The Use of the Youth Level of Service/Case Management Inventory (YLS/CMI) in Scotland

The Youth Level of Service/Case Management Inventory (YLS/ CMI) is a generic risk assessment tool to assess the risk of future off ending in young people aged between 12 and 17. The tool is used in a number of areas in Scotland but had not previously been comprehensively tested for use with this population. The study looked at the results from more than 1,100 YLS/CMI risk assessments and found that it was a good predictor of reoffending for both males and females. The findings showed that the YLS/CMI was not very accurate at assessing the likelihood of reoffending if it was used with young people outside of the intended age range. The study also highlighted that when practitioners used the professional override then the accuracy of the YLS/CMI was often reduced. The findings support the use of the YLS/CMI within social work for information practice and decision-making, but highlight the need for further research to better understand how practitioners apply their professional judgement.