New research led by Joseph P. Ryan at the University of Michigan School of Social Work, funded by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation through its Models for Change initiative, affirms (not surprisingly) that the likelihood of future delinquency involvement is higher for youth who were referred to the child protective service system for behavior problems rather than for maltreatment.  Ryan’s research, completed in the state of Washington, concludes that:

• Placement rates in congregate care settings are much higher for youth who were referred due to a behavior problem (78%) than for those referred due to abuse or neglect (9%) (though those referred for behavior problems may also have a history of trauma or maltreatment.
• Youth referred for behavioral problems have a greater chance of subsequent arrest for delinquent behavior.
• Youth placed in congregate care have a greater chance of arrest.  The risk of arrest for youth with at least one group home placement is 2.5 times higher than a youth with one foster home placement in Los Angeles County.

So what?In order to have the largest effect on juvenile and criminal involvement of child welfare youth, the research suggests that we need to:

• Concentrate delinquency prevention efforts on those who are referred to the child welfare system for behavioral reasons, and on those in congregate care. 
• Expand community and family care settings for all youth in the child welfare system.  Improve responses from the child welfare system when working with youth who present as having behavior problems, and other youth with varying needs

…and there is more – so go to Recipe for Reform School on the National Juvenile Justice Network site for more thoughts about how we can work better “upstream” to better assess and intervene with children who come to our child protective services door.       By Katey Collins