The Heterogeneity of Treatment Needs for Justice-Involved Girls: A Typology Using Latent Class Analysis

Current efforts to identify the treatment needs of juveniles typically examine girls as a homogeneous group and recommendations for gender-responsive services tend to generalize needs to all girls. Research on within-girl heterogeneity suggests that this approach is shortsighted as treatment needs vary among justice-involved girls; however, little is known about how treatment needs cluster in this population. Consequently, we used latent class analysis to identify treatment needs within a sample of 1,731 female adolescents charged in juvenile court in Washington State. The analysis identified four classes of need representing High Family Conflict and Trauma (20%), Complex Treatment Needs With Antisocial Peers (30%), Low Adverse Experiences With Substance Abuse Needs (38%), and Mental Health Needs With Strong Social Assets (10%). The findings are consistent with other community-based analyses of female treatment needs and distinct from male-oriented treatment recommendations. Implications for policies regarding appropriate services and service capacity for justice-involved girls are discussed.