Black Youth Were Four Times More Likely To Be Flagged As High Aggression Risk During Pediatric Mental Health Emergency Department Visits

Black youth who had a mental health-related pediatric emergency department visit were four times as likely to be flagged as a high aggression risk than White youth, based on an analysis of responses and outcomes of a tool to evaluate the risk of aggression. The risk to Black youth was higher even when their responses to the tool were similar to the responses of White youth. The aggression risk flags are intended to be safety alerts for staff. The disparity indicates that changes are needed to evaluation and risk assessment processes to ensure equitable care delivery, the researchers stated . . .