The SHIELD Referral Process
At the outset of the SHIELD program, all officers in Westminster were given the following orders as part of the youth referral protocol:1Police personnel are required to obtain the name, age, and school attended of any minor youth living in a home where a report is filed involving the following police activity: family violence of any type, neglect or abandonment, gang activity, drug sales or usage, arrests made associated with alcohol abuse, or any other call for service where the welfare of minor youth is at risk due to the behavior of older siblings or adults living in, or frequenting, the home.The SHIELD program model (see figure) outlines the process of events that are involved in facilitating intervention through the SHIELD program. Whenever an officer responds to an incident or makes an arrest, he or she completes a standard report to document the details of the contact. If the officer identifies a youth as having been exposed to risk factors, he or she marks a box on the police report and forwards a full copy of the report through departmental channels to the SHIELD resource officer (SRO).2 On receiving a report, the SRO assumes responsibility for administering the SHIELD program and screens the case to determine whether the circumstances make the youth appropriate for SHIELD intervention. In the early stages of the program, the SRO simply used the family risk factors that were noted in the youth referral protocol to verify that the reporting officer had correctly identified a youth from the target population. More recently, the Westminster Youth Delinquency and Gang Involvement Risk Assessment instruments were developed by drawing heavily on Lipsey and Derzon’s (1998) synthesis of longitudinal research examining predictors of delinquency. These instruments are used to strengthen the screening process and prioritize access to services based on the level of risk each youth faces. The risk assessment instruments enable the SRO to place youth in low-, medium-, or high-risk categories for both general delinquency and gang involvement. Separate instruments were created for youth at ages 6–11 and 12–14 to increase sensitivity to the differing effects of risk factors on youth at different developmental levels.3 In addition to these instruments, an inventory of protective factors is used to supplement the assessment. These risk assessment instruments and procedures are in the testing phase, but they are already proving useful in setting priorities for referral and treatment. If the SRO deems a case appropriate for SHIELD intervention, he or she creates a student referral report, which contains a short synopsis of the incident as it pertains to the youth, demographic information about the youth and his or her family, contact information for the parents, and information from the assessments of both risk and protective factors. The SRO then sends the student referral report to the Youth and Family Resource Team. This multidisciplinary team includes officials from the local school district, such as the pupil personnel administrator, the district nurse, a specialist in drug abuse prevention, and school principals; counseling staff from a community service provider; a county social worker; the Westminster Community Services Recreation Supervisor; the SRO; and a second officer formerly assigned to Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.). Beyond the core group of members who attend regular weekly meetings, the team may invite additional members, such as teachers and school counselors, who are familiar with a given youth. The disclosure of confidential information to such a multidisciplinary team for use in prevention and intervention is authorized by the State of California’s Welfare and Institutions Codes, sections 827–830.1. When they receive the student referral report, the members of the Youth and Family Resource Team consider a range of school- and community-based treatment options and make recommendations for treatment. However, treatment recommendations are often enhanced by information that goes beyond the original student referral report. Team members familiar with the youth frequently provide additional information that allows the team to understand the youth’s circumstances more fully. This sharing of information leads to better informed treatment recommendations than would be provided by any agency or service provider working alone.
Depending on the recommendation, treatment may or may not require parental consent. For example, if the Youth and Family Resource Team recommends that a youth receive individual counseling from a community treatment provider, parental consent generally is necessary. However, in cases where the team recommends informal school-based monitoring of the youth, no parental consent is required. Treatment providers such as school counselors and community-based service providers are generally responsible for getting parental consent when it is necessary. In the early stages of the program, treatment providers were also responsible for notifying parents of their child’s referral to the SHIELD program. Some parents were upset when they learned that the police department had referred their child to the program. Because many youth in this program are exposed to domestic violence, the parent who is in the position to provide consent for treatment may also be the one who created the risk factors in the home or allowed them to exist in the first place. Therefore, the process of obtaining parental consent is often delicate. In response to this issue, the SRO now contacts parents directly when their child is referred to the program. During this contact, the SRO describes the program and addresses any questions or concerns that the parents have. The SRO will make two attempts to contact a parent by telephone and will resort to sending a letter only if these two attempts are unsuccessful. In some cases, the SRO makes home visits.
The Youth and Family Resource Team reassesses the treatment recommendations and progress of each youth 3 weeks after the initial recommendation. While a youth is involved in treatment, the service providers send monthly progress reports to the SHIELD staff at the Westminster Police Department. These reports allow for ongoing tracking and reassessment of the services provided to program youth.
1 The description of the SHIELD referral process presented here draws on information from Kent and Wyrick, 1998. 2 This position title should not be confused with the same abbreviation commonly used for school resource officers. In the case of Westminster, however, the SHIELD resource officer did formerly serve as a school resource officer. 3 Researchers have noted the importance of recognizing developmental factors in prevention programming (Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, 1998; Tatem-Kelley et al., 1997).
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