Assessing Juveniles that are Considered for Transfer to Criminal Court

4 Hours

$225 Registration | $200 Early Registration (through 10/4)

Christin Smith, Psy.D and Uche F. Chibueze, Psy.D., ABPP present a live virtual professional training program on Assessing Juveniles that are Considered for Transfer to Criminal Court.

Currently, there are no guidelines that inform the practice of how evaluators should address the criteria or factors when evaluating adolescents that are being considered for the transfer from juvenile to criminal court.

This intermediate-level training will focus on case law and precedent established by Kent vs. United States (1966) and other juvenile cases, as well as how they can provide a guide in completing these evaluations. Research indicates that there is a lack of conformity and standardization regarding how evaluators should complete these assessments. However, some case laws and psychological research speak to the due process, emotional and behavioral functioning, brain development, and risk factors associated with adolescents.

Other areas of concern to be discussed are the racial discrepancies and factors noted throughout this specific legal process. Evaluators are often asked to complete an evaluation that includes the seriousness of the crime(s), assessment of the adolescent’s legal knowledge, level of dangerousness and criminal sophistication, maturity, treatment amenability, and risk for re-offending. The various psychological measures that can be beneficial in these evaluations will be presented and reviewed. It has also been argued that some of the aforementioned areas of focus are outside of the evaluator’s scope of practice, which will be an area of debate and discussion. Overall, what the assessment process entails, how to objectively assess and present the waiver evaluation to the court, and expert court testimony will be major components of this training.

The assessment measures that will be used are the WISC-V, WAIS-IV, WRAT-5, JACI, RSTI, SAVRY, PAI-A, MMPI-A-RF, JI-R, FAVT-A, TOMM, ILK. Other measures will be presented and participants are encouraged to share measures they might want to use in place of some of the ones offered, or in addition.

This training will have interactive components, including polls, small group discussions/activities, and Q&A sessions. Participants will be encouraged to present questions from their own testing experiences to share during discussion sessions.

This training program is intended for evaluators at the doctoral level, that work in the forensic realm, especially those that work with adolescents involved in the juvenile justice system at any stage of their career. However, having some exposure to full psychological and forensic evaluations would be helpful.