Implementation Support to Juvenile, Criminal-Legal, and Forensic Mental Health Systems
Individuals involved in the juvenile justice, criminal-legal, and forensic systems can have complex behavioral health needs and may experience risk factors that increase their potential for continued trouble with the law. As such, agencies need evidence-based approaches for identifying and responding to individuals’ risk factors, behavioral health, and treatment needs across various settings. We help agencies and their partners to implement best practices for a) policy decision-making, b) screening and assessment, and c) effective case management and treatment practices that address needs. We work with the recipients of these services to promote practices that will enhance their responsiveness. The goal is to promote positive development, while preserving public safety.
Our implementation support practices are guided by implementation science, our on-going research studies, forensic clinical expertise, and positive youth development.
The Law & Psychiatry Program provides support and training to state and local jurisdictions, as well as their providers and partners, in three primary ways:
- Implementation support and training for agencies around screening & assessment, case planning, and other evidence-based practices in a manner that is effective and sustainable.
- Developing and validating new risk screening instruments (e.g., juvenile detention screening, classification, PREA screening), or validating existing risk instruments in an equitable way to decrease racial disparities.
- Providing clinical forensic trainings, including:
- Violence risk assessment
- Fundamentals of forensic mental health assessment
- Clinical supervision and training
- Integration of culture and cultural humility into forensic mental health assessment
- Providing expert testimony
We also provide training and technical assistance on the MAYSI-2 (adolescent mental health screening tool) via our MAYSI-2 Headquarters.
Settings
Our implementation support spans multiple settings, including but not limited to:
- Youth Diversion – including by law enforcement, prosecutors, or probation
- Juvenile Court Clinics and Forensic Evaluations
- Pretrial detention
- Dispositional and case planning
- Reentry
- Parole
- Mental health settings serving individuals involved in the forensic or juvenile justice system
Current Implementation Support Projects
Assessing Delays in Parole Release
Funder: Massachusetts Probation Service -for a collaboration between the Massachusetts Parole Board and Massachusetts Department of Corrections
Project Team: Gina Vincent, PhD (PI), Spencer Lawson, PhD (Co-I), Ira Packer, PhD (Co-I), Kayla Carew, BS
Description: The Law & Psychiatry Program is the independent evaluator for this collaborative effort to examine the length and cause of delays in the release of incarcerated persons from custody following a parole release decision over three fiscal years in Massachusetts. This is a comprehensive data analysis project that also involves gathering information about barriers to release on parole from incarcerated persons, parolees, and staff from the DOC and Parole Board. The Law & Psychiatry Program also will assist the state agencies with implementing a plan for reducing delays as informed by the evaluation.
Effective Risk Reduction Strategies for Youth and Young Adults with Serious Mental Illness
Funder: Massachusetts Department of Youth Services
Project Team: Gina Vincent, PhD (PI), Maryann Davis, PhD (Co-I), Rachael Perrault, MA, Morgan Rao, BA, and Kayla Carew, BA
Description: This project, with funding from SAMHSA as part of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, involves an Environmental Scan of effective, feasible, and sustainable early violence intervention and crisis service programs for youth and young adults (ages 12 to 25) with serious mental illness. The Scan resulted in a full report and set of recommendations to DMH about programming that may be most appropriate for expansion or adoption in Massachusetts. The latter years of the project involve implementation support to DMH and their providers to put these practices into place.
Enhancing the Implementation & Establishing the Effectiveness of the IRACS Program
Funder: Indiana Division of Mental Health and Addiction
Project Team: Spencer G. Lawson (PI), PhD, and Jennifer Pendleton, MA
Description: The Law & Psychiatry Program team is providing strategic, analytic, and evaluation support to the Indiana Integrated Reentry and Correctional Support (IRACS) Program in their effort to reintegrate incarcerated individuals back into society after they have been released from jails. The project team utilizes quality improvement methods paired with implementation science to enhance the IRACS Program through the following activities:
- Analysis of IRACS administrative data
- Inventory of facilitators and barriers to implementing IRACS via a SWOT analysis
- Examination of community-level outcomes through public-facing data sources
- IRACS outcome evaluation with the Indiana Management Performance Hub
Implementing Effective Screening & Assessment Practices in Youth Pre-Arraignment Diversion
Implementing Effective Screening & Assessment Practices in Youth Pre-Arraignment Diversion
Funder: Massachusetts Office of the Child Advocate (OCA)
Project Team: Gina Vincent, PhD (PI), Thomas Grisso, PhD, Kayla Carew, BA
Description: The Law & Psychiatry team has been working with the MA Office of the Child Advocate and the Department of Youth Services to develop, implement, and sustain evidence-based screening and assessment practices for the Youth Diversion Lab in Massachusetts. This is a pre-arraignment diversion practice designed so youth who do not need high levels of intervention to prevent further delinquency can avoid formal involvement with the juvenile justice system. The Law & Psychiatry Program team assisted the agencies with the design and implementation of their behavioral health screening, risk/needs for reoffending assessment, and case planning protocols. These practices include the Massachusetts Youth Screening Instrument-Version 2 (MAYSI-2), the Youth Level of Service/Case Management Inventory (YLS/CMI) and its screening version, and risk-need-responsivity-based case planning. The implementation support includes developing a master trainer model and providing case plan reviews and staff coaching for sustaining these practices with fidelity.
Improving Implementation of Evidence-Based Practice in Parole - Use of Risk/Needs Assessment in Decisions
Funder: Massachusetts Parole Board
Project Team: Gina Vincent, PhD (PI), Spencer Lawson, PhD (Co-I), Ira Packer, PhD (Co-I), Kayla Carew, BS, Amy Thornton, BA, Danielle Rieger, MA (consultant)
Description: The Law & Psychiatry Program provides consultation and implementation support to evaluate and improve the use of evidence-based practices (i.e., risk assessment, risk-need-responsivity, case planning) in parole practices. The team was enlisted to conduct a comprehensive needs assessment of the current use of evidence-based practices within parole and make procedural and training recommendations. The Law & Psychiatry Team works collaboratively with the MA Parole Board to implement these recommendations through changes in procedures and information gathering, staff training, and the development of a case planning and coaching model.