Evan D. Holloway

An Exploration of Community Reentry Needs and Services for Prisoners: A Focus on Care to Limit Return to High-Risk Behavior

Prisoner reentry is a stressful process and many prisoners return to behaviors that led to incarceration upon community reentry. We assess how individual-level vulnerabilities interact with system-level barriers that impact the community reentry process. An additional area explored was the impact of reentry services on risk behavior (i.e., sexual risk and substance use). Fifty-one (22 men, 29 women) primarily minority adults returning from the county jail or state prison participated in 4 focus groups in Febuary 2010. Participants took part in tape-recorded focus groups facilitated by research staff trained in qualitative research methodology. Participants reported that a lack of discharge planning led to poor community reentry (basic needs such as stable housing and employment were not met). As a result of a difficulty in accessing services to meet basic needs, many participants used drugs or engaged in sex for drugs, money, or transportation early in the community reentry process. Given the individual-level vulnerabilities of prisoners, they are more likely to reengage in risk behavior, which increases the risk of acquiring and transmitting HIV, reengaging in substance use, and recidivism. In summary, discharge planning should focus not only on sexual and substance use risk reduction, but also confirm that basic needs are met soon, if not immediately, upon release and subsequent community reentry.

“Straight Up”: Enhancing Rapport and Therapeutic Alliance with Previously-Detained Youth in the Delivery of Mental Health Services

A strong therapeutic alliance has been shown to improve mental health treatment outcomes in adults, but this topic has not been fully explored with youth. Adolescents, particularly justice-involved youth, stand to benefit greatly from an improved treatment experience. One quality which can improve treatment is mental health providers’ interpersonal skills when attempting to build a therapeutic rapport with adolescent clients. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 19 youth who screened positive for mental health concerns while in juvenile detention. Four themes were identified as important to improving the therapeutic alliance: Empathy, client-directed care, sequencing, and positive rapport. Suggestions for strengthening a therapeutic alliance are provided.

Job-related burnout among juvenile probation officers: implications for mental health stigma and competency

The high demands and responsibilities of probation work, particularly with juvenile clients, may lead to burnout, which can negatively impact how probation officers work with clients, particularly individuals with behavioral health concerns. Yet, research examining burnout and related outcomes among juvenile probation officers (JPOs) is limited. We surveyed 246 JPOs in a Midwestern state to identify the prevalence, predictors, and potential outcomes of burnout. JPOs reported moderate levels of burnout; about 30% of the sample scored in the high range for emotional exhaustion and cynicism. Contrary to study hypotheses, there were no group-level differences in burnout scores across gender, race/ethnicity, age, or education. In regression models, burnout was predicted by being White (vs. minority), serving in an urban (vs. rural) county, dissatisfaction with department guidelines, job dissatisfaction, viewing job role as more treatment-oriented along the enforcement-treatment continuum, and turnover intention. JPOs with burnout were more likely to endorse mental health stigma and lack of mental health competency to address juvenile clients with behavioral health concerns. Findings suggest burnout prevention and intervention programs should be considered for JPOs to increase job satisfaction, limit job turnover, reduce burnout, and possibly increase effective practices for managing juvenile clients with behavioral health needs.

A Qualitative Examination of Juvenile Probation Officers as Gateway Providers to Mental Health Care

Despite significant rates of psychopathology, less than 10% of court-involved youth are connected to appropriate care on release from detention. The majority are mandated to probation on release, providing the juvenile probation officer (PO) a unique opportunity to facilitate connection to mental health care. The current study supported this notion through analysis of qualitative interviews with recently detained youth, and their caregivers, who were identified with mental health concerns in detention. The juvenile PO was evaluated as a gateway provider (GP) in the pathway to mental health care. Results supported previous research discussing the conflicting roles inherent in juvenile probation: law enforcement and rehabilitation. A number of individual- and system-level factors specific to juvenile POs improved or impaired likelihood of connection to care. Further research should investigate how the interaction of the individual juvenile PO’s law enforcement orientation, and departmental culture and climate, affects youth’s connection to mental health care.

Connection to mental health care upon community reentry for detained youth: a qualitative study

BackgroundAlthough detained youth evidence increased rates of mental illness, relatively few adolescents utilize mental health care upon release from detention. Thus, the goal of this study is to understand the process of mental health care engagement upon community reentry for mentally-ill detained youth.MethodsQualitative interviews were conducted with 19 youth and caregiver dyads (39 participants) recruited from four Midwest counties affiliated with a state-wide mental health screening project. Previously detained youth (ages 11–17), who had elevated scores on a validated mental health screening measure, and a caregiver were interviewed 30 days post release. A critical realist perspective was used to identify themes on the detention and reentry experiences that impacted youth mental health care acquisition.ResultsYouth perceived detention as a crisis event and having detention-based mental health care increased their motivation to seek mental health care at reentry. Caregivers described receiving very little information regarding their child during detention and felt “out of the loop,” which resulted in mental health care utilization difficulty. Upon community reentry, long wait periods between detention release and initial contact with court or probation officers were associated with decreased motivation for youth to seek care. However, systemic coordination between the family, court and mental health system facilitated mental health care connection.ConclusionsUtilizing mental health care services can be a daunting process, particularly for youth upon community reentry from detention. The current study illustrates that individual, family-specific and systemic issues interact to facilitate or impair mental health care utilization. As such, in order to aid youth in accessing mental health care at detention release, systemic coordination efforts are necessary. The systematic coordination among caregivers, youth, and individuals within the justice system are needed to reduce barriers given that utilization of mental health care is a complex process.

Juvenile probation officers’ evaluation of traumatic event exposures and traumatic stress symptoms as responsivity factors in risk assessment and case planning.

Juvenile probation officers (JPOs) are increasingly using risk/needs assessments to evaluate delinquency risk, identify criminogenic needs and specific responsivity factors, and use this information in case planning. Justice-involved youth are exposed to traumatic events and experience traumatic stress symptoms at a high rate; such information warrants attention during the case planning process. The extent to which JPOs identify specific responsivity factors, in general, and trauma history, specifically, when scoring risk/need assessments is understudied. In the current study, 147 JPOs reviewed case vignettes that varied by the adolescents’ gender (male vs. female), traumatic event exposure (present vs. absent), and traumatic stress symptoms (present vs. absent), and then scored the YLS/CMI and developed case plans based on that information. JPOs who received a vignette that included trauma information identified a higher number of trauma-specific responsivity factors on the YLS/CMI. Despite an overall high needs match ratio (57.2%), few JPOs prioritized trauma as a target on case plans. The findings underscore the importance of incorporating trauma screening into risk/needs assessment and case planning.

A Study of the Impact of Screening for Poly-Victimization in Juvenile Justice: The Rocky Road to a Successful Investigation in the Real World:

Poly-victimization during formative developmental periods represents an important focus for screening and assessment in settings and populations in which interpersonal violence is pervasive. This article describes the multistage evolution of a research project designed to empirically test a poly-victimization enhancement of a widely used and validated behavioral health screening tool for youth using retrospective and prospective archival juvenile justice system outcome data. Several operational and methodological revisions to the project’s design and procedures were necessitated by barriers that arose as a result of unforeseen shifts in the host juvenile justice system’s policies and personnel. The present report describes real-world challenges that face investigators working in public sector systems, and highlights the key role of establishing long-term collaborative professional relationships with personnel at all levels in those systems based on providing services and evaluation data that meet the system’s core goals, responsibilities, and mission. Also highlighted are the methodological and logistical adaptations needed to successfully accomplish a project’s internal objectives while striking a balance between flexibility in operational and methodological tactics on one hand, and adherence to ethical, conceptual/clinical, and methodological principles on the other hand.

Motivating compliance: Juvenile probation officer strategies and skills

ABSTRACT Juvenile probation officers aim to improve youth compliance with probation conditions, but questions remain about how officers motivate youth. The study’s purpose was to determine which officer-reported probation strategies (client-centered vs. confrontational) were associated with their use of evidence-based motivational interviewing skills. Officers (N = 221) from 18 Indiana counties demonstrated motivational interviewing skills by responding to scenarios depicting issues common to youth probationers. Results of a hierarchical multiple regression analysis indicated that, while officer endorsement of client-centered strategies was not associated with differential use of motivational interviewing skills, officers endorsing confrontational strategies were less likely to demonstrate motivational interviewing skills.

Participants’ Perspectives of a Worksite Wellness Program Using an Outcome-Based Contingency Approach

Worksite wellness programs in the U.S. are increasingly common. Social workers in healthcare and administration should familiarize themselves with the various wellness programs and the impact they have on workers and organizations. This study examined a worksite wellness outcome-based contingency approach (WWOCA). This approach bases individual employee health insurance discounts on each participant achieving biometric goals. A mixed-method explanatory approach was used. Quantitative health measures of participants (n = 397) and six focus group discussions (n = 45) were conducted using a convenience sample. Results indicate that over half of the participants met their work-based health goals (i.e., body measurements at the average or excellent rankings) with increases from 56% in year one to 87% in year two and 90% by year three. However, focus group participants expressed a high sense of failure in relation to health goal attainment, frustration with loss of the financial incentive, and stress and anxiety linked to negative feedback about their body measurements. These results suggest that many participants’ self-worth was negatively impacted when participants had difficulty conforming to worksite wellness standards. Social workers in healthcare and administration will need to advocate for worksite wellness programs that promote human dignity and avoid discriminating based on employee health status.

Juvenile Probation Officer Self-Assessed Mental Health Competency as a Predictor of Case Management Practices.

Justice-involved youth endorse high rates of mental health problems. Juvenile probation is the most common disposition in the justice system and juvenile probation officers (JPOs) are crucial for connecting justice-involved youth with appropriate care. We examined the role of mental health competency on the use of self-report case management strategy types (deterrence, restorative justice, and treatment) by JPOs and whether jurisdiction-level differences were relevant. Results suggest that mental health competency predicted use of restorative justice and treatment strategies and all three strategy types varied at the county level. The role of mental health competency in use of treatment strategies is relevant to connecting justice-involved youth to mental health care. Furthermore, a substantial amount of the variance predicting the use of all three strategies was accounted for at the county level.