Crossover youth and juvenile justice: an examination of criminogenic risk and needs for offenders with child welfare history using the Ohio Youth Assessment System

AbstractResearch suggests that many juveniles in residential facilities report high rates of early childhood trauma. Past research demonstrates that knowledge of trauma history, specifically whether a youth has been abused or neglected, may provide court practitioners with necessary information concerning recidivism risk, treatment needs, and treatment responsivity. Little is known about the validity of general risk assessment tools for youth involved in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems (i.e., crossover youth) and their unique risk patterns. Therefore, this study examined the validity of the Ohio Youth Assessment System-Disposition Tool (OYAS-DIS) for crossover youth. Results revealed that although crossover youth were more likely to have higher risk scores overall compared to general delinquent youth, the total score of the OYAS-DIS was equally predictive of recidivism for both males and females regardless of child welfare status.Keywords: child welfarecrossover youthrisk assessmentdual-status offenderOYAS Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Notes1 It is important to note a limitation of the way child neglect was operationalized in this study. This operationalization omits any child neglect cases that occurred before the study began. However, the long length of this study mitigates some of this problem.