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Risk/Need Assessments 101: Science Reveals New Tools to Manage Offenders

          Topics:                          Risk/need assessment, offender management

          Description:                 This reference brief covers the considerations needed for implementing an assessment tool, the challenges presented by a risk/need assessment, available tools, and risk/need basics.

          Resource Type:            Research Brief

          Length:                          8 pages

          Agency/Author:           The Pew Center on the States

          Year Published:           2011

The Risk-Need- Responsivity Model for Assessment and Rehabilitation

          Topics:                            Risk need responsivity, resources, terminology

          Description:                  This section from the NIC online transition from jail to community toolkit provides the research behind the risk-need-responsivity (RNR) model and why this model is an important concept to understand when carrying out the 10 tasks outlined in the Targeted Intervention Strategies section of the TJC Implementation Roadmap.

          Resource Type:              Website Resource Page/Online Training Modules

          Length:                            N/A

          Agency/Author:             Urban Institute, Department of Justice, National Institute of Corrections

          Year Published:             Unknown

Colorado Probation Research In Brief: Assessment and Case Planning

          Topics:                            Case plans, incentives, motivational interviewing, treatment matching, assessments

          Description:                   This document reviews the findings from a National Institute of Corrections publication on incorporating science into practice, the information presented here is intended to summarize and inform readers of research and information relevant to probation work. It can provide a framework for carrying out the business of probation as well as suggestions for practical application of the material.

          Resource Type:             Research Brief

          Length:                           1 page

          Agency/Author:            Colorado Probation Department

          Year Published:            2008

Evidence-Based Sentencing for Drug Offenders: An Analysis of Prognostic Risks and Criminogenic Needs

          Topics:                          Drug offender dispositions, evidence-based sentencing, assessment of risk and needs, matching dispositions by risks and needs

          Description:                 This article begins by describing the sentencing options that are available in most states for drug-involved offenders, and the benefits and burdens associated with each. A model of evidence-based sentencing is presented that attempts to match drug offenders to dispositions that optimally balance impacts on cost, public safety, and the welfare of the offender. Implementing this model in practice requires an assessment of each offender’s risk of dangerousness, prognosis for success in standard treatment, and clinical needs. A typology is presented of four sub-groups of drug offenders characterized by distinct risk-and-need profiles. Specific recommendations are offered for the clinical and supervisory interventions that should be included in sentencing orders for each offender subtype.

          Resource Type:              Journal Article

          Length:                            35 Pages

          Agency/Author:             Dr. Douglas Marlowe

          Year Published:             2009

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