Lessons Learned: Collaboration With School Psychologists Within a Juvenile Detention Setting

• In Event: Collaboration With Community-Based Organizations in Counseling

Abstract

This paper examines the perspectives of school psychologists in a collaborative, interdisciplinary context to improve the treatment and care of incarcerated youth with developmental disabilities. After threat of a lawsuit and resulting settlement, agencies in Probation, mental health, education, disability services, and county health services collaborated to develop comprehensive treatment plans to serve youth and reduce recidivism. Data sources included 97 observations of planning meetings, 31 staff interviews, and 50 case files. Results highlight an incongruence between school identification practices for developmental disabilities and detention-specific identification procedures, time and organizational constraints, and a lack of information pertaining to the transition of youth to and from the detention facility. Implications for program improvement and school psychology training are discussed.

Authors

• Jolan Smith, California State University - Los Angeles

• Michael Oshiro, University of California - Los Angeles

• Lois A. Weinberg, California State University - Los Angeles