Reports the results of a study examining the preliminary screening, assessor staff service recommendations, and service utilization outcomes of 143 youths processed at the Hillsborough County, Florida Juvenile Assessment Center. Results indicate that assessors were making recommendations that were meaningfully associated with the youths' potential…

Reports the results of studies examining the test-retest reliability of the Problem Oriented Screening Instrument for Teenagers (POSIT). Administered the test to 438 juvenile offenders. Results indicate that females have more potential problems as identified by the POSIT. The test appears effective in identifying potential problems of evaluated…

This book provides a detailed review of a National Institute on Drug Abuse-funded, long-term clinical trial of the Family Empowerment Intervention (FEI). FEI is a systems-oriented, low-cost intervention delivered in the home by trained nontherapists for high-risk youths who have been arrested and their families. The subjects were a group of over…

Presents a detailed overview of the Family Empowerment Intervention (FEI), a system-oriented intervention delivered in-home by well-trained nontherapists. A clinical trial of FEI targeted arrested youths and their families. Topics covered included: theoretical foundations and goals of FEI, structural intervention strategies, and phases of the…

Analyzes screening data on arrested youths (n=361) at the Hillsborough County, Florida Juvenile Assessment Center in November 1993. Results provide support for the effectiveness of the Detention Risk Assessment Instrument in differentiating among youths released to the community unsupervised, youths placed on home detention, and youths placed in…

We report the results of the relationship of lifetime and past year drug involvement to psychosocial functioning among youths entering a Juvenile Arbitration Program (a diversion program) in the 13th Judicial Circuit, who enrolled in a Center for Substance Abuse Treatment funded study. The project is a clinical trial evaluating an innovative…

Reports results of a study of the long term impact of a Family Empowerment Intervention (FEI) on the psychosocial functioning among youths processed at Hillsborough County Juvenile Assessment Center who entered the project between September 1994 and January 1998. Results provide support for the sustained effect of FEI services. (BF)

The Miami-Dade Juvenile Assessment Center National Demonstration Project (NDP) is serving as a national model for the transformation of front end services in the juvenile justice system in a unique sociocultural setting.We discuss the background and vision of the NDP, its implementation and accomplishments in six major program areas: (1)…