Self-Paced Online Training

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDDHS) is pleased to offer on-demand learning opportunities in reference to juvenile competency stakeholder information. Court personnel (including probation officers and managers, judges, referees, prosecutors, and attorneys), as well as advocates, behavioral health providers, MDHHS juvenile justice specialists and managers, and other MDHHS staff, are encouraged to complete the training. The training is designed to meet the specific needs of individuals in these different roles. The training for juvenile court personnel is about three hours in duration, and the training for other interested individuals is about two hours.

MDHHS has contracted with the highly qualified experts at National Youth Screening and Assessment Partners (NYSAP) to provide these trainings. 

The training includes lessons taught by Ivan Kruh, Ph.D. and Christina Riggs Romaine, Ph.D., covering foundational issues, like the relevant legal procedures and standards, the manner in which these legal standards are translated into a structured assessment by Qualified Juvenile Forensic Mental Health Examiners and communicated in their reports, as well as a discussion of which youth should be considered for a juvenile competency evaluation. The training is intended to cultivate familiarity with the juvenile competency issue so that professionals are better equipped in situations in which they encounter it.  

Presented By

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

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.

Associate Professor of Psychology at Wheaton College Christina L. Riggs Romaine, PhD

Dr. Christina L. Riggs Romaine received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology with a Forensic concentration from Drexel University. She worked as an evaluator, trainer, and service provider in pre- and post-adjudication juvenile justice facilities, before practicing as a full-time forensic evaluator in the MA Juvenile Court Clinics. Dr. Riggs Romaine is now an Associate Professor of Psychology at Wheaton College, MA where she continues to conduct research and provide clinical training on juvenile adjudicative competence. She is also an Associate with National Youth Screening and Assessment Partners (NYSAP) where she has consulted with and trained clinicians and juvenile justice stakeholders in 14 states.