The value of high quality, comprehensive information to decisionmakers in juvenile cases.

• Author: Oakland, Thomas

Casey P., (1) a 16-year-old, has no family. Abandoned by his mother; he has lived in innumerable foster homes, Department of Juvenile Justice facilities, and residential mental health treatment centers. The local school board diagnosed him as a student with a serious emotional disturbance. He also has received diagnoses of oppositional defiant disorder, conduct disorder, dysthymia, bipolar affective disorder, posttraumatic stress disorder, attention deficit hyperactive disorder, and a mood disorder. The mention of his name brings groans of recognition and frustration from caseworkers, educators, public defenders, and juvenile probation officers. Casey has been before courts on various earlier charges including vandalism, auto and retail theft, battery, and resisting arrest and now is before the court for disposition on his most recent delinquency charge of strong arm robbery.

Need for Information to Assist Judges

Casey is like thousands of children and youth who appear before courts in Florida and other states. Decisions that determine the futures of children, families, and their communities must be made in cases coming before courts that address juvenile delinquency and dependency, family law, and special education issues. Attorneys, child advocates, agency representatives (e.g., juvenile probation officers and dependency caseworkers), law enforcement specialists, psychologists, social workers, and others may provide information germane to such issues as the nature of a child's problems, punishment, assistance, placement, and supervision.

The nature of information presented to courts in disposition hearings in juvenile courts is virtually unrestricted: At the disposition hearing the court, after establishing compliance with the dispositional considerations, determinations, and discussions required by law may receive any relevant and material evidence helpful in determining the proper disposition to be made. (2)

Likewise, in special education staffings pursuant to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, (3) few restrictions exist on information that may be presented on be-half of a school district, children and their parents, or others who may wish to present information. (4)

Judicial decisions range from those that are mundane to those that are life changing. Those that have a greater impact on children's lives should be based on evidence that displays high professional standards and addresses important issues before the court. However, judges often receive minimal information about the children and youth who appear before them, thus making judicial decisions difficult.

Judges have authority to establish policy that guides the manner in which assessment data are acquired and presented to the court. (5) The purpose of this article is to assist efforts to establish or improve policy governing the assessment of children and youth by identifying professional standards that govern assessment and suggesting methods that may further improve the relevance of information presented to the court (Table 1).

Professional Standards Govern Tests

Professional standards governing test use are set forth in Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing ("standards" or "the standards"). (6) These standards address three broad issues: test construction, evaluation, and documentation; fairness in testing; and testing applications. Psychologists and other assessment specialists can be expected to know and adhere to these standards when performing their work. The standards also can guide the formation of policy governing assessment services to best serve the judicial system.

* Psychological Assessment Defined

The standards define psychological assessment as "a comprehensive examination undertaken to answer specific questions about a client's functioning during a particular time interval or to predict a client's psychological functioning in the future." (7)

* Five Principles Guide Information Acquisition

The standards emphasize referral needs typically are served best by using multiple methods that draw on information from multiple sources to acquire information on multiple traits or attributes that are displayed in various settings and over some period of time. Each of these five features is described briefly below.

Use Multiple Methods. Comprehensive assessments of children often utilize behavioral observations in structured (e.g., testing sessions) and unstructured (e.g., playgrounds, hallways) settings, checklists, rating scales, interviews, as well as criterion-and norm-referenced tests.

Use Multiple Sources. The quality of assessments with children is contingent on a thorough review of existing records and acquisition of information from various persons who know the child well. Information from the child, his or her parents/ guardians, siblings, teachers, juvenile justice officials, and other professionals who provide services to the child generally are most critical. Information from extended family members as well as recreation and religious leaders also may be helpful.

Assess Multiple Traits or Attributes. Comprehensive assessments provide a portrait of a child by highlighting important personal qualities in reference to the contexts within which behavior occurs (see Multiple Settings below). This portrait often includes information on general and specific intellectual abilities, language competence (and, with bilingual children, language dominance), academic achievement, social and adaptive behaviors and skills, personality and temperament, and possibly vocational qualities (e.g., vocational interests, aptitudes, work values). An understanding of one trait is enhanced by knowledge of other traits.

Describe Behaviors Displayed in Multiple Settings, A child's behaviors may differ considerably in different environments. An understanding of a child requires...