This study sought to address Iowa's inability to
classify juveniles at risk of recidivism uniformly across the state by
creating a proposed risk assessment instrument. The Iowa Division of
Criminal and Juvenile Justice Planning (CJJP), Iowa Department of
Human Rights, was mandated to conduct long-range planning for the
criminal and juvenile justice systems, to study pertinent issues, and
to provide technical assistance to jurisdictions in their planning and
research endeavors. In 1993, CJJP received federal funds through the
National Institute of Justice to improve Iowa's capacity to conduct
criminal and juvenile justice evaluations. In investigating ways in
which this special funding could be put to use, CJJP met with the
chief juvenile court officers to discuss their needs. The chief
juvenile court officers expressed interest in the development of a
risk assessment instrument for use by the juvenile court at the time
of intake. It was anticipated that the risk assessment instrument
would be useful not only in providing the juvenile court officers with
a tool to appropriately assess the risk of recidivism, but also in
providing "common ground" to treatment staff and other relevant
officials to determine whether certain interventions worked better
with certain levels of risk than others, and whether limited resources
were being appropriately utilized in providing appropriate
interventions to juveniles with specific risk scores.
To develop the Proposed Iowa Juvenile Court Intake
Risk Assessment, a team of juvenile court representatives from all
eight judicial districts in Iowa, consisting of juvenile court
officers, intake officers, and supervisors, designed the risk
assessment test instrument to assess a group of juveniles at intake
during a one-month period between October and November 1994. The risk
assessment data collection instrument was sent to the chief juvenile
court officers statewide between October and November 1994. At the end
of each week, the completed data collection instrument forms were sent
to CJJP. In cases in which information was missing or difficult to
read, CJJP staff worked with the officers to obtain the correct
data. The follow-up data collection was conducted by chief juvenile
court officers eight months after the original data collection. The
purpose of the follow-up was to gather data regarding reoffending. The
follow-up consisted of revisiting the intake cases and recording
subsequent activities, including action taken following intake (e.g.,
informal adjustment, consent decree, etc.), any re-referrals by law
enforcement that occurred, and any significant dispositions changes.
Convenience sampling.
Juvenile offenders receiving court intake interviews between
October 10, 1994, and November 10, 1994, in the state of Iowa.
Individuals (juvenile offenders).
personal interviews and administrative records
administrative records data
survey data
Risk assessment variables include types and number
of current offenses, prior arrests and adjudication, histories of
supervision and service, substance use and abuse, runaway occurrences,
peer relationships, gang affiliation, attitude during intake
interview, level of parental control, schooling status (dropped out,
graduated, truant), type of current school, discipline problems,
suspensions at school, current employment, history of family problems,
and reoffending. Demographic variables include offender's sex and
race.
Approximately 94 percent of juvenile offenders
who completed the court intake process responded to the intake
interviews.
None.