Title: Community Assessment Centers



Series: OJJDP Fact Sheet #111



Author: Debra Oldenettel, M.P.A., and Madeline Wordes, Ph.D.



Published: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, June

1999 



Subject: Juvenile delinquency prevention



pages: 2



bytes: 8,000



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at 800-638-8736.



by Debra Oldenettel, M.P.A., and Madeline Wordes, Ph.D.



Communities across America are looking for more effective and efficient

ways to identify and help juveniles who are at risk of becoming serious,

violent, and chronic offenders. Because there are many causes of juvenile

delinquent behavior and many system deficiencies, support is growing for

integrated service delivery systems. Communities are also working to

better determine the needs of youth already in the juvenile justice system

and those at risk of entering the system.



Community Assessment Centers (CAC's), which complement the Office of

Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention's (OJJDP's) Comprehensive

Strategy for Serious, Violent, and Chronic Juvenile Offenders, address

these challenges by bringing together the fragmented elements of service

delivery in a collaborative, timely, cost-efficient, and comprehensive

manner. OJJDP believes that CAC's show promise to help overcome the

obstacles that contribute to inefficiency and ineffectiveness in the juvenile

justice system.



In fiscal year 1996, OJJDP selected four CAC demonstration sites: two

communities (Denver, CO, and Lee County, FL) to plan a CAC and two

communities (Jefferson County, CO, and Orlando, FL) to enhance their

current assessment center programs. As part of OJJDP's CAC initiative, a

2-year independent evaluation was awarded to the National Council on

Crime and Delinquency (NCCD). In addition, the Florida Alcohol and

Drug Abuse Association was selected to provide training and technical

assistance to CAC grantees.



The CAC Concept



OJJDP's program development process has identified four key elements

that have the potential to positively impact the lives of youth and prevent

them from becoming serious, violent, and chronic juvenile offenders: a

single point of entry, immediate and comprehensive assessments, integrated

case management, and a comprehensive and integrated management

information system (MIS). The demonstration sites are implementing these

elements in their CAC programs. 



Single Point of Entry



CAC's seek to serve both at-risk and delinquent youth and their families by

integrating the services of multiple agencies through the creation of an

actual or virtual "one-stop shop." Goals of this single point of entry include

reducing duplication of services, increasing system efficiency, and

improving access. 



Immediate and Comprehensive Assessment



As noted in OJJDP's Comprehensive Strategy for Serious, Violent, and

Chronic Juvenile Offenders (Wilson and Howell, 1993), the use of risk and

needs assessment tools is a critical component of an effective juvenile

justice system. The CAC concept provides an innovative and cost-effective

method for integrating the assessment processes used by diverse systems

(e.g., juvenile justice, mental health, child welfare). By providing cross-

system services, CAC's may integrate multidisciplinary perspectives on the

client's needs, enhance coordination of effort among service providers,

afford an opportunity to assess youth immediately, and reduce duplication

of assessment services.



Integrated Case Management



The Comprehensive Strategy emphasizes the role of the case management

system. Integrated case management is crucial for coordinating and

monitoring multiple services. The case manager (or case management

team) is the link between comprehensive assessment and effective,

integrated service delivery. Under the CAC model, case managers should

develop individualized treatment plans that identify multiple system

intervention priorities and include short- and long-term goals. To ensure

that juveniles access available services, followup plans and other methods

of tracking progress through the system should be included. Mechanisms

for reassessing youth and monitoring service provision are also critical.



Comprehensive and Integrated Management Information System



To effectively monitor the client's involvement in services across systems, a

CAC must have an infrastructure that can support integrated case

management, i.e., a comprehensive and integrated MIS. Such an MIS

should be the cornerstone of the single point of entry and of the assessment

process. Although establishing a fully integrated MIS may not be practical

for every community, at a minimum, a CAC should have an internal

database that can be used to manage information on the youth it serves.

Data collected from other systems should be entered into that database. 



CAC Evaluation



While the CAC concept is promising, the success of implementation and

the impact of CAC programs on their clients has yet to be assessed. NCCD

is conducting an intensive evaluation of each of the four sites chosen for

the CAC demonstration program. Although it is anticipated that the

integrated approach of CAC's will lead to positive outcomes for its clients,

CAC's should avoid stigmatizing and labeling youth, ensure due process for

juvenile offenders, and be careful not to "widen the net." The goal of CAC

is not to bring more youth into the system, but to improve service delivery

and, ultimately, reduce the number of juveniles who will enter or return to

the juvenile justice system.



For Further Information



Community Assessment Centers: A Discussion of the Concept's Efficacy

(Shay Bilchik, Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of

Justice Programs, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention,

1995), an OJJDP concept paper, provides additional information on this

topic. The concept paper and other information on CAC's and assessment

processes are available from OJJDP's Juvenile Justice Clearinghouse (JJC),

800-638-8736. OJJDP plans to publish a Bulletin this summer that will

further describe the CAC concept and its implementation by the

demonstration sites. The Bulletin will also be available from JJC.



Reference



Wilson, J.J., and Howell, J.C. 1993. A Comprehensive Strategy for

Serious, Violent, and Chronic Juvenile Offenders. Washington, DC: U.S.

Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Office of Juvenile

Justice and Delinquency Prevention.



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Debra Oldenettel is a Program Manager with OJJDP's Special Emphasis

Division. Madeline Wordes is a Senior Researcher with the National

Council on Crime and Delinquency.



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The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention is a component

of the Office of Justice Programs, which also includes the Bureau of Justice

Assistance, the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the National Institute of

Justice, and the Office for Victims of Crime.



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FS-99111