Referral and Intake Screening (Pipeline Entry)

Pipeline 01

Transparency note: intake data often come from multiple agency systems with variable field coverage. Timeliness and completeness checks are essential before comparison.

Overview

Referral and intake mark the entry into the juvenile justice process. Each jurisdiction maintains its own pathways, but the logic is similar: determine whether the youth should proceed to formal petition, be diverted to an alternative program, or be screened for detention. Screening tools and intake interviews combine structured data (offense type, prior record, risk level) with clinical or situational context. These decisions have high leverage, influencing later outcomes and case mix.

What We Track

Referral Sources

Source recorded: law enforcement, schools, prosecutors, other agencies, community/caregiver
Composition tracked over time (monthly/quarterly trend & seasonality)

Screening Tools (Risk & Behavioral Health)

Risk/needs tools (e.g., YLS/CMI, SAVRY) applied and scored; coverage rate
Behavioral health screens (e.g., MAYSI-2, CRAFFT) completed; coverage rate
Version control & calibration documented (instrument, scoring rules, change dates)

Decision Logic

Algorithmic/policy rules mapped to outcomes (diversion, release, detention screen, petition)
Overrides recorded with justification and approver

Timeliness & Same-Day Screening

Elapsed time from referral receipt → decision captured (median/IQR)
% with same-day screening flagged

Cross-System Handoffs

Redirects to education, behavioral health, or child welfare logged before court filing
Receipt confirmed by receiving unit (timestamp, contact)

Typical Flow

Referral received — intake logs a new case with demographics & alleged offense
- Law-enforcement citations/arrests
- School-based or prosecutor referrals
- Community or caregiver reports
Initial screening — risk/needs + BH triage; confirm prior history
- Risk tools (e.g., YLS/CMI, SAVRY) applied & scored
- BH screens (e.g., MAYSI-2, CRAFFT) completed
- Family, education, and prior-contact checks performed
Decision node — determine diversion, release, detention review, or petition
- Diversion — meets low-risk criteria; refer to community program
- Release — low risk with caregiver supervision plan
- Detention screening — higher risk; proceed to detention instrument
- Petition — ineligible for diversion; prepare filing
Documentation — record all screening results & decisions
- Upload tool scores/forms; note overrides with rationale
- Time-stamp entries for audit tracking
Data transmission — forward the referral packet to next responsible unit
- Court — petition & adjudication scheduling
- Diversion provider — program intake & monitoring
- Detention center — admission & 24–48h hearing

Fields

Field	Type	Required	Codeset	Description
pipeline_place_id	uuid	✅	—	Unique identifier for this pipeline place row.
pipeline_stage_id	enum	✅	stages.yml#stage_key(8) intake detention adjudication disposition supervision commitment_and_placement reentry closure	One of the 8 canonical stages.
pipeline_place_key	enum	✅	pipeline_places.yml#place_key(45) intake pre_petition_diversion_and_deflection diversion youth_assessment_tools prosecutorial_screening status_offenses adjudication case_planning family_engagement case_timeliness language_access restorative_justice detention_screening community_atds electronic_monitoring court_appearance_and_fta initial_hearing pretrial_supervision probation intensive_supervision …and 25 more	Canonical key for this place (maps to route/slug).
youth_id	string	✅	—	Salted/hashed or state UID. No plaintext PII.
staff_id	string		—	Staff primary actor for this place, if applicable.
occurred_datetime	datetime	✅	—	Timestamp when this place occurred or was recorded.
jurisdiction_code	string	✅	—	County/parish/circuit or standardized local code.
location_site_id	string		—	Site/facility/office identifier.
actor_role_code	enum		roles.yml#actor_role(7) Intake_Officer Prosecutor Defender Probation_Officer Case_Manager Facility_Staff Coach_Reentry	Role primarily responsible for this place.
legal_case_id	string		—	Docket/case identifier if already created.
source_system	string	✅	—	Origin system name.
source_file	string		—	Source batch/file id if flatfile.
extract_run_id	string		—	ETL run id for lineage.
series_break_flag	boolean		—	Comparability break applies to this row.
series_break_reason	enum		series_breaks.yml#reason(4) definition_change vendor_change coverage_change policy_change	Reason for break when flagged.
referral_source_code	enum	✅	referral_sources.yml#source(10) law_enforcement school prosecutor caregiver other_agency community_org school_attendance caregiver_petition child_welfare_cross_referral law_enforcement_other	Origin of the referral (law enforcement, school, prosecutor, caregiver, other agency). :contentReference[oaicite:0]{index=0}
referral_received_datetime	datetime	✅	—	Timestamp when referral packet or contact was first received at intake. :contentReference[oaicite:1]{index=1}
intake_decision_datetime	datetime		—	Timestamp of the decision at this node (e.g., diversion offer, release, detention screen, petition prep). :contentReference[oaicite:2]{index=2}
risk_tool_name	enum		instruments.yml#risk_tool_name(2) YLS_CMI SAVRY	Validated risk/needs instrument used (e.g., YLS/CMI, SAVRY). :contentReference[oaicite:3]{index=3}
risk_tool_version	string		—	Version identifier or effective date for the risk instrument. :contentReference[oaicite:4]{index=4}
risk_total_score	integer		—	Total score produced by the risk/needs instrument (raw or scaled). :contentReference[oaicite:5]{index=5}
bh_screen_name	enum		instruments.yml#bh_screen_name⚠️ using instruments.yml#risk_tool_name(2) YLS_CMI SAVRY	Behavioral health screen used (e.g., MAYSI-2, CRAFFT). :contentReference[oaicite:6]{index=6}
bh_screen_version	string		—	Version identifier or effective date for the BH screen. :contentReference[oaicite:7]{index=7}
bh_immediate_flag	boolean		—	Immediate safety concern flagged by BH screening (triage). :contentReference[oaicite:8]{index=8}
intake_decision_code	enum	✅	intake_decisions.yml#decision(4) diversion release detention_screen petition	Outcome at intake (diversion, release, detention_screen, petition). :contentReference[oaicite:9]{index=9}
override_flag	boolean		—	True if decision overrode tool or policy guidance. :contentReference[oaicite:10]{index=10}
override_reason_code	enum		overrides.yml#reason(4) safety_exception capacity_constraint policy_exception supervisor_override	Reason code for override; approver captured in audit trail. :contentReference[oaicite:11]{index=11}
redirected_system_code	enum		cross_handoff_targets.yml#system(3) education behavioral_health child_welfare	Early redirect target when handoff occurs before filing (education, behavioral_health, child_welfare). :contentReference[oaicite:12]{index=12}
receiving_unit_receipt_datetime	datetime		—	Timestamp of receipt confirmation by receiving unit (education/BH/CW). :contentReference[oaicite:13]{index=13}
Download CSVwhat_we_track.csv

Data & Methods

Intake indicators use referral-based denominators to measure same-day decision rates and cross-agency handoffs. Risk-tool entries are validated against version logs, and overrides are coded as binary events with documented rationale. Linking intake data to education, mental-health, and child-welfare systems is essential for tracing pre-court diversions or non-admitted cases. See Data Linkage & Integration. When statutes or screening instruments change, series breaks are annotated per Series Breaks & Definition Changes. Small-sample counts follow Suppression & Small-n conventions.

Analysts should review data for completeness (≥ 95 % of intakes with timestamp and tool version) and verify that referral-source codes align with jurisdictional definitions before comparison across sites.

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