Young individuals are among the special groups whose lives are affected to a significant extent by crime. In the United States, thousands of children and young adults are arrested and tried for a range of different crimes. The criminal justice system seeks to transform them and release them back to their communities where they can be productive and law-abiding. In addition to the criminal justice system, the juveniles receive support from care homes that are set up purposely to rehabilitate juvenile offenders (Dowd, 2012). Most homes have instituted strict guidelines for admission. The homes only admit young offenders which satisfy certain criteria. The criteria are intended to ensure that the offenders who are admitted will pose no threat to other residents and that they hold some promise of recovery. In this essay, the case of a home which wishes to weed out high-risk offenders is considered. The essay identifies tools that the home may use and the screening procedure that should be adopted.
Assessment tools
The care home only accepts individuals who pose low to high risk of offending. Applications from high risk offenders are rejected. To set these different classes of offenders apart, the home needs assessment tools. The home will not to develop these tools itself since there are numerous tools that have already been developed and are in use. The actuarial approach is one of the tools that the home could use (“Risk/Needs Assessment”, n.d).. Essentially, this approach employs statistical techniques to determine the risk level of an offender. The approach entails a number of items and parameters that each offender is scored on (“Risk/Needs Assessment”, n.d). The sum of the scores for the different parameters is then obtained. This sum is then taken to reflect the risk level for a given offender. The main advantage of this tool is that it offers an objective way of evaluating applicants. It is unlikely that the assessor will be biased. This tool is not without its flaws. One of the main weaknesses is that it does not account for factors that cannot be quantified. For example, the background of an individual is one of the factors that influence their criminal behavior. This parameter is quite difficult to quantify and it may be difficult, if not possible, to include it in the score. Despite this weakness, the actuarial approach should still be considered by the care home.
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The structured professional judgment approach is another tool that the home can adopt. Essentially, this tool is used by professionals who interact with juvenile offenders to gain insights into the risk of offending. In addition to standard factors that are usually considered, the professional examines unique factors that only apply to individual clients (“Risk/Needs Assessment”, n.d).. For example, the professional may examine the childhood experiences of an applicant to determine if these experiences expose them to an elevated risk of offending. The care home can develop unique approaches instead of relying on standard procedures as it weeds out high-risk offenders.
Clients accepted by the home
It is true that the tools described above do not guarantee that the care home will be able to isolate the high risk offenders from other offenders. However, these tools have been in use for years and have proven effective. Therefore, the care home can hope to rid itself of the high-risk offenders when it employs these tools. Arsonists, murderers and sex offenders are among the juveniles that the home rejects outright. The tools above will enable the home to identify and accept certain classes of clients. Clients whose scores on the actuarial scale are low are among those that should be accepted. As mentioned above, the actuarial approach uses statistical methods to assign scores. The lower the score, the lower the individual’s risk of offending (“Risk/Needs Assessment”, n.d). It is important to note that this method is not necessarily reliable. The applicants may lie about their histories so as to receive the low scores that are required for admission. Assuming that the applicants are honest in their responses, it can be expected that all those who are admitted will not present a high risk of offending. Some of the low to medium risk offenders that the home will accept based on the scores obtained through the actuarial approach are those charged with petty offenses such as shop lifting. Those charged with minor drug offenses should also be admitted since they present a low risk.
In addition to those charged for minor infractions, the care home should also admit vulnerable applicants. These include those who come from unsafe neighborhoods. It has understood that the stability of one’s neighborhood and home play an important role in determining the level of risk that they are exposed to. Those from unstable homes and communities face a high risk of becoming involved in crime (Barnert et al., 2015). For example, children and young adults from homes where domestic violence and drug abuse occur are more likely to turn to crime. These individuals lack the stable environment that is required for one to reject crime. They rely on the intervention of external parties who seek to shield them from the hazards that are found in their environments. The care home should join the group of concerned parties who wish to provide vulnerable juvenile with a safe haven where they will be shielded from the dangers of crime.
Screening of applicants
As already mentioned, the assessment tools possess flaws which limit their effectiveness. To ensure that these flaws do not expose the care home to the risk of admitting high risk offenders, a screening process needs to be developed. Through this process, the care home will be able to deny admission to the high risk offenders while admitting those who pose low to medium risk. The screening process will involve various actors in the criminal justice system. These actors could provide vital insights into the criminal histories of the applicants. For example, law enforcement officials can provide information on whether an applicant has been arrested and the nature of criminal activity that they were involved in. Collaboration between the actors in the justice system and care homes holds the key to determining the risk level of juveniles (Leone & Quinn, 2002). Judicial officers can also be relied on to shed light on the risk level of applicants. For example, the judge who heard the case involving a given client could provide insights into the demeanor and character of the client.
Apart from officers in the criminal justice system, individuals who have known applicants for years could also be involved in the screening process. They should be asked to offer insights into the backgrounds and characters of the applicants. For example, family members may share information about the needs and the behaviors of the clients. The family members are best placed to offer accurate information since they have known the applicants for long. Overall, the screening process will bring third parties on board. These parties hold vital information that allow for a comprehensive and accurate profile of each applicant to be constructed.
Assessment to be completed by potential residents
The screening and the assessment of the applicants should not mark the conclusion of the evaluation process. Evaluation needs to be continuous. Continuity ensures that care givers understand the evolving needs of the clients. Once admitted into the care home, the potential residents will be subjected to an assessment process. A needs assessment is among the evaluations that need to be carried out. Essentially, a needs assessment involves critically examining juveniles with the aim of understanding the desires that they have (Lawrence & Hemmens, 2008). Care homes need to attend to the wide range of needs of juveniles. These needs include those that concern education and physical health. The residents in a care home for juveniles may also have mental health needs that require attention. Other than allowing the care homes to gain insights into the desires and needs of residents, needs assessment also enables the care homes to ensure that they have the facilities and procedures needed to meet these needs (Lawrence & Hemmens, 2008).
The capacity to comply with house rules and procedures is another issue that should be assessed. The care home will need to ensure that all residents follow the laid down procedures and regulations. This is why it is rejecting high risk offenders. The ability of the residents to follow the rules can be determined by observing the residents. The observation will allow the administrators of the care home to understand if the residents carried their defiance and disregard of the law with them into the care home. Assessing the obedience and compliance of the residents is important as it will enable the care home to ensure order and peace. It is only possible to create a peaceful environment when only peace-loving residents are allowed in.
In conclusion, juveniles are a special group for whom special interventions should be adopted to protect them from the devastation that can result from crime. The care home wishes to offer a select number of juveniles with a path towards rehabilitation and complete reform. However, this home can only open its doors to juveniles whose risk of offending are either low or medium. It is forced to turn away those with high risk of offending. To set apart the different types of offenders, the home needs to use the assessment tools offered above. Additionally, the home needs to continually vet the residents. It is advised that the home should adopt the insights offered in the discussion if it is to realize its goal of offering home to low to high risk juvenile offenders.
References
Barnert, E. S., Perry, R., Azzi, V. F., Shetgiri, R., Ryan, G., Dudovitz, R., Zima, B., & Chung, P.
J. (2012). Incarcerated Youths’ Perspectives on Protective Factors and Risk Factors for Juvenile Offending: A Qualitative Analysis. American Journal of Public Health , 105 (7), 1365-1371.
Dowd, N. E. (2012). Justice for Kids: Keeping Kids out of the Juvenile Justice System.
NYU Press.
Lawrence, R., & Hemmens, C. (2008). Juvenile Justice: A Text/Reader. SAGE.
Leone, P., & Quinn, M. M. (2002). Collaboration in the Juvenile Justice System and Youth
Serving Agencies: Improving Prevention, Providing More Efficient Services, and
Reducing Recidivism for Youth with Disabilities. Retrieved 9th December 2016 from
http://cecp.air.org/juvenilejustice/docs/Collaboration%20in%20the%20Juvenile%20Justice%20System.pdf
Risk/Needs Assessment for Youths. (n.d). Retrieved 9th December 2016 from
https://ncc.nebraska.gov/sites/ncc.nebraska.gov/files/doc/Risk-Needs-Assessment.pdf
