The following online training and resources are available for use by the general public. These resources come in a variety of forms, all intended to provide assistance in the areas of mental health, substance abuse, and juvenile justice. Below is a brief description of each resource and a link to the actual training document or more information on how to access the resource.
Online Trainings | Electronic Resources
online trainings
Training Curriculum for Working With Girls Involved with the Juvenile Justice System
The general “Training Curriculum for Managing and Supervising Justice-involved Girls” was developed as part of the Miami-Dade Juvenile Assessment Center National Demonstration Project. This detailed curriculum was created in response to growing awareness of the need to alter policies, procedures and services to better respond to the increasing number of girls entering the juvenile justice system. The general training curriculum is an eight-module package covering a variety of issues important for juvenile justice staff to understand when working with adolescent girls. The curriculum provides a detailed outline of information organized into the following modules:
• Girls Psychosocial Development
• Trauma and Developmental Responses
• Triggers and Re-traumatization
• Girls’ Health, Mental Health and Substance Use
• Relationships, Home Life and Family Responsibilities
• Self-esteem, Identity and Academic Success
• Delinquency, Crime and Violence
• Supervision and Sanctions
Each module is designed to be delivered in two- or three-hour blocks. Training can be conducted in a two or three day pre-service setting or used for in-service training on specific module topics. Further, the general training may be trimmed, presented in whole or part, for half or whole day conference training.
To download an outline of the general training curriculum, please click here.
In addition to the general training curriculum, two specific training curricula were developed for use as an intensive, in-service training resource on girls in contact with the juvenile justice system. Each of these curricula can be taught within a two-hour block. These modules are:
• Physical
Custody
• Screening and Assessment
Click on either module to download an outline.
GAINS Center Juvenile Cross Training Curriculum
The juvenile cross-training curriculum
is designed to address major gaps in service provision
for youth with treatment needs involved with the juvenile
justice system. It focuses on increasing collaboration
among
professionals in the fields of mental health, substance
abuse, and juvenile justice when working with youth
with co-occurring disorders in the juvenile justice
system.This online version of the juvenile cross-training
curriculum supplies participating professionals with
information to better understand the needs of juveniles
with co-occurring disorders and to provide more effective
treatment and management. While the format retains
most of the didactic elements of the original cross-training,
participants may engage in modular exercises as they
progress through each component. The main topic areas
include:
-
An overview of the juvenile justice and treatment systems
-
Screening and assessment tools
-
Effective treatment approaches
-
Strategies for improving communication among systems
The Juvenile Law Center "Understanding Adolescents: A Juvenile Court Training Curriculum"
The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation funded the Youth Law Center, the Juvenile Law Center and the American Bar Association to develop and provide training for juvenile court professionals around the country. The goal was to develop a training curriculum that applied the findings of adolescent development and related research to practice issues confronted by juvenile court professionals at the various decision-making stages of the juvenile justice process. The long range objective is to improve the quality of decisions made by juvenile court professionals.
The curriculum is available online, at no cost, and jurisdictions can implement the trainings on their own or request assistance. The trainings are designed to be cross-disciplinary - delivering the information to judges, prosecutors, defenders and probation officers at the same time. The following training modules incorporate materials developed by the trainers, supplemental research, literature and training materials and feedback from the pilot sites. The following training modules are directly relevant to youth with mental health disorders in the juvenile justice system.
Module One: Kids are Different: How Knowledge of Adolescent Development Theory Can Aid Decision-Making in Court
Module Three: Mental Health Assessments in the Justice System: How to Get High Quality Evaluations and What to Do With Them in Court
Module Four: The Pathways to Juvenile Violence: How Child Maltreatment and Other Risk Factors Lead Children to Chronically Aggressive Behavior
Module Five: Special Ed Kids in the Justice System: How to Recognize and Treat Young People with Disabilities that Compromise their Ability to Comprehend, Learn and Behave
For more information on these modules and others, please go to the following link: http://www.abanet.org/crimjust/juvjus/macarthur.html
National Youth Screening Assistance Project: The MAYSI-2
The National Youth Screening Assistance Project is designed to assist users of the Massachusetts Youth Screening Instrument- Second Version (MAYSI-2). The MAYSI-2 is a brief screening instrument designed to identify potential mental health needs of youths as they make contact with the juvenile justice system-for example, at probation intake, admission to pretrial secure detention facilities, and reception into state youth correctional facilities.
The MAYSI-2 is a standardized, reliable, 52-item, true-false, paper-and-pencil method for screening every youth of ages 12-17 entering the juvenile justice system, in order to identify potential mental health problems in need of immediate attention. Requiring less than 10 minutes to administer and using the youth's self-report, the MAYSI-2 is feasible for use by non-clinical staff at intake probation, pretrial detention admission, and reception into a state's youth authority facilities. As of December 2000, over 200 justice facilities and programs in 30 states and 16 major cities were registered for use of the MAYSI-2.
For more information on the MAYSI-2 and to learn how to obtain a copy, please visit the following website: http://www.umassmed.edu/nysap/
electronic resources
Comprehensive Resource Kit on Mental Health and Juvenile Justice.
As part of the Juvenile Justice Diversion and Re-entry Initiative for Youth with Mental Health and Co-Occurring Substance Use Disorders Involved with the Juvenile Justice System, the Center has compiled a comprehensive Resource Kit of materials and information designed to provide the field with critical information on a range of topics pertaining to improving services for youth with mental health and substance use disorders involved with the juvenile justice system. The kit includes over 180 select readings, resources and annotated references on the following issues: screening and assessment; treatment, diversion, re-entry, special issues, substance use disorders, and other related topics. To access the Resource Kit, please click here
e-newsletters
Building Blocks for Youth Newsletter www.buildingblocksforyouth.org
This brief, monthly publication is free, available online and contains the latest juvenile justice research, fact sheets and publications. Building Blocks for Youth is an alliance of children's advocates, researchers, law enforcement professionals and community organizers that seeks to protect minority youth in the justice system and promote rational and effective justice policies.
Data Trends – Summaries http://rtckids.fmhi.usf.edu
A monthly summary detailing recent published articles on systems of care for children with emotional and behavioral disabilities and their families. It is produced by the Research and Training Center for Children’s Mental Health of the Florida Mental Health Institute at the University of South Florida.
EYE ON THE FIELD http://www.nattc.org/newsField.html
A monthly electronic magazine published by the Addiction Technology Transfer Center Network highlighting funding opportunities, research, resources and news related to substance abuse.
JTO Direct www.jointogether.org/about/web/jtodirect/
This daily update of Join Together Online summarizes the nation’s top news stories pertaining to substance abuse and violence. Selected press releases and action alerts published by major organizations in each field are featured.
OJJDP News @ A Glance http://ojjdp.ncjrs.org/enews/enews.html
This bimonthly newsletter distributed by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) highlights activities, publications, funding opportunities and reports on upcoming events.
listservs
Data Trends – News http://rtckids.fmhi.usf.edu
These news briefs, available from the Research and Training Center for Children’s Mental Health of the Florida Mental Health Institute at the University of South Florida, highlight items related to children’s mental health and events of interest to the field.
JUSTINFO http://ojjdp.ncjrs.org/eneyws/enews.html
A resource from the National Criminal Justice Reference Service providing information on resources available to assist with policy, practice and research related to issues involving criminal and juvenile justice.
JUVJUST http://ojjdp.ncjrs.org/enews/enews.html
Distributed by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), JUVJUST is a link to the latest juvenile justice information from OJJDP and the field.
NAMI E-News http://www.nami.org
A service of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill’s (NAMI) Department of Policy and Research which provides policy updates and action alerts.
Blueprint