Browsing by Author "Pederson, Casey"

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    Caregiver and Juvenile Justice Personnel Perspectives on challenges and importance of caregiver engagement and the potential utility of a peer navigator program in the Juvenile Justice System
    (BMC, 2023-08-05) Dir, Allyson L.; Pederson, Casey; Khazvand, Shirin; Schwartz, Katie; Wiehe, Sarah E.; Aalsma, Matthew C.; Psychiatry, School of Medicine
    Background: For youth involved in the juvenile justice (JJ) system, caregiver involvement and engagement in the system is crucial for youth development and outcomes of JJ cases; however, there are challenges to establishing positive/productive partnerships between caregivers and JJ representatives. The current project examines perspectives of caregivers and JJ personnel regarding facilitators and barriers to establishing JJ-caregiver partnerships, as well as their perceptions of the use of a caregiver navigator program to support caregivers of system-involved youth. Results are used to inform development of a caregiver navigator program to support caregivers and help them navigate the JJ system. Results: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with caregivers of youth involved in JJ (n = 15, 53% White, 93% female), JJ personnel (n = 7, 100% White, 50% female), and JJ family advisory board members (n = 5, 100% Black, 100% female). Caregivers reported varying experiences across intake/arrest, court, and probation processes. Positive experiences were characterized by effective communication and feeling supported by JJ. Negative experiences related to feeling blamed and punished for their child's system involvement and feeling unsupported. JJ interviews corroborated caregiver sentiments and also illustrated facilitators and barriers to JJ-caregiver partnerships. Both JJ personnel and caregivers endorsed potential benefits of a peer-based caregiver navigator program to provide social, informational, and emotional support. Conclusion: Continued work is needed to improve JJ-caregiver partnerships and use of a peer-based navigator program has the potential to address barriers to caregiver engagement in the JJ system.
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    Early development of local data dashboards to depict the substance use care cascade for youth involved in the legal system: qualitative findings from end users
    (Springer Nature, 2024-05-30) Dir, Allyson L.; O’Reilly, Lauren; Pederson, Casey; Schwartz, Katherine; Brown, Steven A.; Reda, Khairi; Gillenwater, Logan; Gharbi, Sami; Wiehe, Sarah E.; Adams, Zachary W.; Hulvershorn, Leslie A.; Zapolski, Tamika C. B.; Boustani, Malaz; Aalsma, Matthew C.; Psychiatry, School of Medicine
    Introduction: Rates of substance use are high among youth involved in the legal system (YILS); however, YILS are less likely to initiate and complete substance use treatment compared to their non legally-involved peers. There are multiple steps involved in connecting youth to needed services, from screening and referral within the juvenile legal system to treatment initiation and completion within the behavioral health system. Understanding potential gaps in the care continuum requires data and decision-making from these two systems. The current study reports on the development of data dashboards that integrate these systems' data to help guide decisions to improve substance use screening and treatment for YILS, focusing on end-user feedback regarding dashboard utility. Methods: Three focus groups were conducted with n = 21 end-users from juvenile legal systems and community mental health centers in front-line positions and in decision-making roles across 8 counties to gather feedback on an early version of the data dashboards; dashboards were then modified based on feedback. Results: Qualitative analysis revealed topics related to (1) important aesthetic features of the dashboard, (2) user features such as filtering options and benchmarking to compare local data with other counties, and (3) the centrality of consistent terminology for data dashboard elements. Results also revealed the use of dashboards to facilitate collaboration between legal and behavioral health systems. Conclusions: Feedback from end-users highlight important design elements and dashboard utility as well as the challenges of working with cross-system and cross-jurisdiction data.