Structured Dispositional Matrix for Court Recommendations Made by Juvenile Probation Officers

• Date: 01 February 2015
• Published date: 01 February 2015
• Author: Jennifer Owen,Felicia Cotton
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/1745-9133.12114

POLICY ESSAY

DISPOSITION MATRIX FOR COURT

RECOMMENDATIONS

Structured Dispositional Matrix

for Court Recommendations Made by

Juvenile Probation Officers

Felicia Cotton

Jennifer Owen

County of Los Angeles Probation Department

Historically,community corrections suffered from a lack of research that identified

proven methods of improving public safety. Recent research efforts based on

meta-analysis (syntheses of data from many research studies) (Andrews and

Dowden, 2006; Burke, Arkowitz, and Menchola, 2003; Landenberger and Lipsey, 2005;

McGuire, 2002; Sherman et al., 1998) have broken through this barrier and are now

providing the field with guidance on how to reduce reoffending and support offenders on

the path to productive citizenship.

One of the most impactful reforms to the juvenile justice system was the incorporation

of evidence-based practices (EBPs) for the treatment and rehabilitation of juvenile offenders.

EBPs moved probation case management from a monitoring and control model, toward

a behavioral change and treatment approach. EBP refers to approaches and interventions

that have been proven effective at reducing offender risk to reoffend. When replicated with

fidelity and matched to the offender’s risk and needs profile, using EBPs provides more

assurance for improved outcomes and reduced recidivism for juvenile offenders.

A core component of the juvenile justice system is the notion that children are malleable

and interventions should be motivated by an overall desire to address issues driving behavior.

Therefore, matching youth with the appropriate intervention is critical to provide the best

opportunity to abate future delinquent activity (Baglivio, Greenwald, and Russell, 2015,

this issue). As a prerequisite for matching youth with the appropriate intervention and level

of supervision, a validated risk assessment is required. A validated offender risk assessment

Direct correspondence to Felicia Cotton, County of Los Angeles Probation Department, 9150 E. Imperial

Highway, Downey, CA 90242 (e-mail: Felicia.Cotton@probation.lacounty.gov).

DOI:10.1111/1745-9133.12114 C2015 American Society of Criminology 59

Criminology & Public Policy rVolume 14 rIssue 1