Design policies to support the statewide use of risk and needs assessments.

  • Require or authorize use of validated pretrial risk assessments to inform pretrial release decision making and conditions of release.
  • Require supervision agencies to assess a person when placed on supervision for risk of reoffending and periodically thereafter as part of ongoing monitoring.
  • Require risk and needs assessments to be used to route people to appropriate programming focused on addressing their criminogenic needs, while incarcerated and in the community.
  • Require parole boards to use parole guidelines that account for factors that demonstrate a person’s readiness for parole, including risk and needs assessment results, to inform release decision making.
  • Identify how corrections agencies can use information from one tool to help inform another to increase efficiency at different stages of the justice system.

Establish quality-assurance practices for the use of risk and needs assessments.

  • Require in statute the routine validation of risk and needs assessment tools, including checking for bias across race and gender.
  • Ensure that supervision staff are trained on the proper use of risk and needs assessments.
  • Ensure that corrections agencies regularly check for scoring guidance updates from the risk and needs assessment tool developer.
  • Ensure that agencies regularly review how risk and needs assessments are conducted.