This briefing provides an overview of screening and assessment in a youth justice context.

It is based on a rapid literature review of youth justice interventions in the UK and Europe, USA, Canada, and Australia. We explore the definition and role of screening and assessment in youth justice interventions and establish why screening is used in a youth justice setting.

We propose seven key principles of good practice for screening tools in youth justice: specialist or clinical input, use of a scoring system, brief and straightforward, validity, reliability, and standardization, well-trained practitioners, clarity of process, and creating a safe space.