The Effect of the Ohio Youth Assessment System's Residential Tool on Length of Placement

• In Event: Roundtable: Juvenile Delinquency

Abstract

In 2010, Ohio implemented a series of risk assessments in their juvenile justice system (i.e., the Ohio Youth Assessment System [OYAS]). The OYAS consists of five separate instruments developed to predict recidivism for juvenile offenders at distinct stages (i.e., diversion, detention, disposition, admission to residential facilities [OYAS-RES], and community re-entry). The OYAS-RES – designed to determine the length of stay youths (i.e., ages 10-20) should spend in a residential facility was the focus of this study. Multiple Regression was used to examine the impact of OYAS-RES scores on the length of stay in facilities for Caucasian and African American (AA) youths (N = 1,021). Specifically, the relationship between race, OYAS-RES risk score, age, gender, and the number of days youths spent in facilities was examined. Findings indicated that race (p = .010) is the only factor predicting number of days in residential facility, with Caucasians spending significantly more time than AAs. These findings suggest that race, not OYAS-RES risk score, predicts days in placement. This raises questions about the predictive validity of the assessment in determining length of stay. Future research should examine why these racial differences exist in addition to further psychometric evaluation of the OYAS.

Authors

• Linda M. Julian, Kent State University

• Aryn C. Karpinski, Kent State University