NCJ Number
204573
Journal
Corrections Today Volume: 66 Issue: 1 Dated: February 2004 Pages: 64-67
Date Published
February 2004
Length
4 pages
Annotation
Through a collaborative effort between Ohio State University and the Cuyahoga County Juvenile Court, Ohio's largest juvenile court, a Web-based version of the Global Risk Assessment Device (GRAD) was developed to help juvenile justice personnel make recommendations and referrals that are based on reliable and valid information about risk factors in a wide variety of relevant domains.
Abstract
These domains include prior offenses, family and parenting issues, peer relationships, substance abuse, mental health symptoms, accountability, educational and vocational issues, traumatic events, and health-related risks. The Cuyahoga County Juvenile Court's initial motivation to become involved with GRAD arose from its need to maintain compliance with the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention regulations regarding the holding of status or unruly offenders in secure detention pending court action. The Unruly Respite Care Program was developed to provide a two-track system, one for low-risk offenders deemed not to require comprehensive community services, and a second one for high-risk offenders who require such services. Formal implementation of GRAD as a screening tool for the Unruly Respite Care Program began in December 2002. Initial analyses of the data generated in the court have produced solid reliability evidence on the GRAD items, and the GRAD assessments conducted on the first 50 youths enrolled in the Unruly Respite Care Program have been compared with data collected from an additional 350 youths assessed at detention, probation, and intake/diversion. Analyses show that the program clients are 1 of the 2 highest risk groups in 8 out of the 11 GRAD domains. After the online pilot effort in Cuyahoga County was initiated, the GRAD project expanded into two other county juvenile courts. 2 figures and 7 references