Assessment Tools and Their Uses

Validated actuarial tools used to identify an individual's risk, need, and strengths to guide decision-making in case management and community supervision processes. 

Public Safety Risk Assessment Clearinghouse (Bureau of Justice Assistance)
The Public Safety Risk Assessment Clearinghouse (PSRAC) provides evidence-based information about how to use risk assessments effectively and properly to build safe families and communities. 

Welcome to the CJ-TRAK Knowledge Translation Tool Suite
Undated
The Center for Advancing Correctional Excellence (ACE!) at George Mason University developed the CJ-TRACK resource. The site provides resources that support using tools linked to risk, needs, and responsivity.

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Using Evidence to Reduce Recidivism
Date: December 2019
This video was produced at the 2019 Arizona Judicial Conference describing the research conducted on risk assessments and practices by Dr. Ed Latessa. He describes the outcomes of a reform process that works in his unique way.

Pretrial Risk Assessment in Practice, Lessons, and Research from Indiana
Date: July 2020
This webinar presents the implementation and validation efforts in the use of the Indiana Risk Assessment System (IRAS) and the Pretrial Assessment Tool (PAT)

Pretrial Justice Reform Study:  Evaluation of Pretrial Justice System Reforms That Use the Public Safety Assessment
Date: November 2019
This 2019 study by MDRC outlines the effects of New Jersey’s criminal justice reform pertaining to pretrial assessments and release decisions after the adoption of the Public Safety Assessment.

Washington Offender Needs Evaluation: Review and Examination of Reassessments
Date: December 2021
This report reviews the risk assessment for the State of Washington with valuable discussion of validity and fidelity.

Washington Offender Needs Evaluation (Washington ONE): Evaluating Community Contact Impact
Date: October 2022
This 2020 study from the Washington State Institute for Public Policy provides information regarding contact standards tied to the risk assessments of individuals and the changes in contact over time with relationship to the reassessments of individuals under supervision.

Advancing Fairness and Transparency: National Guidelines for Post-Conviction Risk and Needs Assessment
Date: August 2022
This introduction to  the National Guidelines for Post-Conviction Risk and Needs Assessment identifies the needs addressed by the guidelines.

Needing More Guidance: Adherence to Offender Needs in Case Plan Objective Journal 2021 Corrections Policy, Practice and Research
Date: December 2021
This 2007 study summarizes the role of the principles in the development of risk assessment instruments and provides risk-needs model for assessments. It also explains why some interventions work and others do not. This may be a fee-based publication.

ABSTRACT
The risk-need-responsivity (RNR) model has become a standard formula for developing and assessing offender treatment programs. It has also become increasingly used to guide case management practices. However, less focus has been given to the impact of adhering to these principles within the development of case plan objectives. The current study has two objectives. The first objective is to draw attention to the lack of literature examining the impacts of case plan adherence to RNR on offender outcomes. The second intention is to contribute to this field by examining the impact of case plan adherence to the need principle on recidivism among a sample of halfway house clients. Results show that higher adherence within one need domain, employment/education, was related to significantly lower recidivism. Overall, these findings indicate that adherence to the need principle in offender case plans may improve client outcomes. They also underline a need for more research on the development and impacts of case plan objectives.