OYAS OHIO YOUTH ASSESSMENT SYSTEM

Development and Implementation

WELCOME

Objectives

To understand what the OYAS is and how it benefits the Juvenile Justice System

To have an understanding of the research and development of the OYAS instruments

Background 2005 – RECLAIM Ohio Evaluation:

Some low risk youth placed in residential centers showed an increase in risk level

Moderate risk youth had lower recidivism when served in the community (22% versus 55%)

High risk youth recidivated at similar rates Very high risk youth had better recidivism rates when

served in DYS University of Cincinnati recommended in the

report that Ohio needed to develop a risk/needs assessment

88 courts using 77 different risk assessments

Background 2006 – DYS contracted with the University of

Cincinnati to develop a system-wide risk/needs assessment

2006 – Applied for and received a grant from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention

2006 – Pilot steering committee of 23 courts plus facilities (37+ courts involved in research and pilot); committee has continued since

Prospective Study Preferred to a retroactive study Takes more time

Steering Committee

Created a Steering Committee comprised of county and agencies across Ohio

Special Thanks to the Following Juvenile Courts

Belmont Geauga Medina Seneca

Brown Hamilton Miami Summit

Butler Hardin Montgomery Trumbull

Clark Huron Muskingum Union

Clermont Knox Ottawa Warren

Coshocton Licking Pickaway Williams

Crawford Lorain Richland Wood

Cuyahoga Lucas Ross COYC

Delaware Mahoning Sandusky

Franklin Marion Scioto

Data Collection

Interviewed youth at all stages of the juvenile justice system Detention/Diversion interviews were

conducted by court staff Disposition, Residential, and Reentry

interviews were conducted by University of Cincinnati Staff

Interviews

Face-to-face interviews were conducted Follow-up interviews were conducted with

a sub-sample of the population Questions across multiple domains Self-report questionnaire was collected File review

Tracking and Follow-up

Youth were tracked for a minimum of 12 months

Counties provided follow-up data Additional follow-up data were captured

through the Department, Community Corrections Facilities, and ODRC

Sample Sizes

Total Project N = 2,457 Diversion/Detention N = 790 Disposition N = 594 Residential N = 823 Reentry N = 250

What is Risk?

When we refer to risk Risk of recidivism High risk likely to recidivate Low risk not as likely

Risk and Need

Static and dynamic factors that are associate with new criminal/delinquent behavior

Higher risk = more intensive services Lower risk = lessser intensive services

Responsivity

Specific responsivity Barriers to service Non-Criminogenic needs

Motivation Childcare Support for change Race/ethnicity

Actuarial Assessment

Based on research

Predicts group behavior

Combination of dynamic and static factors

The Instruments

The Ohio Youth Assessment System (OYAS) Diversion Detention Disposition Residential Reentry

OYAS Flow Chart

OYAS: Diversion (DIV)

Identify youth who can be diverted from formal processing

Six items File review or interview 10 minutes

OYAS: Detention (DET)

Divert lower-risk youth from detention

Six items Brief face-to-face interview 10 minutes

OYAS: Disposition (DIS)

Youth adjudicated by the court Comprehensive tool that assesses

risk, criminogenic needs and barriers to treatment

Provides case planning Face-to-face interview and collateral

information

OYAS: Residential (RES)

Use for long-term residential programs (3+ months)

Youth committed to DYS Builds off the OYAS: Disposition Face-to-face interview and collateral

information

OYAS: Reentry (RET)

Reassess youth while in a residential program (i.e. DYS)

Assess youth as they transfer to the community

Face-to-face interview and collateral information

Domains (DIS, RES, RET)

Criminal history Family Education / employment Mental health / personality / substance

abuse Pro-social skill sets Peers Anti-social attitudes

OYAS Benefits1. Based on Ohio youth2. Expand as needed depending on setting3. Include major risk and criminogenic need domains, as

well as major responsivity factors4. Includes indicators of change in a residential or

institutional setting5. Designed to measure change in youth over time6. Provides a common definition of risk across settings7. Long-term cost savings8. Public domain9. Fully automated10. Dramatically improves our research and evaluation

capabilities11. Provided by DYS at no cost to juvenile courts and

facilities

County/DYS Partnership Through the steering committee and

other research activities, juvenile courts and facilities became invested in the development and success of the OYAS

Pilot counties became the first certified users (on the pen-and-paper tools)

County representatives have been trained as trainers and serve on the Training Advisory Committee

Implementation Challenges Promoting use by all counties Assuring qualified users Training

In-person versus online Three days versus two days Costs Sustaining statewide

Information sharing / confidentiality Lack of authority to mandate use Integrating into DYS

Roll-Out September 2009 – OYAS roll-out event September 2009 – Web-based system

live December 2009 – Implemented at DYS

Reception February 2010 – Implemented throughout

DYS facilities April 2010 – Implemented in DYS parole

regions

OYAS Training Two-day training Covers all five tools Written and video tests for certification Classes held at DYS Training Academy Pilot trainings held, summer 2009 41 trainings were conducted by UC in FY 2010 - 11 6 trainings scheduled for FY 2012 Must be trained and certified to use the OYAS

Disposition, Residential and Reentry tools 1,500 + certified users 78 courts and 12 CCFs trained to date

OYAS Training Process Sessions are posted on DYS website Participants register online for any session with

available slots DYS confirms each participant via email Following the class, trainers notify DYS of

attendance and test results If a participant does not pass the test, he/she is

contacted for a re-test (if the re-test is not passed, then the class has to be re-taken)

DYS produces a certificate for each participant that is a certified user of the OYAS

Training completion and certification are recorded by DYS in the training registration database (three-year re-certification)

OYAS Case Planning Training

Half day Training Training in a computer lab for hands on

practice Core components of building an

individualized case plan are covered No certification Four Trainings in FY 2011 Four Trainings scheduled for FY 2012

Training of Trainers

Necessary to sustain users A total of seventeen county and DYS

staff were trained in August 2009 and May 2010, along with UC trainers

Two-day course for 12 prospective trainers

Two levels of Trainer Certification

Trainer Qualifications

Attend two-day user session Certified as a user Two-day OYAS trainer class Present the course under UC

observation (two-day) Willing and available to train others Assessment experience Experience as a trainer

Training Advisory Committee

Committee formed to plan for sustaining statewide training• Regional training scheduling• Train the Trainers

Members from juvenile courts, juvenile facilities and DYS

Six meetings since 2010

OYAS Web-Based System Developed by UC through a subcontractor Housed on server at UC Fully automated No software to install Different user levels Repeated questions automatically populate

throughout different tools User reports Online tutorial Forum (questions and answers) Email communication to all users Case plan is in process of being Title IV E approved

and parts of it automatically populate from the OYAS tools

OYAS User Levels

Court/Program Detention/Diversion Court/Program/DYS Inquiry Court/Program/DYS End User Court/Program/DYS Supervisor Court/Program/DYS Admin Super User

OYAS User Levels Defined Detention/Diversion – Administers only the

detention and diversion tools Inquiry – Views data and reports; can not edit End User – Enters assessment data Supervisor – Reviews and can enter

assessments; receives notices when assessments are due

Admin – Create and manage accounts at the site

Super User – Complete control; only at UC and DYS for monitoring, trouble-shooting and creating admin accounts

Managing OYAS Accounts Each county or program designates an admin

user DYS creates the admin user account The admin user then sets up all supervisor, user

or inquiry accounts for the county or program DYS only has to manage one account and

password for each site; limits the amount of trouble-shooting to be done by DYS

Inside DYS DYS Super User assigns 1-2 admin accounts for

each DYS site

OYAS Permissions

To protect youth data, permissions are in place

Users can only view or edit data from their site

However, users can share assessment data by giving online permission (i.e. when transferring a case between counties or committing a youth to DYS)

Courts are to send the OYAS Residential on all youth committed to DYS

DYS Information Technology

DYS staff complete OYAS assessments in the web-based system

JJCMS draws data from the OYAS system

OYAS data is being used to populate DYS system, reports, case plans, etc.

Implications for Research OYAS data can be used to study risk level

distributions in five different arenas of juvenile justice

Consistent risk level data on diverted youth and youth in community programs, as well as youth committed to DYS

RECLAIM tracking database was integrated into the OYAS database in June 2010

Measure success rate of youth based on risk level and intervention

Risk level history for youth arriving at DYS

Quality Assurance Measures Testing and certification conducted to assure qualified

users Web system creates notifications to supervisors when

re-assessments are due UC and DYS can monitor whether certified users are

completing the Disposition, Residential and Reentry assessments online

UC monitors assessment scores, over-rides and risk level distributions

Screening youth at DYS reception based on OYAS risk level

Contracted for an Inter-rater Reliability Study in FY2011

Questions