	Juvenile Justice Corrections Services

Introduction

Administration and Management

Service Delivery Administration Standards

Service Standards

PA-JJC 1: Screening and Assessment

The agency screens youth to identify immediate needs and concerns, and conducts assessments that identify risks, needs, and strengths and are the basis for service planning and delivery.

Interpretation: COA recognizes that youth may be screened and assessed elsewhere before they are placed at the agency. However, the agency can still take steps to further evaluate youth after admission. At minimum, the agency should review the results of previous screenings and assessments to ensure they meet COA’s standards, and conduct additional assessments if those done previously are insufficient.

Note: Refer to the Assessment Matrix for further guidance on screening and assessment criteria. The elements of the matrix can be tailored according to the needs of specific individuals or service design.

PA-JJC 1.01

Prompt, systematic screening practices facilitate the identification of urgent risks and needs related to health and mental health, including suicidality, substance use, medication needs, and emergency medical conditions.

Interpretation: Screenings should be conducted within 24 hours of admission, and youth cannot be left unsupervised until they have been screened.

PA-JJC 1.02

When initial screenings reveal urgent risks and needs, the agency promptly provides or arranges for specialized assessments to further evaluate those issues.

Interpretation: When the agency discovers urgent risks and needs it is not equipped to address, it should transfer youth to more appropriate programs, or advocate for transfer with the parties responsible for making placement decisions. Agencies required by contract to serve all youth should make every effort to ensure youth are placed in their care only when services and supervision provided are a good match for youth, as referenced in PA-JJC 5.01.

PA-JJC 1.03

Comprehensive assessments are conducted in a standardized manner, and address risks, needs, and strengths related to:

health;
mental health;
substance use;
education;
vocation;
social skills and behavior; and
family.

Interpretation: When possible, assessments should be based on multiple sources of information, including youth interviews, observations of youths’ behavior, interviews with family members and previous service providers, and case records.

Valid and reliable tools should be used if available. Agencies that do not have the resources to comprehensively assess all youth in all of the listed areas, for example, mental health, may conduct systematic service need screenings to determine when youth are in need of more in-depth assessments. However, this screening for ongoing service needs should be distinct from the emergent risk screening described in PA-JJC 1.01.

NA The agency provides only detention services.

PA-JJC 1.04

Personnel who conduct assessments are qualified by relevant training, skill, and experience, and can recognize youth with special needs.

PA-JJC 1.05

Screenings and assessments are conducted in a responsive manner that includes attention to age, developmental level, gender, language, race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, and trauma history.

PA-JJC 1.06

Assessments are conducted within timeframes specified by the agency, and are updated periodically to promote ongoing safety and responsive service delivery.

Note: Timeframes for conducting health and mental health assessments are specified in PA-JJC 6.01 and PA-JJC 7.01.

NA The agency provides only detention services.

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	PURPOSE: Juvenile Justice Corrections Services promote public safety by helping youth overcome problems and develop the attitudes and skills needed to make responsible choices, avoid negative behaviors, and become productive, connected, and law-abiding citizens.

RELATED FILES


	SERVICE One or more organization-operated programs or activities that have a common general objective and deploy the organization's material and human resources in a planned and systematic manner. An organization that publicly promotes or identifies itself in writing as offering a service, is licensed to deliver a service, assigns personnel and/or space to a service, or allocates financial resources to a service is considered to offer that service.


	CONNECTED The means by which individuals access services that may or may not be provided by the organization itself. These terms are used interchangeably when individuals are connected to services either directly or by referral. See also LINKED.


	SCREEN A preliminary test administered to a client to determine whether he/she meets eligibility criteria for the services offered by an organization.


	ASSESSMENT An evaluation, which utilizes professional expertise and skills in the collection and analysis of data to understand and describe the nature of service needs of an individual, family, or group. Assessment, as in needs assessment, is also used to determine priorities of program planning and service development for the organization as a whole. See also DIAGNOSIS.


	PLANNING The process of specifying objectives, evaluating the means for their achievement, and exercising deliberate decision making about appropriate courses of action.


	CRITERIA Systematically developed, objective, and quantifiable statements used to assess the appropriateness of specific decisions, services, and outcomes.


	PRACTICE Established actions or ways of proceeding in the regular performance of organizational duties. Policies and procedures often guide practice.


	MEDICATION A prescribed or over-the-counter drug that is injected, taken orally, applied topically, or otherwise administered.


	PROGRAM A system of services offered by an organization. For example, an organization providing a mental health service may offer several mental health programs to different populations, e.g., a mental health program for adolescent teens. The word "program" can be used interchangeably with the word "service" or to describe specific programs.


	CONTRACT A formal written agreement between two or more parties that specifies the services, space, or products to be provided in exchange for some form of compensation. Also known as "purchase of service arrangement."


	FAMILY Two or more people who consider themselves family and who assume obligations, functions, and responsibilities generally essential to healthy family life. Child care and child socialization, income support, long-term care, and other caregiving are among the functions of family life. The definition of "family" will rest with an individual's indication of who plays a family member role, including current or former foster family, adoptive family, extended family members, fictive kin, or significant others. Organizations that believe family is the central constellation in a child's life, and that family attachments are of primary importance for human development, will strive to work with professional staff to develop a common understanding of "family."


	CASE RECORD A written compilation that describes the client and the services delivered. Records can be in hard copy and/or electronic format. The case record can be used as a source of information for quality improvement or other evaluation activities, for research purposes, or to demonstrate accountability to funding bodies.


	PERSONNEL The body of employees and/or volunteers that carries out the organization's tasks under the organization's administration and/or supervision. This definition does not include foster parents who are specifically referenced in relevant standards


	TRAINING Instruction so as to make fit, qualified, or proficient in a skill or body of knowledge.


	SUPERVISION Assumption of responsibility for directly overseeing and evaluating the work or work products of personnel within an organization. Also includes inspecting the act or process of accomplishing a function or activity.


	SPECIAL NEEDS A designation used in reference to conditions or characteristics of a person that reflect a need for special care, services, or treatment. When the term is used in the context of adoption services, special needs refers to conditions that make a child harder to place for adoption. This includes children who are members of sibling groups, older children, children with disabilities, children of certain racial /ethnic backgrounds, etc. When the term is used in the context of foster care it refers to the need for a higher degree of specialized case services and attention due to mental and physical disabilities. When the term is used in the context of out-of-school time services, a child or youth may have special physical, behavioral, medical, emotional, or cognitive needs that should be addressed or accommodated. The term is also used in other contexts. See also DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES.


	ETHNICITY An orientation toward and identification with a population group that shares national origin, religion, race, or language.