Screening for Brain Injury in Justice-Involved Youth.

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this clinical focus article is to describe the development, implementation, and outcomes of a screening process for brain injury and associated symptoms in a juvenile justice setting.

Method: Through a collaborative, co-design process, a screening approach was created and implemented with youth intersecting with probation services. The brain injury screening was conducted using the HELPS Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) Screening Tool and, for youth who screened positive for a likely brain injury on the HELPS TBI Screening Tool, a shortened version of the Juvenile Symptom Questionnaire.

Results: In just over 2 years, 119 male youth on probation were screened for brain injury by 17 different probation officers. Of the about 10% of youth who screened positive for a likely brain injury, the greatest number of symptoms with the most impact on daily functioning were in the domains of information processing and emotional problems.

Conclusions: The co-design, implementation, and outcomes of this screening process provide foundational knowledge on the prevalence of brain injury in justice-involved youth (JIYs) and associated symptoms that supports the need for continued research and development of clinical assessment and treatment processes. These findings highlight the critical role of speech-language pathologists on research and clinical teams to continue screening for brain injuries and providing brain injury sensitive supports and services to JIYs.