The assessment process is the foundation of community supervision. It involves gathering, evaluating, and applying a wide range of information related to persons on supervision. Supervision officers use this information to identify factors that drive behavior in areas crucial to supervision.

The assessment process commonly involves risk and needs assessment (RNA) instruments. These instruments provide judgments about the probability or likelihood that persons on supervision will recidivate. Such information is critical in setting the intensity of supervision. The RNA instruments also identify and rank the strength of needs or dynamic risk factors. Supervision should target these factors because they are both criminogenic (i.e., they lead to criminal behavior) and dynamic (i.e., they can be changed). In addition to risk and needs, many agencies look at strengths and protective factors that help persons on supervision facilitate change and deflect the negative influence of risk factors.