Processes of Referral to Substance Use Treatment Among Justice-Involved Youth on Probation: A Mixed Methods Study

• In Event: Impact of Criminal Legal System Involvement on Drug Use and Other Health Outcomes

Abstract

Objective: Justice-involved youth on community supervision have a high prevalence of substance use, but treatment referral rates for these individuals are low. It is critical to increase our understanding of and improve the referral process by exploring decision-making procedures related to individual-, organizational-level factors given that there is minimal literature informing this process.
Methods: Using quantitative data from the Juvenile Justice-Translational Research on Interventions for Adolescents in the Legal System (JJ-TRIALS) multisite project, mixed effects logistic regression models will be estimated to examine factors that influence referral. Qualitative data from staff focus groups will examine organizational system factors among and across site staff to better understand referral decisions.
Results: It is expected the quantitative data will demonstrate individual-level factors likely to influence referral and demonstrate variation across sites. The qualitative data will enrich the understanding of the quantitative data with additional nuances of what is important to a referral decision capturing the process in a more holistic way.
Conclusion: Understanding the referral process in greater detail will allow agencies to modify existing or add new procedures to increase appropriate referrals for youth in need by identifying factors that impede or facilitate the decisions to make a treatment referral.

Author

• Sarah DeLucca, Temple University