Transfer of Minors to Adult Court in California: Investigating the Legal/Demographic Factors that Make the Difference.

In light of California's passage of Proposition 57 in 2016, the present study examined the relationship between legal/demographic variables and decisions to transfer juveniles to the adult court system. Following Prop 57, transfer decisions were entrusted solely with judges and prosecutors could no longer direct file. We used a sample of 106 reports written by forensic psychologists on behalf of the defense examining the life circumstances of minors who allegedly committed serious crimes.

The Relationship Between ACEs, Trauma-Related Psychopathology and Resilience in Vulnerable Youth: Implications for Screening and Treatment.

This study examined the impact of ACEs in vulnerable adolescents and assessed whether resilience would have a moderating impact on psychological functioning. Participants included 40 youth, aged 12-17 identified as having experienced family violence and who were referred for treatment at the San Diego Center for Counseling (SD-CC). The relationship between ACEs, trauma-related symptomology, and psychological functioning was examined using results from the Child Posttraumatic Stress Scale (CPSS) and the Personality Assessment Inventory for Adolescents (PAI-A).