Youth Justice Policy Determination: Case Management, Assessment and Throughcare Services

Policy Purpose

To define the provision of appropriate and individualised assessment, case management, and throughcare practice for young people in detention, including the facilitation and delivery of rehabilitative programs and supports in detention that contribute to reducing the risk of re-offending.

Authority / Responsibility

The Executive Leadership Group and Senior Managers have responsibility for ensuring that supervisors and employees understand and comply with this policy.

Policy Statement

This policy applies to all Youth Justice Officers, Senior Youth Justice Officers, Shift Supervisors, the Superintendent, Deputy Superintendent, visitors, contractors and other Territory Families staff involved with the case management of young people in detention.

Case management provides the structure in which interventions address a young person’s criminogenic needs, non-criminogenic needs and other assessed needs. The primary objective of case management is to address a young person’s needs related to the reason for their detention and incorporates:

• Assessment
• Case planning
• Implementation of interventions
• Monitoring and evaluation
• Establishment, maintenance and management of case records

This policy determination is complemented by the Procedure Manual: Case Management, Assessment and Throughcare Services.

Principles

The Risk-Needs-Responsivity model is commonly employed to inform the practice of professionals working with young people who have offended and are in the care / under supervision of the youth justice system. The principles of the model are as follows:

Risk principle

Risk Principle of Case Classification identifies the importance of accurately assessing risk of recidivism (reoffending) for each young person. Such an assessment results in the classification of a young person into low, moderate or high risk of reoffending so that the appropriate level of intervention and supervision can be administered.

The risk principle advises that more resources or a higher level of service should be directed to high risk youth, and less to those deemed at low risk of reoffending.

Adhering to the risk principle ensures that interventions are directed to those youth who stand to make significant changes as opposed to those who were already unlikely to reoffend.

Need Principle

Intervention services should target criminogenic needs – or those needs that are directly related to an individual’s risk of reoffending. These needs are characteristics that, when influenced, are associated with changes in the likelihood of reoffending. Thus, the Need Principle of Case Classification indicates that the focus of interventions should be on dynamic risks / needs.

Criminogenic needs that are dynamic or changeable are: family circumstances/parenting, education/employment, peer relations, substance misuse, leisure/recreation, personality/behaviour, and attitudes/orientation.

Responsivity Principle

The Responsivity Principle of Case Classification states that services should be matched to the developmental needs, circumstances, motivation and learning styles of the young person. These factors are not necessarily related to criminal activity but are relevant to the way the youth reacts to different types of interventions. Included here are protective or strength factors that may serve to mitigate the impact of risk factors eg: high levels of emotional maturity, availability of supportive adult, an interest in sport.

Program Integrity Principle

Best practice intervention programs ensure that practice aligns with theory and program design through training, tools and monitoring of service delivery, including clinical audit

Professional Discretion Principle

Allows scope for professional judgement on the basis of other characteristics and circumstances not covered by the above principles. Professional discretion should be used judiciously and be reserved for exceptional circumstances.

It is important to remember that risks and needs are problem behaviours, events, circumstances and/or attitudes that increase the likelihood of reoffending. Their impact can be reduced by targeted interventions e.g. offence-specific programs, supportive accommodation, and strengthening protective factors – including positive personal attributes, positive adult or peer relationships and education connections.

Assessment

All young people are to receive an assessment by their Case Manager within the first two weeks of admission. The purpose and process of the assessment must be explained to the young person. At a minimum the young person should understand that a reduction in their risk of reoffending is the key purpose of the assessment and the goals of their subsequent care plan. To inform case planning the assessment must include:

• an individual, evidence-based profile of the criminogenic needs impacting on the young person’s risk of re-offending;
• a matched level of intervention indicated by their offending needs;
• an overview of protective factors, at the individual, family and community levels;
• particular responsivity for special needs, and health and developmental needs;
• a current offence analysis, and details of attitudes and skills; and
• a written assessment

Assessment information is profiled in the Youth Level of Service-Case Management Inventory 2.0 (YLS/CMI) and written in the case plan. There may be consideration given to using a young person’s previous YLS/CMI. This decision is reserved for the Case Management Team Leader or the Senior Clinician. A YLS/CMI risk assessment, or other specialised assessment must take place prior to any program placement.

Case Planning

ALLOCATING A CASE MANAGER

A young person sentenced to a period of detention must be assigned a Case Manager and Case Worker as early as practicable, and not later than seven days from the date of sentencing. The young person must be provided with the allocated Case Worker’s name.

Young people on remand must also be provided with appropriately tailored case management services for release planning. The decision to allocate a Case Worker to young people on remand rests with the Senior Clinician.

The Case Worker must be informed in writing about each young person they are allocated and their responsibilities specific to each case. These responsibilities will include conducting a monthly, or more frequently if required, casework interview followed by a case note entry in IOMS.

Case Workers must be pro-active advocates for the services required to meet the needs of a young person, whether from within Territory Families, other government agencies or non-government providers.

Where appropriate, the young person’s Community Youth Justice Case Worker will continue as the young person’s Case Worker during any period the young person is in detention.

CASE PLAN

Following the assessment, a case plan is to be developed. The young person should be at the centre of their case planning. All case planning or intervention must be appropriate to the sentenced young person’s offence, and be responsive to the age, development level, gender, ethnicity and abilities of the young person.

The results of the YLS/CMI assessment should be discussed with the young person and their family. The young person and their family should be aware of the priority need areas the assessment has identified. It is useful to create a contact list of the key people who are currently involved with the young person or would be willing to be involved, in order to create a support network that includes:

• Professionals g. legal representative, Child Protection and/or Disability Services workers, accommodation agencies, drug treatment services; and
• Family members. CASE PLAN MEETING

A case planning meeting should be convened to develop the plan. The focus of the case plan should be reducing the likelihood of the young person reoffending. The meeting should include

• the young person and their family;
• other professionals working with the family ay including
  • Child Protection;
  • Youth Outreach;
  • Health;
  • Education;
  • NAAJA Throughcare;
  • The young person’s legal representative; and
  • Youth Justice

The case planning meeting should:

• Clarify the needs identified by the YLS/CMI;
• Determine the actions required to meet these needs;
• Who is responsible for completing the actions; and
• When the actions will be

The minutes of the case planning meeting should be recorded in IOMS and on the young person’s hardcopy file. When the case plan has been completed, a copy of the plan must be provided to the young person’s family and other professionals working with the young person.

The case plan should be signed by the young person to acknowledge they are aware of their goals and actions and know who will be supporting them to achieve them.

CASE PLAN REVIEW

The case plan should be collaboratively reviewed with the young person and updated every three months. The review should:

• Check and record progress in achieving goals identified in the care plan; and
• Record and address and significant issues that have been identified since the care plan was developed or last

THROUGHCARE

Throughcare planning is a coordinated and integrated approach to reducing offending behaviours for those who come into contact with the youth justice system. A young person’s throughcare journey is an approach focused on rehabilitation and extends from the first contact with Youth Justice through to transitioning back into the community. The role of Territory Families in providing throughcare is to assist the young person to develop the skills, knowledge and resources they need to reintegrate into the community successfully.

Throughcare for young people in detention coordinates a multi-disciplinary approach, bringing together criminogenic therapeutic treatment, academic and vocational education, health and medical, cultural support, and life skills specific to the young person’s needs. This is a client centred process with all services planned and implemented specific to the young person’s needs. The case plan is developed by the Case Management Team in consultation with the young person.

As a part of the process assessments, advice and information from the relevant professional areas and stakeholders are coordinated to guide the creation of the case plan. The Throughcare journey is specific to the individual and takes into consideration the young persons:

• Length of sentence;
• YLS/CMI needs risk assessment;
• Previous and current offences;
• History of drug and alcohol misuse;
• Health goals and requirements;
• Education status, skills and knowledge;
• Cultural and community needs;
• Location for reintegration; and
• Behaviour while in

For young people in detention the centre case manager will take the lead on co-ordination of throughcare services and liaise with external throughcare providers and other organisations for the provision of case management services.