An Analysis of Young Offender Case Management Factor Items in Saskatchewan

The Level of Service Inventory Saskatchewan Youth Ed. (LSI SK Youth Ed.) is a risk assessment tool designed to be used with young offenders to determine the level of service necessary to reduce offending and inform case planning. There are eight vulnerable areas known to be criminogenic identified in the assessment that inform key areas for intervention and treatment in each offender’s case plan. The assessment also appends three sections of supplementary information (case management factor items) that might assist or affect case planning in the eight areas. The three sections consist of: 1) attributes or personal characteristics of the offender, such as anger management deficits or poor social skills; 2) static items that may play a prominent role in case management such as a history of fire-setting or gang involvement; and 3) social, economic and health issues such as homelessness or depression. The case management factors might indicate additional psychological or psychiatric assessment for the offender, or alert case managers of potential safety precautions for the young person (i.e. history of suicide attempts) or for those working with the offender (i.e. violence). Minimally, case management factors are an indication of the need to adapt or supplement treatment strategies and/or programming determined by the risk/need areas identified in the assessment. The case management factors are the subject of this research. Forty-two supplementary case management factors in the three subset categories of the risk assessment tool (LSI SK Youth Ed.) were analyzed. These variables were identified from 540 risk assessments of young offenders in Saskatchewan. The validity of the assessment tool was first established by finding a statistically significant relationship between recidivism and risk level. Results suggest that the risk assessment tool is a valid tool to measure the likelihood of recidivism in young offenders. Next forty-two case management factors were surveyed for frequency to see how often the factor occurs in the young offender sample (range) to assist justice agencies by identifying the ‘macro-needs’ of a young offender group in terms of program or intervention services. The scope or depth of the factors was tested for association to recidivism and risk level placement. Results determined that ten of those 42 factors were statistically significant in relation to recidivism and are considered criminogenic. Twenty-five of the case management factors had a statistically significant relationship to risk level placement. Ten of the 25 factors associated with risk level placement were those associated with recidivism. Those ten factors are more criminogenic than the remaining 15 of the twenty five factors associated with risk level placement because recidivism is actually re-offending and risk level placement is a prediction of re-offending. Nevertheless, statistically significant associations for the 15 factors associated with risk level placement that were not also associated with recidivism are criminogenic (though less so than associations to recidivism). Variables not associated to either recidivism or risk level placement, might be considered a non-criminogenic need, and would still be important considerations in a case plan and would require multi-agency intervention. This is the first study of its kind to discover the range and scope of case management factors. Further research is needed to corroborate findings and to understand how programs can be individualized, and then to study the effectiveness those interventions and programs.

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