The importance of constructing and validating risk assessment instruments in community corrections settings

Abstract

Since the late 1970s, agencies responsible for supervising offenders in the community have used assessment instruments as a way to classify offenders according to levels of risk and need. This, in turn, has provided a basis for assigning offenders to levels of community supervision. Despite evidence that risk and needs assessment instruments are not universal and should be validated for use with a particular population, most agencies currently using them have adopted existing instruments without determining whether the instruments are valid for their offender populations. Furthermore, agencies that do validate instruments for their populations often do so under less than ideal circumstances, facing constraints and data limitations that affect research decisions. This article describes how the State of New Mexico dealt with such constraints and limitations to construct a validated risk assessment instrument and illustrates the continued importance of validating risk assessment instruments, highlighting issues related to their implementation.