Justice-Involved Youths’ Perceptions of Placement Instability and Adjustment Related Outcomes

ABSTRACT Unique challenges associated with dual involvement in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems are well documented. However, there is a paucity of research focusing on the out-of-home placement experiences of youth involved in the justice system and implications for relevant outcomes. The current study examined out-of-home placement experiences and placement instability of justice-involved youth and how these experiences relate to relevant outcomes for youth involved with multiple service systems: attitudes toward seeking help, intolerance of uncertainty, and perceived containment. Participants included youth detained at two juvenile detention centers (n = 225; 71.1% male; M age  = 15.50). Self-report measures were read by research assistants who recorded the youths’ responses. Results revealed that over 50% of detained youth had been removed from their parents’ custody, and of these youth, nearly 60% reported experiencing three or more placement changes. Attitudes toward seeking help and intolerance of uncertainty in youth who experienced out-of-home placement were not significantly different than in youth who did not. However, youth who had experienced out-of-home placement exhibited significantly lower perceived containment scores. These findings suggest that placement instability is common among detained youth and may be meaningfully related to youth’s feelings about the ability of authorities to control them.