William Fisher, PhD, Thomas Grisso, PhD, Valerie Williams, MA, MS, Judith Quinlan, BA, and Cristen Gabriele, BA. Center for Mental Health Services Research, University of Massachussetts Medical School, 55 Lake Avenue North, Worcester, MA 01655, 508-856-8711, bill.fisher@umassmed.edu

Few would argue the importance of assessing the mental health needs of children and adolescents in the juvenile justice system. Yet prior to the mid-1990s there existed no easily administered, valid, and reliable screening instruments designed specifically for identifying such needs. In the mid-1990s a psychologist and psychiatrist developed the Massachusetts Youth Screening Instrument (MAYSI), a brief assessment tool that could be administered in courts, youth detention and other appropriate settings. Between its introduction in 2000 and 2003, the MAYSI was adopted by 26 states for statewide use (e.g., in all detention centers and all juvenile corrections programs) and in various juvenile justice facilities in 48 states and several countries. This presentation describes the diffusion of this new "technology." Using an agency's registration with a central administrative site (required for MAYSI use) as the indicator of adoption, event history analysis, analysis of geographic diffusion and other standard approaches to technology diffusion modeling are used to examine adoption patterns, taking into account factors such as timing of national presentations and conferences where the MAYSI was described, references in professional literature, and other similar contextual factors. Findings are considered in the context of how technologies meeting acknowledged public health needs are adopted. Also considered are attributes of "early adopters," "late adopters" and "non-adopters" of a new mental health assessment technology, as well as issues affecting the diffusion of the MAYSI - a mental health screening tool-in the juvenile justice system, which is not formally a component of the mental health system.

Learning Objectives: Learning objsectives

• To acquant audiences with the role of mental health needs assessment in juvenile justice
• To familiarize audiences with approaches to modelling the diffusion of new technologies;
• To acquaint individuals with factors affecting adoption of mental health technologies in a "non-mental health" system

Keywords: Forensic Populations, Adult and Child Mental Health

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.