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.