20 Hours / 20 CEs

On Demand | Self-Paced Professional Training

This on-demand professional training program on Juvenile Assessment Issues and Evaluation of Juvenile Waiver to Adult Court is presented by Randy T. Salekin, PhD. This badge-earning program can be shared digitally on platforms like LinkedIn or your resume and counts towards a certificate. Enroll in this program to earn credit towards Juvenile Forensic Assessment Certificate and share your new digital credentials with prospective employers and colleagues.

The program is intended to comprehensively cover important topics and factors related to the juvenile justice system and assessment of youthful offenders while embedding developmental psychopathology principles in the assessment process. This program covers six main topic areas with respect to this type of assessment. First, the program briefly overviews the juvenile justice system and the role of psychologists in the system. Second, the program examines ways in which to assess deception in children and adolescents. Third, the program helps clinicians and researchers understand personality functioning in youth and discusses how the Big 5 factor model of general personality applies to youthful offender evaluations. Fourth, the program covers the assessment of risk for dangerousness, maturity, and treatment amenability and readiness, integrating the topics of the veracity of reporting and personality. In addition, developmental maturity is embedded in the discussion of all topic areas, given its importance in the assessment and treatment of juvenile offenders. Fifth, the program discusses psychological measures that can be used in disposition and transfer measures. Finally, this program discusses and provides practical guidelines for how psychological evaluations can be constructed and framed within a developmental perspective and how such information can be communicated to relevant court personnel or treatment providers via psychological reports and/or testimony.

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this training, participants will be able to:

  • 1 Describe personality and pathology
  • 2 Describe how traits and pathology relate to understanding the young person and writing the psychological report
  • 3 Describe a general overview of the juvenile justice system
  • 4 Describe an introduction to assessing juvenile offenders for disposition and transfer
  • 5 Describe Risk, Developmental Maturity, and Treatment Amenability using and scoring the RSTI
  • 6 Describe the process of data collection and consolidating psychological information
  • 7 Describe deception and distortion in the reporting of adolescent offenders
  • 8 Describe best practices in report writing and testimony
  • 9 Describe Prenatal Risks
  • 10 Describe the Causes of Conduct Problems and Callousness
  • 11 Describe Other Complications in the Assessment
  • 12 Describe Parenting/Behavioral Reinforcement

  • Intended Audience

    This training is designed for clinicians who want to develop or strengthen their skills in assessing juvenile offenders within the juvenile justice system. It is particularly relevant for professionals specializing in forensic psychology, clinical child and adolescent psychology, legal-psychology consultation, or those involved in civil and criminal forensic mental health assessment, as well as those working at the intersection of clinical psychology and law.

    Examples of Relevant Professionals:
    • Forensic Psychologist
    • Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychologist
    • Legal-Psychology Consultant
    • Civil and Criminal Forensic Mental Health Assessor
    • Clinician at the intersection of psychology and law
    • Mental Health Professional

  • Experience Level

    This program is designed for licensed and pre-licensed mental health professionals with varying levels of experience in juvenile justice system assessment and developmental psychopathology.

    • Beginner: Participants may have limited or no prior experience with juvenile justice system assessments; may be new to evaluating youthful offenders; and are seeking a foundational understanding of developmental, cognitive, and personality assessment principles as they apply to justice-involved youth.

    • Intermediate: Participants have some experience conducting assessments or providing services to justice-involved youth; familiar with the basic structure and purpose of juvenile court proceedings; and are seeking to expand their understanding of assessment methods, developmental formulation, and the practical application of findings to court and treatment recommendations.

    • Advanced: Participants have extensive experience in forensic or clinical assessment and seek to refine their expertise in complex juvenile cases, including co-occurring disorders, trauma exposure, and contextual factors influencing competency, culpability, and rehabilitation potential.

  • Practice Setting

    Clinicians who assess juvenile offenders within the juvenile justice system typically work in environments where legal, clinical, and developmental considerations intersect. Their work often involves conducting psychological evaluations, risk assessments, and providing expert testimony or written reports to inform legal decisions regarding youthful offenders. They collaborate with legal professionals, probation officers, social workers, and treatment providers, and their practice is guided by principles of developmental psychopathology and forensic standards.

    Examples of Practice Settings:
    • Juvenile detention centers or correctional facilities
    • Forensic mental health clinics or hospital units
    • Community mental health agencies serving court-involved youth
    • Private practices specializing in forensic or legal-psychology consultation
    • Court-based assessment teams or juvenile court clinics
    • Academic or research settings focused on forensic assessment and juvenile justice
    • Consultation roles for legal teams, probation departments, or child welfare agencies
Presented By

Randall Salekin, PhD

Dr. Randall T. Salekin is Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Alabama where he also serves as Director of the Disruptive Behavior Clinic. He received his PhD from the University of North Texas and completed his clinical internship at Yale University. Dr. Salekin has published on child and adolescent psychopathy, personality, and also has research interests in child and adolescent developmental maturity and amenability to treatment. Dr. Salekin’s research also focuses on understanding of the causes and correlates of disruptive behavior in children and youth. Dr. Salekin and his team provide novel assessment and treatment services for disruptive behavior disorder youth with Oppositional Defiant Disorder, Conduct Disorder, and Limited Prosocial Emotion. Dr. Salekin received the American Psychological Association Division 41 Saleem Shah Award for Early Career Contributions to Law and Psychology in 2001.

Training Outline

Key topics covered in this training include:

  • Participants learn about the juvenile justice system and the role of the psychologist in the system

  • Participants learn to assess deception in children and adolescents

  • Participants learn about personality functions in youth and discuss the Big 5 factor model

  • Participants learn about psychological measures that can be used in disposition and transfer measures

  • Participants learn practical guidelines on how psychological evaluations can be constructed

Earning a Certificate

This is a badge-earning program, which means it will help you earn a certificate that can be showcased on digital platforms like LinkedIn.
View Certificates

CE Sponsorship Information

Palo Alto University, Continuing & Professional Studies (CONCEPT) is approved by, recognized by, or maintains sponsorship provider status with the following boards and agencies. We maintain responsibility for all content in our CE/CPD programs. For more information, visit here. 

  1. American Psychological Association (APA): Approved sponsor of continuing education for psychologists.

  2. Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB): Approved continuing education provider (ACE program, Provider #1480), 11/22/2023–11/22/2026.

  3. Canadian Psychological Association (CPA): Approved to sponsor continuing education for psychologists.

  4. National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC): Approved Continuing Education Provider (ACEP No. 7190).


Sponsorship Approval Statements

Palo Alto University, Continuing and Professional Studies (CONCEPT) is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. Palo Alto University, Continuing and Professional Studies (CONCEPT), is approved by the Canadian Psychological Association to offer continuing education for psychologists. Palo Alto University, Continuing and Professional Studies (CONCEPT) has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 7190. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. Palo Alto University, #1480, is approved to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Organizations, not individual courses, are approved as ACE providers. State and provincial regulatory boards have the final authority to determine whether an individual course may be accepted for continuing education credit. Palo Alto University maintains responsibility for this course. ACE provider approval period 11/22/23-11/22/26. Social workers completing this course receive (clinical or social work ethics) continuing education credits. Continuing and Professional Studies, Palo Alto University, is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Psychology as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed psychologists #PSY-0103. Palo Alto University, Continuing and Professional Studies (CONCEPT) is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs. Palo Alto University, Continuing & Professional Studies (CONCEPT), is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Social Work as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed social workers #SW-0356. Palo Alto University, Continuing and Professional Studies, is recognized by the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed mental health counselors. #MHC-0073.