Youth Assessment Center History/Summary
Criteria For Placement
What Is A Youth Assessment?
What DoesThe Assessment Include?
Responding To BARJ Philosophy

             DAWSON COUNTY YOUTH ASSESSMENT CENTER
207 West Bell
 Glendive, MT 59330
 (406)377-7252

     The Dawson County Youth Assessment Center is currently being operated under a grant that was obtained by the Montana Seventh Judicial District Youth Court Probation Office. The Center was originally started under a Challenge Grant which was secured from the Montana Board of Crime Control to develop a model youth assessment center in response to the Fifty-fifth Montana Legislative Session passing major revisions to the Montana Youth Court Act, including providing for youth assessment centers. 

     Located in the vacated jail and law enforcement space adjacent to the Dawson County Courthouse, the Youth Assessment Center became operational in March of 1999 to provide youth assessments to the youth of the Montana Seventh Judicial District that were in need of such assessments and meet the criteria. The Center provides one, three to five day(Mon-Fri) assessment period per month when needed.  The day begins at 7AM and ends at 7PM. Out-of-County youth have resided in a relative’s home, respite homes provided by Youth Dynamics, Inc., a professional therapeutic foster home organization or have been transported to and from the Center by staff or parents. It is envisioned that the Center will ultimately be remodeled to include a shelter care facility, so youth can remain on-site overnight. 

     While at the Center, youth undergo mental health, alcohol/drug, and educational evaluations. They are also tested in social skills. They participate in daily chores, school work, community service and if needed, victim empathy training or victim/offender mediation.  As a result, a youth assessment report is generated that provides concrete recommendations to the youth, the family, the school, and the Youth Court on how to intervene in the youth's situation. In addition, it is hoped that the Dawson County Youth Assessment Center will improve the Montana Seventh Judicial District's and the communities we serve ability to respond to the balanced and restorativejustice(BARJ) philosophy that is becoming the guiding principal of juvenile justice in Montana, this District, and other jurisdictions today.

     Following are some more detailed descriptions of the criteria for placement, what a youth assessment is, what does the assessment include, and how the assessment center is improving the ability to respond to the (BARJ) philosophy.

Criteria for Placement:

    Youth are placed under the guidelines of the Montana Youth Court Act. Types of youth considered for placement are youth:
*who are considered Youth In Need Of Intervention and the parents or youth request an assessment:
*who have been referred as a Youth In Need Of Intervention three or more times within the past year:
*who have been referred a minimum of two misdemeanor offenses within the past year; or 
*who has committed a felony and the safety of the community allows for said assessment

What is a Youth Assessment?

     As provided for in Montana Code Annotated Section 41-5-1203, a youth assessment is a multi-disciplinary effort that may include, but is not limited to a chemical dependancy evaluation of the youth, an educational assessment of the youth, an evaluation to determine if the youth has mental health needs, or an assessment of the need for any family-based services or others services provided by the department of public health and human services or other state and local agencies. The education component of the youth assessment is intended to address attendance, behavior, and performance issues of the youth. The education component is not intended to interfere with the right to attend a nonpublic or home school that complies with 20-5-109. 

What Does the Assessment Include?

     The youth assessment report includes: identifying data; legal reason for evaluation; presenting problems; a health/medical assessment that includes drug screening, a general health screening: height, weight, vision, hearing, blood pressure, dental decay and recommendations; a mental health assessment(described below); a chemical dependency assessment(described below); a competency/social skills assessment; an educational assessment that includes IQ testing and any other suitable testing deemed necessary by school officials; and recommendations to the youth, the family, the Court, and the school.

     Accurate Mental Health diagnosis and assessment is an important component of any treatment planning and intervention strategy with youths. The mental health component of the assessment contains a complete assessment addressing current mental status, history of family mental illnesses, personality characteristics, pathology and indications of organic dysfunction including neurologic indicators screening.  This assessment will yield a comprehensive mental health report with accurate DSM-IV diagnosis and treatment recommendations for the youth, family unit, teachers and counselors.

     The assessment of a youth's chemical usage is a vital component of the assessment process as it relates to school, community and criminal functioning.  The chemical dependancy component will include an evaluation report that contains presenting problem, medical status, drug and alcohol usage, legal status, family history, diagnostic impression and recommendations for treatment.

Improvement in Ability to Respond to BARJ Philosophy:

     Community Protection:

     This program will be able to provide an immediate, staff-secured sight for assessment purposes, coupled with electronic monitoring capabilities, that would otherwise be unavailable and would leave the youth waiting for access to services provided by different agencies, at home and tempted to continue to engage anti-social behaviors.

     This program would require written guidelines to be produced by the Judicial District in order to identify those youth required to undergo an assessment and also provide immediate sanctioning ability to the Youth Court.

     This program would enable mentoring to be done by interested community members.

     This program would enable the assessment process to identify family strengths and weakness that might assist family members in monitoring and interacting with the youth after completion of assessment.

     This program would coordinate efforts of law enforcement, school, agencies and youth court by helping identify high risk youth and suggest appropriate intervention strategies for the prevention of future anti-social, delinquent, type behavior.

     Accountability:

     This program would provide opportunities to begin victim awareness training with the offender.

     This program would provide opportunities to provide existing victim/offender mediation-family/group conferencing sessions.

     This program would provide opportunities for youth to engage in daily community service projects.

     Competency Development:

     This program would help identify those areas relating to vocational, educational, social, emotional, and health related issues directly tailored for the individual youth's needs by providing an assessment process that looks into issues of chemical dependancy, mental health, educational, family strength and weaknesses, and vocational abilities.

     This program would promote work experience and enhance job skills by providing youth to participate in community service projects, thereby benefiting both youth and the community.