Innovative Approaches to Identifying and Responding to the Needs of High Risk Youth

Abstract

Following a critical review of key issues facing the delivery of effective, cost-attractive services to high-risk youth, and research addressing these experiences, we identify some innovative approaches to identify and respond to the multiple needs of these youth. The importance of providing family services with an ecological focus is stressed. Further, some exciting developments occurring in juvenile assessment centers, involving screening and in-depth assessment, as well as intervention strategies are presented. These innovative developments include for the Tampa Juvenile Assessment Center: 1) a family empowerment intervention service for arrested youth; 2) a family-focused early-intervention, intensive case management service for youth entering a diversion program; and 3) for the Miami-Dade Juvenile Assessment Center, the comprehensive program of research and program development occurring in the context of the National Demonstration Project. We conclude with a discussion of major issues facing the field and the continuing need for a national commitment to help the many troubled youths entering the juvenile justice system.

• High-risk youth
• Intervention services
• Juvenile justice
• Juvenile assessment centers
• Early intervention

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Richard Dembo

Richard Dembo, Ph.D. (USA), is a professor of criminology at the University of South Florida in Tampa. He received his Ph.D. in sociology from New York University. He has conducted extensive research on the relationship between drug use and delinquency; has published two books and over 150 articles, book chapters, and reports in the fields of criminology, substance use, mental health, and program evaluation; and has guest edited five special issues of journals addressing the problem of drug misuse. He is a member of the editorial boards of The International Journal of the Addictions (recently renamed Substance Use and Misuse), Violence, Aggression and Terrorism, the Journal of Drug Issues, and the Journal of Child and Adolescent Substance Abuse; consultant to the National Institute of Justice, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), the National Institute of Mental Health, the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment, the Office of Substance Abuse Prevention, and the National science Foundation; and is a reviewer of manuscripts for numerous professional journals. He is past-chair of the American Sociological Association Section on Alcohol and Drugs. He has extensive experience working with troubled youths in a variety of settings and in applying research technology to social problems. He recently completed a NIDA-funded experimental, longitudinal service delivery project designed to implement and test a family empowerment intervention involving high-risk youth and their families; and is research director of the Miami-Dade Juvenile Assessment Center, National Demonstration Project.

Wansley Walters

Wansley Walters, B.A., is the director of the Miami-Dade Juvenile Assessment Center (JAC), the largest juvenile arrest processing center in the United States, located in Miami, Florida. The JAC, a 24-hour centralized processing, referral, and evaluation facility, is currently conducting a national demonstration project with the U.S. Department of Justice and over 30 national researchers. The JAC also is partnering with the White House Office of Drug Control Policy and serves as a national model. Wansley has been actively involved in child advocacy for the past 20 years. She currently serves on the Miami-Dade Juvenile Justice Board and the Miami-Dade Youth Crime Task Force. She is a board member of the Florida Juvenile Justice Association and chair of the Children's Mental Health Committee for the District 11 Florida Department of Children and Families. Previously, she served as the chairperson of the Dade Health and Human Services Board and chairperson of the Dade-Monroe Alcohol, Drug Abuse and Mental Health Planning Council for the State of Florida. She is a graduate of the University of South Florida and a frequent presenter on juvenile justice at both national and international conferences.