Center for the Promotion of Mental Health in Juvenile Justice

JUVENILE JUSTICE COMMUNITY

How are the Center's programs being used in different types of juvenile justice facilities?
How does mental health assessment help judicial decision-making?
What states/sites are you in now?
What types of juvenile justice sites does the Center work with?
How can my setting become a collaborating site?
What are the costs associated with becoming a Center site?
My site isn’t a juvenile justice site but a school; can I still get the DISC in my facility?
I am working at a collaborating site. How do I get technical assistance?
What does the Center do with the data obtained from sites?
How safe is it to send data to the Center?
Why does the Center do research?
Is my site eligible for a research collaboration?
How can my site obtain funding to pay for implementing the DISC?

1. How are the Center’s programs being used in different types of juvenile justice facilities?

Through the Adjudication Process

When youth enter the juvenile justice system, systematic assessment is important for both safety management and disposition. One of our tools, the Voice DISC, effectively assesses current suicidal ideation and suicidal history, as well as provisional psychiatric and substance use disorders common among justice youth. Having accurate psychiatric information helps detention facilities to take appropriate safety precautions, and it also helps judges make appropriate dispositions that address psychiatric and substance abuse treatment needs.

Commitment

Once a juvenile is ordered into a justice facility, an evidence-based structured mental health assessment should be a component of the comprehensive intake assessment. This mental health assessment helps determine both immediate psychiatric risk (i.e., suicidal ideation) for safety management, and any mental disorders requiring treatment while in care. Because youth mental health status can change during the commitment period, systematic mental health re-assessment is also important.

Aftercare

In order to give the youth the best opportunity to successfully re-enter the community, systematic assessment should take place at aftercare entry, to ensure youths-in-need are receiving adequate treatment.

2. How does mental health assessment help judicial decision-making?

As many as 65% of juvenile justice youth have mental disorders, and as many as 40% of those youth have never received treatment prior to court involvement. Evidence-based mental health assessments are now available to efficiently and effectively identify justice youth with mental disorders and substance abuse problems. When judges have accurate mental health information, dispositions can include appropriate treatment, hopefully improving rehabilitation and reducing recidivism. The Center recommends that all youth in the juvenile justice system should be screened and assessed between adjudication and disposition to better inform judicial decision-making in this regard.

3. What states/sites are you in now?

Please see our site map.

4. What types of juvenile justice sites does the Center work with?

Optimal sites are those interested in systematic or statewide implementation of Center assessment programs in juvenile assessment/evaluation centers, detention, secure/corrections, Training Schools, probation, and/or after care facilities. We will also work with sites with more limited opportunities for statewide expansion.

5. How can my setting become a collaborating site?

6. What are the costs associated with becoming a Center site?

1. The cost of our services is determined by the size of your site. In addition, sites cover the cost of travel for a trainer to come to their site for a one-day training session. Sites may opt to send their staff to our center for training.

2. A site must have computers or be able to gain access to them.

3. Space for assessments (room with electrical outlets, inexpensive privacy screens for multiple administrations, headphones).

**For additional information regarding cost or eligibility for a research collaboration please contact us.

7. My site isn't a juvenile justice site but a school; can I still get the DISC in my facility?

While we do not currently work with school settings, TeenScreen, another Columbia University program, does. To learn more about TeenScreen, please visit their website at www.teenscreen.org

8. I am working at a collaborating site. How do I get technical assistance?

Technical assistance and training are available on an ongoing basis to sites. For more information, please visit the Training and Assistance page or contact us.

9. What does the Center do with the data obtained from sites involved in research collaboration?

The Center does not consult on individual reports on youth, but instead compiles and analyzes data from sites in aggregate. We study whether having better mental health assessment information changes mental health practices. For example, we look at whether using the Voice DISC changes the number of youth receiving referrals for mental health services, or how dispositions may differ. We examine the relationship between the Center's assessments and those already being used to aid in streamlining. To influence policy-making, the Center publishes its findings in academic psychiatric and juvenile justice journals.

10. How safe is it to send data to the Center?

All data received by the Center are anonymous, de-identified, and completely confidential. Collaborating sites strip all identifying information from any data sent to the Center. The Center does not keep a key connecting identification numbers with names of youth, nor do we receive any identifying information.

11. Why does the Center do research?

The Center conducts practical research in order to help determine what the "best practices" are for the assessment of mental health disorders in the juvenile justice population. The Center studies the potential benefits of incorporating scientifically sound psychiatric assessments, such as the Voice DISC, into ongoing practice for justice system youth. Together with collaborating justice agencies, we work to identify practical research questions unique to a site's geographic, population, or setting characteristics. The very real questions that interest justice sites are also of interest to the Center. The data and recommendations generated from such research collaborations move the field forward.

12. Is my site eligible for a research collaboration?

Due to limited resources the Center cannot collaborate with all sites on research projects. Eligibility for a research collaboration is based on site's capacity to conduct a scientific study, and its potential to provide the relevant data.

13. How can my site obtain funding to pay for implementing the DISC?

There are a number of grant funding opportunites available to help support activities related to improving the delivery of mental health services to youth. If you choose to apply for a grant to help pay for the cost of implementing the DISC, we can provide you with information to help support your grant application.