Evaluating Juvenile Firesetting: A Brief Review for Criminal Justice and Forensic Mental Health Professionals    (MEMBERS ONLY)

Webinar Objectives:

• Learn about the fundamentals of risk and risk assessment in juvenile populations.
• Develop a working understanding of the empirically-based literature pertaining to juvenile firesetting, particularly with regard to co-occurring disorders and their influence on risk
• Understand the major risk factors and pathways to firesetting for adolescents.
• Learn how to use a structured, empirically based approach to evaluate juvenile firesetters. The Firesetting Risk Assessment Tool for Youth (FRAT-Y) by Dr. Robert Stadolnik will be used as an example.
• Identify empirically supported protective factors and interventions for this population.

Description:

Juveniles account for a substantial proportion of fires set in homes, schools, and communities. Yet, empirical research on evaluating risk in this population is only starting to emerge. Often misunderstood, youth who have used fire in an unsafe or illegal manner become tangled in forensic mental health and legal systems due to misperceptions about psychopathology and risk. In light of these potential problems, professionals working in criminal justice and forensic mental health contexts must be able to accurately evaluate and treat individuals who come to the attention of authorities due to irresponsible or illegal fire use. Empirically-based research findings and case study examples will be emphasized throughout this training.

Presenter Biography:

 Jerrod Brown, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor for Concordia University, St. Paul, Minnesota and has extensive experience teaching courses at the undergraduate and graduate level. Jerrod has also been employed with Pathways Counseling Center in St. Paul, Minnesota for the past seventeen years. Pathways provides programs and services benefiting individuals impacted by mental illness and addictions. Jerrod is also the founder and CEO of the American Institute for the Advancement of Forensic Studies (AIAFS) and the Editor-in-Chief of Forensic Scholars Today (FST). Jerrod has completed four separate master’s degree programs and holds graduate certificates in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Other Health Disabilities (OHD), and Traumatic-Brain Injuries (TBI). Jerrod is also certified as a Youth Firesetting Prevention/Intervention Specialist, an Anger Resolution Therapist (CART), a Thinking for a Change (T4C) Facilitator, a Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) Trainer, an Autism Specialist, and a Mental Health Integrative Medicine Provider (CMHIMP). 

Zachary Yeoman, Psy.D is a clinical and forensic psychologist who is licensed in New Jersey and New York. His main area of interest is  Forensic Mental Health Assessment (FMHA). Dr. Yeoman has provided help to a variety of organizations and individuals in  addressing psycholegal issues for both adults and adolescents on an inpatient and outpatient basis. His professional experience  includes the treatment and evaluation of sexual, violence, and firesetting risk, diminished capacity, mitigation, competence to stand trial, and parental fitness and bonding, and non-forensic mental health evaluations. Over the course of his career, he has conducted many evaluations of those on the autism spectrum and developed expertise in assessing the functional relationship between symptoms of autism and risk, particularly in the sexual domain. He also co-authored two articles on denial and conduct disorder in the context of sexually abusive behavior.

Access FREE Online Articles at Forensic Scholars Today.

Want more articles? Become a member today to access AIAFS' official quarterly publication, Forensic Mental Health Insider!

Learn more about Concordia University, St. Paul's Master of Arts with an Emphasis in Forensic Behavioral Health degree/certificate program.