Mr Christopher Galimitakis1, Ms Ellie Minney1
1Youth Justice Assessment and Intervention Service – Department Of Human Services – South Australia, , Australia
Biography:
Ellie Minney and Chistopher Galimitakis have worked as Senior Psychologists within the Youth Justice Assessment and Intervention Service for over three years. Both holding a Bachelor of Psychology (Honours) and Master of Psychology (Clinical), they share a breadth of experience, including Community, Inpatient, and Forensic Mental Health, Child Protection, NDIS, and Youth Justice.
Abstract:
Highly passionate about Youth Justice, they work intensively with young people presenting with significant complexity (e.g., complex trauma, disability, mental health, personality), with community safety at the forefront. In this, they strive to understand how evidence-based psychological assessments and intervention can meaningfully improve individual and community safety.
The Youth Justice Assessment and Intervention Service (YJAIS) stands as a specialised state-wide service within South Australia, dedicated to delivering targeted forensic and clinical consultation, assessment, and intervention for young individuals under Youth Justice mandates. This stands as a highly unique service, including across jurisdictions, given the individualised and intensive approach to criminogenic intervention.
YJAIS Psychology services the most complex and high-risk young people within the state; those who “fall through the cracks”. These complexities often include a nexus of personality concerns, complex trauma, and disability-related needs contributing to serious risks to community safety. This includes young people with high-profile and/or marked violent and sexual offending, as well as chronic recidivism. The primary aim of YJAIS psychology is to identify and address outstanding psychological needs, aiming to reduce the risk of re-offending.
YJAIS Psychology work to effectively respond to the unique complexities of this population through an individualised and tailored approach to clinical and forensic assessment and intervention. The concepts of fidelity and validity when working with youth forensic populations with marked psychological and systemic complexity will be explored. Unique core tenets of YJAIS Psychology, including assertive outreach and long-term throughcare, and how these are executed in tandem with evidence-based approaches to forensic intervention, will be discussed. An expansion of this approach in Youth Justice settings is recommended.