Association for Behavior Analysis International

There is immense potential for behavior analysis to improve outcomes for at-risk youth, including youth in child welfare and juvenile justice-involved youth. This potential includes direct services to address behavior issues but also includes working with staff and leadership to improve the operations of youth serving facilities, and advocate for changes in surrounding systems (policing, courts) and other youth serving systems (schools). To do so requires more behavior analysts with the passion to work with these populations, but who also have the experiences and expertise necessary to successfully serve vulnerable populations within historically underfunded and broken systems. Our panel of expert behavior analysts from academia, state government administration, and private practice will take audience questions and discuss i) what behavior analysis services look like in these spaces, ii) what strategies improve access to behavior analysis interventions for this population, iii) what training is needed for current and future behavior analysts to successfully serve this population, and iv) how to successfully navigate contingencies within juvenile justice and other child-serving systems. Finally the panel will end with a discussion of the mission and goals of a potential new Special Interest Group dedicated to working with child welfare and juvenile justice-involved youth.

Audience members should work with, or have an interest in working with, at-risk youth populations in child welfare or juvenile justice systems. Alternatively, audience members should be familiar with principles of behavior analysis and have knowledge of the logistics of providing behavior analysis services for their service population in order to understand and appreciate the differences in how behavior analysis services for juvenile justice and child welfare populations needs to be organized, funded, and the necessary training.