Qualitative Findings from a Pilot Study of Youth Court Intake Decisions: The Role of Extralegal Factors in Case handling in Rural Youth Courts

• In Event: Risk Screening, Intake Decision-making and Reoffending in Juvenile Courts: Findings from a Rural State

Abstract

This study qualitatively examines extralegal factors believed to impact intake decision-making in six county youth courts in Mississippi. These courts participated in a 13-month pilot study wherein they implemented a new intake risk screening tool designed to help intake officers formulate recommendations for handling referrals (i.e., determine whether they should divert or take no further action, handle informally, or formally petition and bring the case to court for adjudication). Through regular check-in meetings and interviews performed to aid each court in proper implementation of the intake risk screening tool, project staff found that patterns in case handling often varied between courts and between cases and offenses within each court. While there were clear patterns in the reasons why courts chose to override the tool, some courts overrode the tool for reasons that emphasized the importance of extralegal factors (i.e., mental health, parenting dynamics, home life, etc.). Results from the examination of check-in meetings, interviews, and focus groups suggest that while most youth courts find value in an intake risk assessment tool meant to increase fairness and uniformity in case handling, many courts also found that some extralegal factors warrant the use of idiosyncratic handling of youth court referrals.

Author

• Sierra Nelson, Social Science Research Center, Mississippi State University