Abstract
The use of risk-assessment tools in the juvenile justice system has introduced more standardized methods in how cases are processed and individual offenders are treated. Yet, their development remains extremely challenging. Despite the diverse nature of the juvenile justice population, agencies often adopt a 'one-size fits all' approach when developing these instruments, which has led to a significant proportion of misclassified youth. Consequently, these instruments have been challenged on numerous grounds. This paper presents a case study of a classification tool currently under development for the Maryland Department of Juvenile Justice to illustrate some of the challenges researchers face when developing and implementing a standardized risk classification instrument for a juvenile population. A number of recommendations are presented on how researchers can improve these instruments' predictive efficiency, and on how agencies can overcome obstacles in their implementation.

Heather L. Pfeifer Ph.D.
University of Baltimore
Heather L. Pfeifer is an assistant professor in the Division of Criminology and Criminal Justice at University of Baltimore. Address all correspondence to Heather L. Pfeifer, University of Baltimore, Division of Criminology and Criminal Justice, 1420 N. Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21201; email: hpfeifer@ubalt.edu

Faye S. Taxman Ph.D.
University of Maryland, College Park
Faye S. Taxman is the Director of BGR and an associate research professor in the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of Maryland, College Park. She is the PI for NIDA's Criminal Justice Drug Abuse Treatment Studies (CJ-DATS) Coordinating Center.

Douglas Young M.S.
University of Maryland, College Park
Douglas Young is a research associate at the Bureau of Governmental Research [BGR] at the University of Maryland, College Park.