Examining the youth level of service/case management inventory in the context of reliability, validity, equity, and utility: A six-year evaluation

Correctional agencies are increasingly expected to provide more offender services with fewer resources. Overcrowded institutions, unmanageable caseloads, and limited treatment options have become all too common impediments to achieving the systemic goals of population management, recidivism reduction, and public safety. Classification systems have the ability to offer some relief. The classification of offenders into risk-based typologies allows for the improved use of precious correctional resources by better informing decisions concerning custodial placement, community supervision intensity, and treatment placement. Yet, if offenders are going to be classified into different risk-based groupings and serviced accordingly, the importance of empirically evaluating the reliability, validity, equity, and utility of those classifications cannot be overstated. The YLS/CMI is a risk/need assessment tool designed to inform correctional decisions relevant to juvenile offenders.;Utilizing a sample of 950 youth remanded to custody in the state of Ohio, the current dissertation attempts to contribute to the literature on juvenile risk/needs classification in several crucial ways. First, the reliability of the YLS/CMI is examined by calculating measures of internal consistency. Second, this research extends existing validation efforts on the YLS/CMI by studying long term recidivism for a large sample of U.S. juveniles. Third, the equity of the YLS/CMI is appraised by examining the tool's applicability to male and female, and White and Non-White youth. Fourth, the utility of the YLS/CMI is evaluated with respect to the practical and theoretical relevance of the information provided by the YLS/CMI.;The results support the long term predictive validity of the YLS/CMI for U.S. juveniles, as well as support the equity of the tool's validity for male and female, white and nonwhite juvenile offenders. Policy implications and direction for future research are discussed.