Oregon Youth Authority and community partners launched the Youth Reformation System (YRS) in 2013 to use data, research, and analytics to deliver the right services to youth for the right amount of time.
Data from YRS helps OYA or county caseworkers’ make better informed decisions as they determine treatment needs, identify services for youth, and measure outcomes.
Where does the data come from?
OYA collects data using the
Juvenile Justice Information System (JJIS), a statewide database of all youth in Oregon’s juvenile justice system. There is more than 20 years of JJIS data on demographics, referrals, adjudications, assessments, treatment services, and related information that allows OYA to create tools that help inform decision-making.
Assessments
The OYA Risk Needs Assessment (RNA) is a broad survey of youth strengths and needs in nine key areas, including education, mental health, aggression, attitudes, and relationships.
The RNA supports the creation of a youth’s individual case plan to guide planning and intervention toward:
- reducing needs
- maintaining or enhancing strengths
- measuring progress
The RNA is required at least every six months until a youth's case is closed.
The Juvenile Crime Prevention (JCP) Risk Assessment instrument is used by Oregon county juvenile departments to determine risk level and identify appropriate interventions.
For more information about the JCP Risk Assessment, click here to visit the Oregon Juvenile Department Directors' Association (OJDDA) site.
Agency researchers have developed and implemented several tools aimed at improving youth outcomes. The tools give juvenile justice professionals access to more accurate and timely data about the risks, needs, and treatment progress for every youth in OYA custody.
This tool estimates the likelihood that a youth will escalate from county probation to an OYA placement. The tool provides two scores:
- one that shows the probability a youth will escalate to OYA due to committing a new crime; and
- one that shows their probability of escalating on a probation violation.
This tool predicts the likelihood a youth will recidivate with a felony adjudication or conviction within 36 months of either placement on probation, commitment to probation, or release from OYA close custody.
(NOTE: OYA tests the accuracy of YRS tools across race and gender to ensure they do not exacerbate ethnic and racial disparities. An external analysis determined that ORRA predicts outcomes equally well across all populations.)
This tool predicts the likelihood a youth will recidivate with a felony adjudication or conviction for a violent crime within 36 months of either placement on probation, commitment to probation, or release from OYA close custody.
The ORRA-V score assesses risk for violent or threatening crimes that result in — or could result in — physical harm. Examples include homicide, assault, rape, robbery, and weapon offenses.
What are YRS benefits and goals?
- Better ability to identify which placements are most effective with particular types of youth.
- Enhanced safety for staff and youth; productive, crime-free youth; and safer communities.
- Reduced recidivism and victimization.
- Improved cost-effectiveness as OYA gains a better understanding of which interventions and treatments offer the best return on investment.