Page 34 - Preventing Youth Violence

the Jamaican youth. Kevin Barnes Ceeney, Ph.D. and the CSJP team developed both
the adult and youth versions of the Jamaica Risk Assessment instruments. The instruments

were normed for suitability in the Jamaican context. The full Risk Assessment Instruments
(Screener, JRA-AV and JRA-YV) were normed using the first 1,085 participants (youths and

adults) who were risk assessed in the CSJP III in early 2016. During the norming process
three hypotheses were tested:

1. Criminal history will predict higher initial screening scores for all clients
2. Higher initial screening scores predict higher JRA risk scores for both adults and

youths
3. Is the overall screening document associated with criminal history? What are the

most influential factors in the screener that contribute to criminal histories?

The results from the statistical analyses supported all three hypotheses. Hypothesis 1,
controlling for age and region, highlighted a significant relationship between criminal

history and a higher score at initial screening. For Hypothesis 2 it was shown that for every
point increase in the screening tool the odds of any individual being scored medium/high

risk increased by 24.0 and 27.0 per cent, for youths and adults, respectively. Finally, for
the third hypothesis it was shown that all the factors outlined on the screening tool, when

combined, were significantly able to predict criminal history. It was further revealed that
being male was the strongest predictor, followed by current criminal justice involvement

and substance abuse. On their own the other factors were not significantly predictive of
criminal history (Barnes-Ceeney, 2017). By September 2016 CSJP was ready to roll out case

management as a lifeline to those individuals who posed the highest risk of crime and
violence across the 50 vulnerable communities it served.

THE CASE MANAGEMENT PROCESS

Case management is a process to plan, seek, advocate for, and monitor services
from social service providers or health care organizations on behalf of a client. “Case

management can occur within a single, large organization or within a community program
that coordinates services among settings” (Barker, 2003 as cited in NASW, 2013, 13).

The case management process seeks to assist clients:
● To re-establish an awareness of their internal resources or strengths such as

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