Assessment and Referral Technologies in Juvenile Justice

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The Virginia Commonwealth University (VCD) and the University of Maryland, College Park (UMCP) in partnership with the Maryland Department of Juvenile Services (DJS), are proposing to test the effectiveness of a new protocol aimed at increasing use of substance abuse treatment and related health services by high-risk youth entering the juvenile justice system. Using a randomized blocked design, the proposed study would also compare the impacts of two technology transfer strategies used to train DJS staff in the new juvenile assessment, referral, placement, and treatment planning (J-ARPP) protocol. DJS study sites would be randomly assigned to no training, standard training, or an enhanced innovation management training condition to assess the impact of the J-ARPP technology on outcomes such as youth service utilization (e.g., placement, service use, retention, and completion) and systems integration (e.g., interagency communication, increase diversity of placements). Building on recent advances in organizational assessment, VCU/UMCP would further assess how these impacts differ based on capacity of local DJS offices to adopt innovations, conduct J-ARPP practices, and make treatment services a priority for youth. The study builds on a longstanding collaborative effort between the researchers and DJS to build an integrated assessment and service linkage system for juvenile offenders in Maryland. Long-term objectives of the research are to evaluate a conceptual model specifying the role of organizational factors in the stages | of implementing health service innovations in public agencies, and to provide practical knowledge to juvenile justice systems about the impacts of different strategies for transferring an evidence-based protocol for increasing the use of substance abuse services by high-risk, high-need youth.