NCJ Number
241401
Date Published
May 2011
Length
13 pages
Annotation
This report presents information on the "norming" and validity of the Hennepin County (Minnesota) Youth Level of Service/Case Management Inventory (YLS/CMI), which is the primary tool used to assess risk and needs of juveniles supervised by the Hennepin County Juvenile Probation agency.
Abstract
Norms provide a frame of reference for interpretation of the scores of particular persons. Evidence-based practices require that assessment tools be normed and validated for the specific population for which they are used. This report provides normative data for the Hennepin County juvenile probation population. These data indicate that the juvenile probation population's racial composition differed from the national community samples used to norm the YLS. Data also indicate that the mean YLS score for juvenile probationers in Hennepin County was higher than national community samples, but lower than custodial samples used to norm the YLS. As a whole, the Hennepin County juvenile probationer population scored higher on "Education/Employment" than did national samples used to norm the YLS. Hennepin County juveniles of color and girls scored higher on the YLS than their corresponding counterparts. In addition, internal consistency measures for Hennepin County juvenile probationer assessments were consistent with internal consistency found at a national level. A 3-year validation study of the YLS for use by the Juvenile Probation agency in Hennepin County will be based on the same normative sample used for this report. The validation report will be completed in June 2013. The normative sample used for this report included Hennepin County YLS assessments completed from January 1, 2009, through December 31, 2010, and labeled as "Initial Assessment." They were obtained from the Minnesota Statewide Supervision System. Only YLS data with no missing item responses were included. The final normative sample involved 1,146 YLS assessments. Demographic characteristics of the sample are described. Extensive tables and 3 references