MEGA♪
MEGA♪ is a tool for assessing the risk level of coarse sexual improprieties, and/or sexually abusive behavior of youth, males and females, ages 4-19 years and youth with low intellectual functioning. This tool is the first of its kind, which, in addition, provides an individualized risk assessment report according to age and gender. MEGA♪ validation and cross-validation studies are the largest studies its field. The tool has been validated and cross-validated on combined samples of over 2200 youth, adjudicated or non-adjudicated. MEGA♪ has demonstrated predictive validity.
The participating research sites include Department of Juvenile Justice; State of Kentucky administered statewide, San Diego County Probation, and other facilities (i.e., residential programs, psychiatric hospitals, community agencies, day treatment programs, and outpatient clinics) in northern and southern California and in other states, Arizona and New Mexico. Included also are international sites in Canada, Scotland, and England.
Other risk assessment tools such as, J-SOAP and ERASOR, do not have normative data limiting their assessments more closely related to academic and clinical guesstimate and/or approximations of the yielding scores of these tools. The J-SOAP and ERASOR were designed to assess adolescents age 12 to 18, differences between males and females were not taken into account and neither tool make a distinction between youth with low intellectual functioning and other youth. Neither tool provides a risk assessment report.
A significant characteristic of MEGA♪ is that it establishes normative data with cut-off scores specific to gender and age and for youth with low intellectual functioning. This provides an essential feature in interpreting the risk assessment findings. MEGA♪, does not leave risk assessment to “guess work”. Risk level, is established by the risk assessment findings in MEGA♪ where there is definitive and normative data. In addition, MEGA♪ provides a risk assessment report of its findings, specific to gender and age and for youth with low intellectual functioning.
There are two types of MEGA♪ reports: the MEGA♪ Individualized Risk Assessment Report, and the MEGA♪ Individualized Outtcome-Risk Assessment Report. These reports are comprehensive, and individualized.
The MEGA♪ Individualized Risk Assessment Report and the MEGA♪ Individualized Outtcome-Risk Assessment Report are methodical, reporting baseline risk level of the youth, specifically identifying the risk factors for coarse sexual improprieties and/or sexually abusive behavior. The risk assessment reports also identify specific protective factors that may mitigate risk for the youth.
The MEGA♪ Individualized Outtcome-Risk Assessment Report differs in that it reflects the changes in the youth’s risk level over time. The MEGA♪ risk assessment tool can be administered every 6-month, thereby allowing monitoring the youth to be over long periods. Professionals have expressed that this unique feature of MEGA♪ to be particularly helpful for those cases in long-term placement. Facilities have found MEGA♪ especially helpful in identifying very high-risk youth who later reoffended and received significant media attention, due to the severity of their re-offenses.
The MEGA♪ studies have been peer reviewed in detail, published in four different professional journals, addressing all questions related to sample sizes, validity, reliability, and predictive accuracy. MEGA♪ demonstrated significant prognostic utility, enhancing the accuracy of risk assessment, lending confidence in its findings.
The MEGA♪studies have been presented and well received at national conferences (e.g., California Coalition on Sexual Offending [CCOSO]); and international venues (Institute on Violence, Abuse, and Trauma [IVAT]); Rady Children’s Hospital San Diego International Conference on Child Maltreatment) and the National Adolescent Perpetrator Network (NAPN). The California Coalition on Sexual Offending gave its annual Research Award to help support the completion of the MEGA♪ studies.
The MEGA♪ Risk Assessment Tool is a state of the art tool that has attracted global attention. It is now translated in Hebrew and Dutch as officials/professionals in Israel and Holland have expressed interest in implementation in their respective countries. Sites in London and Liverpool, England also express their desire to continue the use of the MEGA♪.
The MEGA♪ studies provide significant contributions to the field of risk assessment. MEGA♪ is contemporary, applicable to a wide range of youths, males, females, within the ages of 4 to 19 years, including youth with low intellectual functioning who need a risk assessment for sexually abusive behaviors.
Requirements for administering the MEGA♪: Two-days of specialized training, which includes the dynamics of risk assessment in general, and learning about administering, scoring (data is confidential and secured), and interpreting the MEGA♪ findings in the risk assessment reports. The two-day specialized training is approved for 14 continuing educational hours certified by Institute on Violence, Abuse, and Trauma (IVAT).