Development of a risk/treatment needs and progress protocol for juveniles with sex offenses.

Abstract

With the post-Gault trend toward the criminalization of the juvenile court, the demand for risk prediction assessment scales took on newfound importance. The past several decades of research have underscored the limitations of these scales. To address these limitations, and to shift the focus from current and future risk to least restrictive management strategies and effective treatment, we have developed and implemented a new assessment protocol that relies on risk relevant dynamic factors to inform and individualize treatment interventions as a vehicle for reducing recidivism and promoting healthy development among juveniles with sex offenses—without focusing solely on risk prediction. This Treatment Needs and Progress Scale (TNPS) is currently being pilot tested in five states. This article reviews the methodological problems of the extant risk assessment scales, discusses the development of the TNPS and how this protocol seeks to address many of these problems, including shifting the outcome target from reoffense to mitigation of risk factors through treatment and healthy growth and adjustment. We conclude with discussing how the TNPS may improve decision making regarding the management of juveniles with sex offenses, inform public policy and law, and facilitate healthier outcomes.

Prediction models for child and adolescent mental health: A systematic review of methodology and reporting in recent research

“…-3 of 10 the expert opinion of the authors or a group of stakeholders) (Kang et al, 2019;Pettit et al, 2018;van Minde et al, 2019). Forty six studies (46%) used prospective data collection, and 49 (49%) utilized retrospective data.…”

A compendium of risk and needs tools for assessing male youths at-risk to and/or who have engaged in sexually abusive behaviors

“…The Youth Needs and Progress Development and Implementation Project was initiated in 2016 in order to address the limitations of existing risk tools to assess youths (e.g., developmental immaturity, absence of protective factors, low base rates), and one of its goals was to develop an evidence-informed treatment needs and progress scale (Kang et al, 2019;Prentky et al, 2020). The project led to the development of the Youth Needs and Progress Scale (YNPS; predecessor called Treatment Needs and Progress Scale, TNPS), which comprises 22 dynamic risk and protective factors, along with a few historical items, and is intended to identify risk-relevant intervention needs and track progress among youths and young adults ages 12 to 25 who have engaged in abusive sexual behavior (Righthand et al, 2020; for items see Table 3).…”

State-of-the-Art Measures: Contemporary Views on Risk Assessment of Sexually Abusive Youth

“…[e.g., adjudicated and/or non-adjudicated, males and/or females, youth with low intellectual functioning]); (c) description of the validation sample (i.e., age, gender, adjudication status, and type of setting for research sites [e.g., outpatient vs. residential and/or correctional]; and (d) current literature review of samples studied. Nevertheless, Kang et al (2019) followed to some degree the New Paradigm of risk assessment by incorporating in the TNPS many major aspects of the template of MEGA ♪ , including assessing protective factors and using age groups (in their case -10-14, 15-17, 18-25see p. 159). Prentky et al (2020) completed their pilot study, along with renaming of the tool without explanation to Youth Needs and Progress Scale [YNPS]), and neglect to address many of the multiple concerns raised in Miccio-Fonseca's (2020) critique.…”

“…The multiple cross-validation studies of MEGA ♪ identified a constellation of protective factors interacting to mitigate risk for sexually abusive behaviors, evidencing that protective factors are specific to age and gender (Miccio-Fonseca 2018a). Incorporating protective factors in a risk assessment measure for youth was a substantial turning point in the evolution of risk assessment tools for sexually abusive youth, seen most recently in Kang et al's (2019) new tool, the TNPS.…”