(a) A validated risk and needs assessment shall be used in all delinquent cases post disposition in making decisions and recommendations regarding programming and treatment.
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Terms Used In Tennessee Code 37-1-164

  • Child: means :
    (A) A person under eighteen (18) years of age. See Tennessee Code 37-1-102
  • Custodian: means a person, other than a parent or legal guardian, who stands in loco parentis to the child or a person to whom temporary legal custody of the child has been given by order of a court. See Tennessee Code 37-1-102
  • Custody: means the control of actual physical care of the child and includes the right and responsibility to provide for the physical, mental, moral and emotional well-being of the child. See Tennessee Code 37-1-102
  • Department: means the department of children's services. See Tennessee Code 37-1-102
  • Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
  • Juvenile court: means the general sessions court in all counties of this state, except in those counties and municipalities in which special juvenile courts are provided by law, and "judge" means judge of the juvenile court. See Tennessee Code 37-1-102
  • Nonjudicial days: means Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays. See Tennessee Code 37-1-102
  • Validated risk and needs assessment: means a determination of a child's risk to reoffend and the needs that, when addressed, reduce the child's risk to reoffend through the use of an actuarial assessment tool that assesses the dynamic and static factors that predict delinquent behavior. See Tennessee Code 37-1-102
  • written: includes printing, typewriting, engraving, lithography, and any other mode of representing words and letters. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
(b) The department may make available a validated tool for use by any juvenile court; however, any juvenile court may instead choose to use a different validated tool.
(c) Any risk and needs assessment tool that is adopted by a juvenile court or the department must periodically undergo a validation study to ensure that the risk and needs assessment is predictive of the risk of reoffending of the population on which the tool is being administered.
(d) Each delinquent child ordered to probation supervision under § 37-1-131 or committed to the custody of the department shall undergo a validated risk and needs assessment within seven (7) days of the court’s disposition, excluding nonjudicial days, to inform supervision level, referrals to programs and services, and case planning.
(e) In delinquent cases, the court may order that a risk and needs assessment be conducted prior to disposition if there is written agreement from the child, the child’s parent, guardian, or legal custodian, and, if applicable, the child’s attorney. A child may undergo such a risk and needs assessment prior to disposition to identify specific factors that predict a child’s likelihood of reoffending and, when appropriately addressed, may reduce the likelihood of reoffending, and the results of the risk and needs assessment shall be provided to the court prior to or at the time of the disposition of the child.
(f) The administrative office of the courts may provide to each juvenile court having jurisdiction over a child charged with a delinquent or unruly offense the results of any validated risk and needs assessment concerning that child completed by another juvenile court; provided, that the judge or magistrate of the court having jurisdiction shall not access, review, or otherwise utilize such results before disposition.
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