism
Two Federal studies prove the effectiveness
Tenth Essential Element
Statewide Initiative
Colorado Juvenile Assessment Center Coalition
JAC written into Colorado statues in 2001
 Memorandum of Understanding between JACs
 Collaboration in ongoing training of center staff
 Sharing of information
 Description is included in Title 19 of the Colorado Children’s Code
Colorado’s six sites
 Jefferson County
 Larimer County
 Arapahoe County
 Colorado Springs
 Adams County
 Pueblo
Questions from Participants?
For more information or assistance
Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention
www.ojjdp.gov
or
Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention
National Training and Technical Assistance Center
www.nttac.org