NCJ Number
161346
Journal
Substance Use and Misuse Volume: 31 Issue: 3 Dated: (February 1996) Pages: 303-322
Date Published
1996
Length
20 pages
Annotation
This effort to develop and evaluate a classification of high- risk youth entering the Juvenile Assessment Center (JAC) in Hillsborough County, Florida, involved more than 2,000 youths during the JAC's first 8 months of operation in 1993.
Abstract
Most youths processed at the JAC were male, they averaged 15 years of age, and most were still attending school. About 70 percent entered the JAC as a result of being taken into custody on new charges, most frequently property, felony, and misdemeanor offenses. Cluster analysis of potential problems encountered by youth, probed by the Problem Oriented Screening Instrument for Teenagers (POSIT), defined four groups: (1) youth with low levels of problems; (2) youth with moderate levels of problems; (3) youth with severe substance use problems; and (4) youth with severe mental health and educational problems. The usefulness of the group typology was supported by discriminant analysis and by recidivism information. The authors conclude that the POSIT is a useful tool for JAC practitioners who make intervention decisions about youth. 26 references, 4 tables, and 3 figures