The Underexamined, Critical Role of Community-Based Services and Supports in Juvenile Justice Systems, Part 1

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Myrinda Schweitzer Smith received her Ph.D. from the University of Cincinnati and is the Executive Director of the University of Cincinnati Corrections Institute. Dr. Schweitzer Smith has co-authored publications, presented nationally and internationally on effective interventions, and served as a project director for over 300 projects involving program evaluation, the development and implementation of cognitive-behavioral programs for delinquency, criminality, substance abuse, employment, and sexual offending, and effective practices for community supervision and support. She serves and participates on a multitude of advisory boards and professional organizations supporting the health and wellbeing of those working in and those impacted by the justice system. Most recently, she is actively engaged in several projects that aim to transform juvenile justice and reentry practices to positively shape lives and safer societies.

Jennifer Skeem is a psychologist who writes and teaches about the intersection between behavioral science and criminal justice. Her research is designed to inform efforts to prevent violence, improve decision-making about people involved in the justice system, and achieve effective and equitable justice reform. Current projects include testing innovative correctional services for people with mental illness, identifying environmental factors that promote violence within institutions, and promoting prosocial behavior among juveniles at risk. Much of Skeem’s current work addresses a surge of interest in the use of risk assessment to inform criminal sentencing—including how this practice may affect racial and economic disparities in imprisonment. Skeem has authored over 150 articles and edited 2 books—including Applying Social Science to Reduce Violent Offending. She is past President of the American Psychology-Law Society and member of the. MacArthur Foundation Research Network on Mandated Community Treatment. Skeem has delivered congressional briefings on her work and consults with local and federal agencies on issues related to prevention of (mass) violence, community corrections, and sentencing and prison reform.

Gina Vincent, Ph.D. is a Professor of Psychiatry, Co-Director of the Law & Psychiatry, and faculty in the Implementation Science & Practice Advances Research Center (iSPARC) at UMass Chan Medical School. She also is President of the National Youth Screening and Assessment Partners (NYSAP), an implementation support and training center for assisting juvenile justice agencies with the implementation of risk-needs assessment, case planning, risk-need-responsivity, and behavioral health screening tools. She is author of the Risk Assessment in Juvenile Probation: A Guidebook for Implementation manual. She has assisted over 50 county or state juvenile justice agencies in their implementation of risk assessment instruments and risk-need-responsivity-based case planning. She has received funding from NIMH, NIDA, the MacArthur Foundation, OJJDP, and NIJ for studies related to mental health concerns and substance use disorders among youth involved in the juvenile justice system, and for studying outcomes of implementation of evidence-based practices in juvenile justice settings. She has over 75 publications in the areas of risk assessment, adolescent substance use and mental health symptoms, callous-unemotional traits, and implementation science-related studies.

Josh Weber directs the CSG Justice Center’s juvenile justice program, which focuses on helping states use effective methods to reduce recidivism and improve outcomes for youth in contact with the juvenile justice system.