Screening juvenile offenders for further assessment and intervention

Several psychometric instruments have been developed to help identify juvenile offenders at risk of re-offending and determine the sorts of services or programs that might be useful in reducing that risk. The volume of juvenile offenders coming to the attention of police and courts, however, is usually too large to screen using detailed questionnaires.  This crime and justice bulletin examines the scope for ‘triaging’ young offenders coming into contact with the criminal justice system, to identify those who ought to be referred for more careful assessment. The results suggest that, while a large number of routinely collected data items are potential predictors of re-offending, reliable predictions can be made using information about school attendance/performance and past contact with the criminal justice system