1. Identifying Areas That Need To Be Assessed
YOUTHFUL LEVEL OF SERVICE/CASE MANAGEMENT INVENTORY
Training Presented by:
Brian Lovins
Division of Criminal Justice
University of Cincinnati
PO Box
Cincinnati, Ohio
(513)
TARGETS FOR CHANGE
Identifying Areas That Need To Be Assessed

2. Objectives
To review the principles of effective classification To score the YLS/CMI reliably and accurately To apply the results of the YLS/CMI to case plans

3. What is Risk When we refer to risk Risk of recidivism
High risk likely to recidivate
Low risk not as likely
Risk is based on the chance of committing a new offense.
Discuss what the participants believe risk to re-offend to mean.
Discuss that risk assessment tools are used as a means of predicting future behavior. Discuss with them how “high risk” means that offenders are more likely to commit a new offense, but that it does not mean that they will reoffend. Similarly, “low risk” means that offenders are less likely to commit a new offense but it does not mean that they won’t.

4. Actuarial Risk Assessment
Predicts the likelihood of a youth to get in trouble again
For low risk, assume 1 out of 10 reoffend
1 person will reoffend, but we do not know which one
Same for high risk, assume 6 out of 10 reoffend
6 will reoffend, but we don’t know which ones

5. Identifying Areas That Need To Be Assessed
Principles of Effective Classification
TARGETS FOR CHANGE
Identifying Areas That Need To Be Assessed

6. Principles of Effective Classification
Risk
Need
Responsivity
Professional Discretion
Introduce these as the principles of effective classification. These principles are the basis of the YLS/CMI and other current risk assessment tools.
Risk = who
Need = what
Responsivity = barriers

7. Risk Principle
Most intensive treatment should be reserved for higher risk offenders
Must survey important risk factors to produce an accurate measure of risk
How do we know which factors to assess?
Risk principle has 2 components –
Match interventions to risk level.
Identify risk level by assessing dynamic and static risk factors.
How do we know which factors are tied to risk? We’ll briefly look at the research to help define them.

8. Major Risk Factors Antisocial attitudes Antisocial peers
Antisocial personality
History of antisocial behavior
Family
Education/employment
Substance abuse
From research time and time again, these factors show up as risks.
Make sure to define antisocial as “against society” or the opposite of prosocial. Distinguish it from asocial, not interested in engaging with others.
Note that antisocial personality is NOT Antisocial Personality Disorder. We don’t diagnosis adolescents with personality disorders. We are talking about personality traits that put them at risk to engage in antisocial behaviors.

9. Need Principle
By assessing and targeting offenders’ criminogenic needs we can reduce the likelihood of recidivism
Interventions must be very focused and target the needs that are related to risk
Remind participants that criminogenic needs are dynamic risk factors.
Where the risk principle illustrates WHO we should target for treatment (highest risk offenders), the need principle illustrates WHAT we should target (criminogenic needs).

10. Criminogenic Needs (Dynamic Risk Factors)
Antisocial attitudes
Antisocial peers
Antisocial personality
Family
Education/employment
Substance abuse
Research tells us these are the dynamic risk factors, or criminogenic needs, toward which we should provide correctional interventions.

11. Targeting Criminogenic Needs
Family
Vocational skills
Anger/antisocial feelings
Self-control
Pro-social modeling
Antisocial attitudes
Substance abuse treatment
Reducing antisocial peer contacts
Relapse prevention

12. Responsivity The neglected principle
Offenders respond differently to treatment strategies
Offenders adjust differentially to correctional environments
Easiest to think of as “barriers” to treatment
Assessment of responsivity is important to maximize benefits of treatment
Where the risk principle illustrates WHO we should target, and the need principle illustrates WHAT we should target, the responsivity principle illustrates how these should be targeted, or what BARRIERS should be removed.
Barriers to treatment – we must assess to help make more responsive to treatment.
Have participants brainstorm barriers that their clients experience.

13. Responsivity Internal Factors Motivation
Personality Characteristics (anxiety, psychopathy, self-esteem)
Cognitive deficiencies
Demographics (age, race, sex, ethnicity)
Motivation addresses how motivated the youth is to change his/her behavior. Most correctional treatment is geared towards highly motivated youth. There are not very many highly motivated youth when they get placed in a program/supervision.
Discuss how motivation/personality characteristics/mental health can become barriers to treatment.

14. Responsivity External Factors Counselor characteristics Setting
Institutional
Community
Type of treatment
Support network
Some barriers are within the youth but some of the characteristics are about us. What characteristics do we have that might be barriers to getting the youth engaged.
Discuss how external factors can also operate as barriers to treatment.

15. Professional Discretion
Also known as override
Consider risk, need, and responsivity
Determine if placements dictated by assessment are the most appropriate
With general caseloads, overrides should occur 10% of the time or less
Override rates will increase if you have a specialized caseload (sex offenders and severe mental health problems)
Consider other risk assessments
There is always an out if necessary.
Emphasize that assessors should not override an item. The instrument should be scored as intended and then an override should be considered if he/she has evidence that the risk level is not accurate.

16. Identifying Areas That Need To Be Assessed
The Instrument
TARGETS FOR CHANGE
Hand out instrument and user’s manual.
Identifying Areas That Need To Be Assessed

17. Key Elements of the YLS/CMI
The YLS/CMI collects 42 pieces of information
The items are scored in a 0-1 format
The items are added together to produce an overall score
The items are grouped into 8 subcomponents
All but one of the subcomponents contain dynamic items
There is a professional override section
X = 1 POINT
8 subcomponents = major risk factors

18. Subcomponents of the YLS/CMI— Part I
Criminal History (5)
Family Circumstances and Parenting (6)
Education and Employment (7)
Peer Relations (4)
Substance Abuse (5)
Leisure and Recreation (3)
Personality and Behavior (7)
Attitudes and Orientation (5)
The numbers in parentheses are the number of items in each subcomponent.
Go through the instrument and explain each section. Explain scoring for Part II.

19. Subcomponents of the YLS/CMI— Part II
Summary of Risks and Needs
Total score is calculated and overall risk level determined

20. Subcomponents of the YLS/CMI— Part III
Problems pertaining to family and parents
Not scored for risk scale
11 items
Youth
28 items
This is the responsivity page.

21. Subcomponents of the YLS/CMI— Part IV
Your Assessment of the Juvenile’s General Risk/Need Level
Professional discretion

22. Source of Information Regarding the Offender
Interview with the offender
Criminal history
Interview with parents
School records
Institutional records
Interviews with other professionals
Psychological personality tests
Behavioral ratings/checklists from clinicians
Before interviewing the offender, the assessor may want to review any available criminal history or probation records. This can help in addressing discrepancies in the information provided by the offender.
Interview will be primary source, but the more you have, the better.
DON’T SCORE AS YOU GO…LOSE RELIABILITY AND VALIDITY.

23. Risk Levels for YLS/CMI
Low Risk 0-8
Moderate Risk 9-22
High Risk 23-34
Very High Risk 35-42

24. Videotape Exercise #1 1. Score independently
2. Break into small groups (4-6)
3. Don’t just compare overall or section scores; discuss the scoring of each item
4. Discuss why you marked an item as a risk factor and why you didn’t mark certain items as risk factors
The object of this exercise is to build your understanding of the scoring criteria
Document the group scores then go over each item and discuss as a group.

25. Review the scoring exercise
Write your individual and group scores on the board Discuss Scoring of Videotape Exercise #1 Review each item Work with participants to understand each item

26. Identifying Areas That Need To Be Assessed
Effective Interviewing
TARGETS FOR CHANGE
HAND OUT INTERVIEW GUIDE.
UC developed, so okay to copy or change. Just give UC credit.
Identifying Areas That Need To Be Assessed

27. Interviewing Objectives
Develop knowledge and skills necessary to collect information for a valid and reliable assessment
Reiterate that they probably already have good interviewing skills, so we will review basics.
How does this differ from what you currently do?
Be sure to focus on current, not historical data or we lose dynamic aspect.
Interview should be about minutes.
Video tape follow-up available – UC has seen some that get too much info, get convoluted and score incorrectly.

28. The Interview Process Goal Environment Information gathering
Ensure environment is conducive to disclosure of information
Environment
Relaxed
Open
Review the goal of the YLS/CMI and LS/CMI interview as one of information gathering. Point out that the information being gathered is somewhat sensitive so it is important for the interviewer to create an open and comfortable environment for the interview.
Point out the importance of the interview environment. Remind participants to minimize distractions and interruptions during the process.

29. The Interview Process Structure—assessment should be semi-structured
Purpose of assessment should be explained
Interview length should be approximately one hour
If interviewing youth he/she should be met with independently
Stress the importance of explaining to the offender the purpose of the interview at the beginning of the interview.
The interview should be semi-structured meaning the interviewer should follow an interview guide and ask the questions in a structured manner (i.e. not skipping around).
The interview should last roughly an hour. It may take longer initially as you get used to the structure of the assessment and the process. Also, if you have had no prior contact with an offender, the interview may take longer than one for an offender with whom you have a prior relationship.
When interviewing the parents of a youth or the spouse/partner of an adult offender, those interviews should be conducted separately whenever possible. This can help to ensure the most accurate information is gathered from each source. Offenders may not reveal important information in the presence of others. As well, potential tension between family members may bleed over into the interview if they are interviewed together.

30. Interview Skills The interviewer sets the tone
Patience
Open-mindedness
Attentiveness
Try not to correct or teach
Therapeutic intervention will undermine goal of information gathering
Point out that the interviewer is in control of the interview. It is their responsibility to set an open engaging tone.
Remind participants that the interview is an information gathering process, not a therapeutic intervention. The interviewer should keep an open-mind while asking questions and do not begin correcting behavior during this process.
Assume the best. Suspend judgment.

31. Good Listening Skills Nonverbal attending Eye contact
Facial expressions
Posture
Devoting full attention
Reflective listening
Paraphrase information
Provide listening cues
Review these points as things to be aware of and use during the interview.

32. Questions: Good vs. Bad Use Avoid Open-ended questions
Follow-up questions
Avoid
Close-ended questions
Double-barreled questions
Biased questions
Review each of these types of questions and their effects.
Open-ended and follow-up questions are the most effective for and interview of this type. They provide the most information and facilitate conversation.
Close-ended question (i.e. yes or no) can be useful to begin a new section in the interview but caution against depending on these. If an interview is comprised of predominantly this kind of question, it is not likely that adequate information is being gathered.
Double-barreled questions (asking multiple questions at the same time) may result in the interviewer not being sure which question is being answered.
Biased questions (where the answer is implied in the question) make it difficult to get accurate objective information.

33. The Challenging Interview
Dealing with inconsistencies
Use collateral information/resources
Lightly challenge inconsistent information
Dealing with oppositional behavior
Offer choices
Offer a break
Redirect
You can use this slide to talk about other problems participants have had in conducting interviews. Engage them in discussing these problems and how to address them.

34. Evaluating the Interview
Was the interview conducted adequately?
Structure and environment
Did the individual respond to questions?
Establishing trust
Was I attentive?
Engage in active listening
Was I willing to suspend judgment?
Assuming best
Review these as general ways to ensure the interview was conducted well. These questions don’t have to be formally answered, but can be general points to review after each interview. You can use creative questions without being leading. For example, how old were you the first time you got high?

35. Evaluating the Interview
What are the problem areas?
Asking open-ended questions
Did I explore the problem areas in detail?
Asking follow-up questions
Did I overcome any problems with the interview?
Dealing with silence or excessive talking
Dealing with inconsistencies
Are the results valid?
More points to review to make sure the interview was adequately conducted. Review these questions as things that participants can ask themselves to ensure.
Who did most of the talking?

36. Interviewing Practice
Break into pairs and practice conducting a YLS/CMI interviews. One person should role play a typical offender while the other conducts the interview. Each partner will have an opportunity to practice the interviewing skills we discussed.
This exercise is designed to give participants an understanding of the importance of using open-ended questions in the YLS/CMI and LS/CMI interview.
Make sure to debrief after the exercise and discuss the difference in the information obtained with each type of question.

37. Videotape Exercise #2
1. Score independently 2. Break into small groups (4-6) 3. Don’t just compare overall or section scores; discuss the scoring of each item 4. Discuss why you marked an item as a risk factor and why you didn’t mark certain items as risk factors The object of this exercise is to build your understanding of the scoring criteria

38. Identifying Areas That Need To Be Assessed
Case Planning
TARGETS FOR CHANGE
Identifying Areas That Need To Be Assessed

39. Case Planning Overview
Case plan and interventions should be linked to assessment
Areas where a problem is identified should be addressed with some intervention activities
If there is no problem no action is required
Continue the discussion of how assessment drives effective correctional interventions. Discuss that the case plan should be linked directly to the results of the assessment (i.e. highest risk clients should get the most intensive interventions for the longest durations and target areas should be areas identified as problems by the assessment).
Reiterate the importance of not addressing areas that are not identified as problems by the assessment (the need principle).
If multiple problem areas, begin with “high” and work your way down.

40. Case Plan Development NEEDS/PROBLEMS – should be based on assessment
GOALS – longer term outcomes – where offender should be after your interventions
OBJECTIVES – offender’s short-term measurable and verifiable steps to reach goal
TECHNIQUES – your actions to help offender reach longer term goal
Look at and tally subcomponents…identify needs…what are the problems?
Discuss long-term goals.
Objectives - how will he meet the goals
Should be concrete
Look at as baby steps to reach goal
Techniques - what we will do to help reach goals…see next slide

41. Techniques 3 areas should be addressed: Supervision techniques
Referrals
Face to face contact
Supervision – ua, reporting field tests, curfew, house arrest
Referral – evaluation/treatment, employment program, vocational
Face to face – written cog-beh assignments targeting crim needs, review journals, skill-building, logging time, action steps, motivational interviewing techniques, cost-benefit analysis

42. Case Planning Exercise
Use the information you obtained from the videotaped assessment to develop a case plan on the following pages
Break into small groups (4-6) and develop a case plan that addresses all of the need areas
Identify the problems as identified by the assessment, the goals, and objectives that will be used to reach those goals
This exercise is designed for the participants to practice using the assessment information to design a case plan.
On review, make sure that objectives identified reflect what is available in their agencies. This will help them generalize this exercise to their everyday use of the assessment.
When reviewing the case plan make sure that the participants keep the risk, need and responsivity principles in mind. Also discuss the prioritizing of needs (i.e. which needs to address first).
Participants can use the next slides to develop the case plan.

43. Example—Substance Abuse
Problem
Goal
Objectives
Techniques
Use of Marijuana
Eliminate use of marijuana
Participate in substance abuse assessment
Refer for substance abuse assessment
List benefits of participating in and cons for not complying with treatment
Cost-benefit analysis
Attend and participate in all substance abuse treatment group activities
Refer for services/Monitor with drug screens/Updates from tx provider and offender.
Improve coping skills to deal effectively with problems.
Identify high risk situations/ thoughts/feelings/behaviors for substance use.
Functional analysis
Attend and participate in all skill building treatment group activities.
Refer for services/Monitor for participation/Updates from tx provider and offender.
McInnis, W.P., Dennis, W.D., Myers, M.A., Sullivan, K.O., & Jongsma, A.E The Juvenile Justice and Residential Care Treatment Planner. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

44. Case Planning—Family Circumstances and Parenting
Problem
Goal
Objectives
Techniques

45. Case Planning—Education and Employment
Problem
Goal
Objectives
Techniques

46. Case Planning—Peer Relations
Problem
Goal
Objectives
Techniques

47. Case Planning—Substance Abuse
Problem
Goal
Objectives
Techniques

48. Case Planning—Leisure and Recreation
Problem
Goal
Objectives
Techniques

49. Case Planning—Personality and Behavior
Problem
Goal
Objectives
Techniques

50. Case Planning—Attitudes and Orientations
Problem
Goal
Objectives
Techniques

51. Videotape #3 Scoring
1. Score independently 2. Break into small groups (4-6) 3. Don’t just compare overall or section scores; discuss the scoring of each item 4. Discuss why you marked an item as a risk factor and why you didn’t mark certain items as risk factors The object of this exercise is to build your understanding of the scoring criteria

52. Summary
Assessment is the cornerstone of effective correctional interventions
The information gathered during an assessment should be used to determine levels of supervision and treatment
The information should also be used to identify needs and develop a case plan
Reassessments can be used to gauge progress in reducing risk of recidivism
Point out the importance of obtaining a valid and accurate assessment of an offender’s risk, especially as it relates to treatment/intervention decisions.
Highlight the importance of using the assessment information to guide supervision and treatment decisions. This is a good place to review the risk principle again.
When conducting reassessments, not that an appropriate amount of time should have passes since the reassessment ideally, 6 to 12 months. Most importantly, note that reassessment should be activity-driven. Reassessments should occur after some intervention designed to target risk has occurred.

53. Summary
Make sure you practice scoring the assessment before actually using it
Multiple raters when you first start
Videotape assessment and have someone review and compare scoring
Use an interview guide
Consult the administration guide when scoring
If this agency is conducting a follow up training, go over the instructions for submitting a videotaped assessment.
Point out that agencies can make changes to the interview guide to better fit their specific needs. However, stress the importance of using an interview guide, especially when they first begin using the assessment.