158 - Implementation of MAYSI-2

Overview:

The Washington State Juvenile Courts require access to validated mental health screening instruments for youth entering juvenile detention. There are two mental health and substance abuse screening tools, the Massachusetts Youth Screening Instrument-2 (MAYSI-2) and the Mental Health- Juvenile Detention Assessment Tool (MH-JDAT) that the juvenile courts would like to have available through a server in all juvenile detention facilities. The MAYSI was developed in 1998 by Thomas Grisso, Ph.D., and Richard Barnum, M.D. and revised in 2000 to the MAYSI-2. The MAYSI-2 is a standardized 52-item, questionnaire The MH-JDAT was developed by Dr. Lisa Boesky in 2000 and is a standardized 31–item questionnaire. Results from these instruments are used to identify signs of mental/emotional disturbance or distress, including suicide risk. In addition, scores from the MH-JDAT and the MAYSI-2 are used to inform decisions regarding access to programming, crisis intervention, and arrangements in detention.

Project background:

The juvenile courts and the Center for Court Research were in negotiations with an outside vendor, Assessments.com, to provide the MAYSI and MH-JDAT to the Washington Juvenile Detention Centers (see document "MAYSI contract_draft.docx). Because of internal issues with Assessments.com, we have decided to explore other options for offering and housing the assessment tools. The McArthur Foundation has allocated funds to help expand the availability of the MAYSI-2 in all juvenile detention centers in Washington. These funds can be used to offset some of the costs of development and installation.

Need:

The functionality that we’re particularly interested in:

·         MAYSI-2 and MH-JDAT tool made available electronically in all juvenile detention facilities in Washington State

·         Secure access to the tool (users are court staff)

·         Real time computation/scoring of tool

·         Real time report development (printable and PDF, mock ups attached in document "MAYSI request.docx")

·         Data from multiple sites stored in a single secure location

·         Data can be extracted from server

·         Ability to query data on server and access a small number of developed canned reports.

External Sources for Service:

After investigation, it appears that Assessments.com is the only vendor that provides online software for the MAYSI-2. Additional vendors are able to load the MAYSI-2 (which is public access) on to a server to share. Estimates for this service were around $25-30K annually. The developers of the MAYSI have low cost software called MAYSIWARE (ww.maysiware.com/MAYSIWAREDEMO.html), but it is machine operated and not available for easy cross-site aggregation. There currently is no software available for the MH-JDAT. The Center for Court Research owns IBM software that has the functionality to collect and aggregate survey responses in to scores. This software may be a good fit for this project (see attachment "F0502948IBM.pdf" and "IBM software descrip TG.docx" for a description).

Request:

In order to meet the juvenile courts needs of having validated mental health screening tools available for all juvenile detention centers in the state it will be necessary to develop a process to complete the tools online with real-time scoring, data storage, and data retrieval. Developing a data entry portal, a scoring and reporting process, a data warehouse, along with ongoing warehouse maintenance will be necessary.

 There are four major steps to this project, 

1)    Install the mental health screening tools on the AOC server. The Center for Court Research has IBM software that may be well suited for developing an online, user-friendly survey. While courts will likely only use one or the other tool, it is requested that both tools are available to all courts.

a.    The MAYSI-2 is available to the juvenile courts and has been approved by Dr. Tom Grisso to be installed on a server used and maintained by the courts. Attachment "MAYSI-2.pdf" is the instrument.

b.    The MH-JDAT has also been approved by its developer for use in Washington State Juvenile Detention Centers. Attached documents “MH-JDAT final 2002.doc” and “JDAT Scoring System 9-2011.doc” are the instrument and scoring guide for the MH-JDAT.

2)    Make auto scoring and reporting possible.

3)    Access to the tool should be secure. All data should be saved securely to the server. Ongoing maintenance of the application and the data will be necessary.

4)    Make the data available for querying in BOXI by approved juvenile courts and the Center for Court Research. Develop minimal canned reports (less than 10) for courts to run.

Expected Benefit

 It is necessary for the juvenile courts to have access to screening tools that determine the mental health needs of the youth they detain. Having the tool in a central, secure location such as the AOC server will allow all courts to use the MAYSI-2 and/or MH-JDAT assessment tool, encouraging equity in services to youth throughout the state. In addition, saving all assessment data on a single server will allow for the expansion of local jurisdictions ability to track their needs for mental health services and the development of statewide tracking of juvenile detainees mental health needs.

Additionally, the juvenile courts will be able to use externally allocated resources (funds from the McArthur foundation) that will benefit the juvenile courts and the youth they serve.