15 Hours / 15 CEs

On Demand | Self-Paced Professional Training

This on-demand professional training program on Violence Risk Assessment for Youth Using the SAVRY is presented by Ivan Kruh, PhD, and Gina Vincent, PhD in partnership with the National Youth Screening & Assessment Partners (NYSAP).

The SAVRY Version 2 (Borum, Bartel, & Forth, 2006) assesses risk for violence/aggression, non-violent reoffending, residential aggression, and the dynamic risk and protective factors associated with these acts among adolescents. The SAVRY is a well-validated risk assessment instrument for violence, with evidence of its validity for both girls and boys and across several racial/ethnic groups. 

The program includes a brief overview of research on adolescent offending, developmental issues related to risk, and known dynamic and static risk factors. This is followed by a discussion of the different approaches to decision-making; namely, unstructured clinical judgment, actuarial, and structured professional judgment (SPJ). 

The bulk of the program is spent teaching participants how to collect data needed to use the SAVRY, how to rate its items, and how to make final determinations of one’s level of risk. The program also covers the risk-need-responsivity framework and developing clinical formulations for treatment/intervention recommendations. 

This program is designed for clinicians practicing in areas in which assessing a youth’s violence risk or risk for general offending is relevant. In most cases, this will be clinicians who conduct assessments of youth involved in the legal system, in either forensic mental health contexts (i.e., court-based evaluations) or other juvenile justice contexts (e.g., juvenile correctional settings). There may be traditional clinical contexts for which these skills may also be relevant, such as residential treatment settings or psychiatric hospitals.  

 

Learning Objectives

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

  • 1 Describe the Structured Assessment of Violence Risk for Youth (SAVRY)
  • 2 Describe the concept of structured professional judgment in relation to risk assessments
  • 3 Describe tips for implementing a risk instrument to ensure success
  • 4 Describe approaches to decision-making, namely, unstructured clinical judgment, actuarial, and structured professional judgment (SPJ)
  • 5 Describe the risk-need-responsivity framework
  • 6 Demonstrate the SAVRY to identify risk-related service needs
  • 7 Demonstrate the SAVRY through practice case scoring
  • 8 Describe developing clinical formulations for treatment/intervention recommendations
  • 9 Describe the key stages and procedural steps involved in conducting a violence risk assessment
  • 10 Describe factors that influence the interpretation and communication of violence risk assessment results

  • Intended Audience

    This training is intended for clinicians who assess youth at risk for violence or general offending, with a focus on those specializing in forensic or juvenile justice mental health. The program emphasizes the use of structured risk assessment tools (such as the SAVRY) and evidence-based frameworks (like risk-need-responsivity) to support informed decision-making and effective treatment planning for adolescents. It is relevant for professionals who conduct evaluations and provide intervention recommendations for justice-involved youth.

    • Clinician
    • Forensic Mental Health Specialist
    • Juvenile Justice Mental Health Professional
    • Court-Based Forensic Evaluator
    • Residential Treatment Clinician
    • Psychiatric Hospital Clinician
    • Mental Health Professional

  • Experience Level

    This training is appropriate for licensed and pre-licensed mental health professionals with varying levels of experience in violence risk assessment with youth.

    Beginner:
    Little or no prior experience with structured risk assessment tools or the SAVRY; may be familiar with general concepts of adolescent development and risk but have not conducted formal risk assessments.

    Intermediate:
    Some experience conducting risk assessments with youth, possibly using unstructured or actuarial approaches; basic familiarity with structured professional judgment (SPJ) models and risk-need-responsivity principles.

    Advanced:
    Extensive experience conducting violence risk assessments in forensic or clinical settings; proficient in SPJ approaches and integrating risk assessment results into clinical formulations and intervention planning.

  • Practice Setting

    Clinicians who participate in this training typically work in environments where they assess and manage the risk of violence or reoffending among adolescents, often within the context of the juvenile justice system or forensic mental health services. These settings require the use of structured risk assessment tools and evidence-based frameworks to inform decisions about treatment, supervision, and intervention planning for justice-involved youth. The practice environment is often multidisciplinary, involving collaboration with legal professionals, social services, and other mental health providers, and may include both secure and non-secure facilities.

    • Juvenile detention centers or correctional facilities
    • Court clinics or court-based forensic evaluation units
    • Residential treatment centers for adolescents
    • Inpatient psychiatric hospitals serving youth
    • Outpatient forensic mental health programs
    • Community-based juvenile justice programs
    • Specialized assessment teams within child and adolescent mental health services

Presented By

Ivan Kruh, PhD, Partner, National Youth Screening and Assessment Partners

Ivan Kruh received his PhD in Clinical Psychology with a concentration in Psychology & Law from the University of Alabama in 1998 and subsequently completed fellowship training in forensic psychology through the University of Washington. For ten years, he was the Director of Juvenile Forensic Mental Health Services for Washington State and directed a Juvenile Forensic Psychology fellowship through the University of Washington. He has offered juvenile forensic mental health evaluations privately in Massachusetts, New York and Connecticut since 2012. Dr. Kruh specializes in the conduct and coordination of evaluations of juvenile competency to proceed (JCTP) and has co-authored two manuals with Thomas Grisso regarding creation of state standards for these evaluations. He has provided training, quality assurance and technical assistance for a variety of state agencies nationally since 2010, all aimed at supporting the day-to-day provision of high quality juvenile forensic mental health evaluations.

View More Programs from this Presenter
Ivan Kruh, PhD

Presented By

Gina Vincent, PhD, President, National Youth Screening and Assessment Partners

Gina Vincent is a Professor and Co-Director of the Law & Psychiatry Program at UMass Chan Medical School and a faculty of the Implementation Science & Practice Advances Research Center (iSPARC). She has received funding from NIMH, NIDA, NIJ, the MacArthur Foundation, and OJJDP for studies related to the implementation of risk assessment and risk-need-responsivity in juvenile justice settings. She is author of the Risk Assessment in Juvenile Probation: A Guidebook for Implementation manual. She has assisted multiple juvenile justice agencies across the country with the selection and comprehensive implementation of risk assessments for case planning and studies their effectiveness and impact on youth outcomes. She has over 70 publications in the areas of youth risk assessment, racial disparities in risk assessment, and adolescent substance misuse and mental health symptoms.

View More Programs from this Presenter
Gina Vincent, PhD

Training Outline

Key topics covered in this training include:

  • Tips for implementing a risk instrument to ensure success

  • Adolescent development and offending behavior

  • Risk assessment concepts
    -Types of risk factors
    -Structured professional judgment vs. actuarial decision-making

  • Brief overview of risk-need-responsivity

  • Conducting the SAVRY and information-gathering

  • Rating the SAVRY items & making the final risk judgment

  • Using the SAVRY to identify priority dynamic risk areas for intervention

  • Practice case scoring

We are proud to partner with

National Youth Screening & Assessment Partners (NYSAP)

National Youth Screening & Assessment Partners (NYSAP)

The National Youth Screening & Assessment Partners (NYSAP) is a technical assistance and research group dedicated to helping juvenile justice and related programs nationwide. Since 2000, NYSAP has assisted juvenile justice systems to make decisions about adolescents that are consistent with youths’ health and positive development and with the community’s interests by helping systems use reliable, evidence-based methods for screening and assessment. We provide training, technical assistance, and quality implementation services to agencies and programs in the areas of risk screening and risk-needs assessment, behavioral health screening, and competence to stand trial evaluations.


NYSAP professionals have played a key role for 25 years in research on juveniles’ competence to stand trial and in developing juvenile competence standards for forensic clinical practice, law, and policy. In response to the growing demand for juvenile competence evaluations nationally, we provide consultation to assist agencies in developing or refining their juvenile competence service delivery system, as well as creating and conducting quality assurance procedures. We train clinicians and juvenile justice stakeholders (e.g., judges, attorneys, and community partners) in practice standards for conducting high-quality juvenile competence evaluations.

Learn More About Our Partner

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).



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) maintains responsibility for this program and its content. 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), SW CPE 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 and 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. Palo Alto University, Continuing and Professional Studies (CONCEPT) has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 6811. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. CONCEPT Professional Training, #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. CONCEPT Professional Training 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.