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

Session Submission Type: Complete Thematic Panel

Abstract/Description

Previous research on juvenile court intake practices has primarily been conducted in urban courts with large caseloads using quantitative methods. This research project utilized mixed methods to examine juvenile justice intake practices and reoffending across all 82 counties in Mississippi, a rural state with the highest Black youth population in the United States. Based on findings from a statewide survey, interviews with judges, prosecutors and intake workers, secondary data analyses, and input from juvenile justice practitioners, an intake risk screening tool and decision support matrix was developed and pilot tested in six county youth courts. This panel presents the pilot study protocol and the characteristics of the participating courts, intake risk screening (IRS) tool development and predictive validity, and reports qualitative and quantitative findings on IRS tool usage and reasons for overriding intake case handling recommendation based on the IRS tool scores. Findings confirm the predictive validity of the IRS tool and indicate the need to understand local/court contexts to encourage uptake of the tool. We believe the comprehensive, system informed evaluation effort reflected in the panel presentations provides an example of a needed, holistic, dynamic approach to understanding court personnel and judicial intake and case processing decision making.

Sub Unit

• Area VI. The Criminal Justice System / 51. The Juvenile Justice System

Individual Presentations

• Juvenile Court Intake Practices and Reoffending: Pilot Study Protocol and Court Characteristics - Angela A. Robertson, Social Science Research Center, Mississippi State University; Sheena K. Gardner, Social Science Research Center, Mississippi State University

• Development and Predictive Validity of an Intake Recidivism Risk Screening Tool - Angela A. Robertson, Social Science Research Center, Mississippi State University; Richard Dembo, University of South Florida

• Intake Risk Screening Tool Usage, Agreement, and Changes in Court Intake Practices - Sheena K. Gardner, Social Science Research Center, Mississippi State University

• Qualitative Findings from a Pilot Study of Youth Court Intake Decisions: The Role of Extralegal Factors in Case handling in Rural Youth Courts - Sierra Nelson, Social Science Research Center, Mississippi State University

Organized by a Division or external group?

Sponsored by Division of Rural Criminology