Creation and Validation of the Ohio Youth Assessment System (OYAS) and Strategies for Successful Implementation

Lovins, Brian; Latessa, Edward J.

doi:10.3818/jrp.15.1.2013.67

Cited by 27 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 2 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Presently, the OYAS has been adopted and adapted by juvenile jurisdictions in Indiana, Kentucky, Arizona, Texas, and California. The OYAS-DIS is administered to youth offenders after they have been adjudicated by a juvenile court (Lovins & Latessa, 2013). To assess the risk of recidivism, it uses a mix of empirically validated static and dynamic risk and need factors that can be used to match each youth to individually appropriate interventions.…”

Section: The Oyasmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Validation of the Ohio Youth Assessment System Dispositional Tool (OYAS-DIS): An Examination of Race and Gender Differences

Campbell

D’Amato

Papp

2019

Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The Ohio Youth Assessment System-Disposition Tool (OYAS-DIS) is a juvenile risk assessment that is used in numerous states and jurisdictions to assess criminogenic risk of juvenile offenders. Still, there is little published research on the predictive validity of the tool. The purpose of the current study was to examine the predictive validity of OYAS-DIS, with a specific focus on understanding prediction of recidivism across racial and gender subgroups. The sample consisted of 4,383 youth that received a court petition in a single large Midwestern county juvenile court. The findings indicated that the OYAS-DIS was a statistically significant predictor of recidivism across all racial and gender subgroups. However, there was statistically significant variation in predictive validity across subgroups. For instance, the tool was a statistically significantly better predictor of recidivism for White males as compared to Black male youth. There was also statistically significant variation in the predictive validity of certain domains (e.g., juvenile justice history) on the OYAS-DIS across racial and gender subgroups. Implications of research favor the use of the OYAS-DIS to predict recidivism for adjudicated juveniles.

show abstract

Section: The Oyasmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…There is some promising research on the predictive validity of the OYAS-DIS based on some initial validation studies (Lovins & Latessa, 2013). Further, a revalidation of the OYAS-DIS found that the tool can predict recidivism moderately well across different types of samples and counties (McCafferty, 2013, 2016).…”

Section: The Oyasmentioning

confidence: 99%

Validation of the Ohio Youth Assessment System Dispositional Tool (OYAS-DIS): An Examination of Race and Gender Differences

Campbell

D’Amato

Papp

2019

Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…So far, research on the OYAS‐Disposition Tool has produced results that show support for the validity of the tool and that its ability to predict general recidivism is in line with other well‐performing tools. For example, in two studies in which the OYAS‐Disposition Tool was examined, scholars found that the total score of the tool correlates with recidivism at a level between r = .30 and .32 (Lovins & Latessa, ; McCafferty, ). Unpublished validity research results also show that this tool is as predictive of recidivism (Latessa et al., ; Latessa, Lovins, & Lux, ) as other commonly used youth risk assessments, such as the YLS/CMI (Schwalbe, ).…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…One tool that was designed for general use across a diverse offender population is the Ohio Youth Assessment System‐Disposition Tool (OYAS‐Disposition Tool; Latessa, Lovins, & Ostrowski, ). Although scholars have yet to examine the efficacy of this tool with sex offenders, it is still widely used for this purpose, such as statewide in several locations (e.g., Ohio, Arizona, Texas, and Indiana) and by numerous other county‐level jurisdictions around the United States (Latessa et al., ; Lovins & Latessa, ; McCafferty, ).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Validation and examination of the Ohio Youth Assessment System with juvenile sex offenders

Papp

Campbell

Miller

2019

Criminology & Public Policy

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Research Summary In this study, we examined the use of an actuarial risk assessment tool—the Ohio Youth Assessment System‐Disposition Tool (OYAS‐Disposition Tool)—with juvenile sex offenders. Specifically, the main goals of the study were to (a) examine the predictive validity of the tool with sex offenders and (b) explore the nature of the use of professional discretion used to override the tool. The sample consisted of 3,235 youth from a large juvenile county court in the Midwest. The results indicated that the OYAS‐Disposition Tool was a significantly better option for predicting general recidivism for sex offenders than it was for non–sex offenders. The tool was also an effective method for predicting sexual recidivism. Most importantly, however, the use of professional overrides significantly reduced the ability of researchers to apply the tool to predict new court petitions and adjudications to nonsignificant levels. Finally, several justifications were commonly used for overrides: treatment needs, offense seriousness, and use of an alternative sex‐offender–specific assessment. Policy Implications The findings in this study highlight several important policy implications that would improve the assessment process for juvenile sex offenders. First, agencies using specialized risk assessments designed for sex offenders may consider applying a general risk assessment tool to identify a broader set of criminogenic needs and to predict risk of general recidivism. Second, there is a need to evaluate policies and practices that allow for the use of professional discretion with sex offenders given that they reduce the predictive validity of the risk tool evaluated. The high rate of overrides for juvenile sex offenders and justification for their use go against best practices in corrections. For instance, overrides were often justified based on offense seriousness; however, focusing on evidence‐based criminogenic risk factors provides the best accuracy in predicting future offending. In this study, we call into question court policies that allow for overrides based on crime type or based on a practitioner's professional judgment concerning a juvenile's level of service needs. Last, agencies should consider validation research within their agency before full adoption of a general risk assessment tool to quell concerns about the use and accuracy of a tool for special populations like juvenile sex offenders.

show abstract

“…The measure of cumulative risk included 17 items tapping a number of previously identified risk and needs domains (see Baglivio, 2009;Latessa, Lovins, & Ostrowski, 2009;Lovins & Latessa, 2013;Newsome & Sullivan, 2014). The domains included in the measurement process include family attachment and parental monitoring; substance use (both recent and early onset); antisocial peer association; social support; school attachment and performance; and prosocial skills and activities.…”

Section: Cumulative Risk Scorementioning

confidence: 99%

Psychosocial and genetic risk markers for longitudinal trends in delinquency: an empirical assessment and practical discussion

Sullivan

Newsome

2015

Criminal Justice Studies

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The increased use of biosocial perspectives in criminological research has expanded the scope of factors considered in understanding the etiology of adolescent antisocial behavior. At the same time, its practical utility for preventive and remedial intervention has not been examined to the same degree. Using a large, nationally representative sample of youth (N = 2573) and a series of latent growth curve models, this study examines the relative utility of a psychosocial risk composite and genetic indicators (DRD2, DRD4, DAT1, 5-HTTLPR, MAO-A) in predicting the onset and later developmental patterns of adolescent and early adult delinquency and criminal behavior. The results show that the psychosocial risk composite measure has significant effects on the latent growth factors, while the main and interactive effects of the genetic indicators do not. The subsequent discussion considers the practical implications of these empirical findings in the context of extant research and pinpoints some possible future applications of this area of research. It also identifies some parallel cases of translational criminology that may serve as indications of how this research might inform policy and practice going forward.

show abstract

Creation and Validation of the Ohio Youth Assessment System (OYAS) and Strategies for Successful Implementation

Cited by 27 publications

References 2 publications

Validation of the Ohio Youth Assessment System Dispositional Tool (OYAS-DIS): An Examination of Race and Gender Differences

Validation of the Ohio Youth Assessment System Dispositional Tool (OYAS-DIS): An Examination of Race and Gender Differences

Validation and examination of the Ohio Youth Assessment System with juvenile sex offenders

Psychosocial and genetic risk markers for longitudinal trends in delinquency: an empirical assessment and practical discussion

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About