Confronting Oppression: Reframing Need and Advancing Responsivity for LGBTQ+ Youth and Young Adults

Research in juvenile and criminal justice concerning how to assess and target interventions to LGBTQ+ youth and young adults is insufficient. With the proliferation of the Risk-Need-Responsivity Model (RNR), risk/need assessment tools have become evidence-based practice providing guidance to determining risk, identifying need, and the importance of targeting interventions to advance prosocial behavior. Critics have noted that during implementation of the RNR Model, the focus is too often on the risk principle at the expense of the need and responsivity principles. This study provides evidence from an intensive case study, and process evaluation of the Lambert House: LGBTQ+ Youth Community Center, that responsivity needs to be prominent when serving LGBTQ+ youth and young adults. Based on an analysis of 60 semi-structured interviews with program participants, staff, and community advocates, we argue that risk/need assessment tools driven by the RNR model be inclusive and responsive to LGBTQ+ youth and young adults.