Diversion helps youth who have offended as it offers tailored interventions for their needs, counters adverse effects of formal processing, and promotes rehabilitation over punishment. In this blog we explore diverse diversion strategies, how these strategies balance rehabilitation and accountability, and the importance of fair decision-making for positive individual and...
Pedro das Neves is the CEO of IPS Innovative Prison Systems, a research and consulting firm specializing in justice and correctional services. He is the Executive Director of ICJS Innovative Criminal Justice Inc., a Canadian firm that focuses on advisory, design, integration, and delivery of innovative organizational and technological solutions...
Predictive validity refers to an assessment's ability to accurately predict an outcome. In the context of risk/needs assessments, accuracy is determined through a validation process. Validation tests if an assessment’s estimated risk/needs score for an individual corresponds to actual behavior or outcomes. In order to test the prediction, meaningful outcome...
Due to its role in informing parole and probation decisions, the use of professional judgment or overrides in risk/needs assessment and management can become scrutinized after tragic and violent events. What is a risk/needs assessment? Why do assessors override risk assessment scores? Is the use of this override common? What does...
Many public safety organizations around the world use Offender Management Systems (OMSs) to access public and private data, including arrest events, custody data, dispositions, and prosecutor data. Keeping communities safe and providing positive outcomes requires probation and parole officers to access the histories of those within the system. An OMS is...
The call for evidence-informed trainings to leverage technology to align with evidence informed practices and integrated software solutions have increased among the correctional field, specifically around community supervision and risk assessment. The advancement of evidence-based practices has been most influenced by the adoption of the Risk-Need-Responsivity (RNR) model. Developed in...
There has been an explosion of research connecting the experience of trauma, particularly complex or multiple traumas with a risk for criminal behavior (Vitopoulos et al., 2019). The current research on trauma and criminal behavior point to early childhood trauma, particularly maltreatment in childhood, as defining the difference between adolescents...
The use of pre-trial risk assessment tools around the world is widespread. In fact, risk/needs assessments are mandatory for sentencing in the adult system within 20 U.S. states. Since the use of these tools is so common, questioning the potential of their impact in creating racial disparity within the justice...
