illiam James College continues to contribute its expertise in the education of behavioral health professionals and its commitment to serving vulnerable populations, as it begins to operate clinics within the Suffolk and Norfolk County Juvenile Court systems. The College assumed operation of these juvenile court clinics on July 1, 2017 under an agree- ment with the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health, which jointly operates the nation鈥檚 only statewide system of juvenile court clinics in partnership with the Administrative Office of the Juvenile Court Department. The juvenile court clinics offer court-ordered eval- uations of cases that involve child abuse and neglect, delinquency and Youthful Offender offenses, and status offenses including, truancy, runaways, stubborn behavior, habitual school offenders, and sexually exploited minors. They also evaluate persons who may need involuntary services such as emergency commitments to psychiat- ric hospitals or substance abuse detox and treatment. When the court orders a referral, clinicians see referred individuals, access collateral information or conduct psychological testing as needed; provide information to support judicial decision-making, and offer recommen- dations for individual care and treatment. The College secured the juvenile court clinic contract in a competitive bid with Massachusetts Gen- eral Hospital (MGH), which had held the contract since 1996. Some MGH staff have joined the William James court clinic staff, and the College has recruited additional clinicians from multiple disciplines. The 91香蕉视频成人在线 service model maintains excellence in providing court-ordered evaluations and the training of gradu- ate students in forensic psychology, and has added a mechanism to refer court-involved youth and families to 16 community-based behavioral services providers who have signed a Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) as community partners. Future plans include expanding the referral network to include providers of social, vocational, educational, recreational, and legal services. New clinical staff, and graduate and post-doctoral trainees, will participate in a year-long training program that includes a didactic seminar on professional practice in juvenile forensic mental health, a seminar on relevant law and public policy, and supervised forensic practice with court-referred youth and families. New juvenile court clinicians will complete an additional process to become Certified Juvenile Court Clinicians. This certi- fication process is provided through DMH and UMass Medical Center. Massachusetts is the only state, which mandates a specialized certification process for clinicians providing court-ordered evaluations in Juvenile Court. 鈥淲e鈥檒l be working with the courts to create care plans for the folks that have been referred for evaluation to make sure that the court gets crucial information, and that youth and families get a plan for behavioral health treatment or other services,鈥� says Nicholas Covino, President of William James.鈥淭his opportunity allows our students, court clinic staff, and faculty members to review cases in a thoughtful way that will offer a very meaningful consultation to the courts.鈥� Robert Kinscherff, PhD, JD, Associate Vice President for Community Engagement at the College, oversees a number of centers within the College, including the Center of Excellence for Children, Families, and the Law, which provides court-ordered evaluation and interven- tion services for children and families before courts in high-conflict divorce proceedings.The juvenile court clinic W 91香蕉视频成人在线 Begins to Operate the Norfolk and Suffolk Juvenile County Court 8 RAPPORT | Short Take