ABSTRACT
The genesis of the Youth Comprehensive Risk Assessment (YCRA) started over 20 years ago with the professional staff at an adolescent treatment facility. The CRAFFT and the Trauma Assessment Tool were added to refine the YCRA. The YCRA has significant utility in assessing entering adolescent offenders for substance abuse. This chapter helps professional staff to investigate the presence of common factors among adolescent clients who failed to successfully complete their treatment programs. Case reviews suggested that the most prominent prediction factors for program failure included high runaway risks, multiple prior placements, aggression, substance use, and poor family resources. The YCRA has high utility in distinguishing important youth risk patterns. Higher risk youth were reported to have significantly more problems with social functioning and substance abuse and needed a significantly higher degree of structure in treatment.
