Girls are the fastest growing subpopulation of offenders in the United States. However, most risk assessments are developed for boys, empirically validated on samples of boys, and subsequently applied to girls with little regard to the appropriateness of the instrument for young women. The current study examined the differential performance of the Youth Level of Service/Case Management Inventory (YLS/CMI) by gender through assessing the moderating effect of gender on the risk-recidivism relationship, the criminogenic predictive validity of the instrument, and gendered patterns of risk among juvenile probationers (n =1,100) from a midsize Midwestern community. Findings revealed slight gender differences in both the predictive validity of the YLS/CMI and the moderating effect of gender on the risk-recidivism relationship. Unique patterns of risk and need also emerged when samples of boys and girls were analyzed separately. Directions for future research as well as gender-responsive programming and policy implications are discussed.
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