Ten Things Risk/Needs Assessment Is Not

The emphasis on reducing recidivism has led community corrections agencies to adopt standardized and validated criminal risk/needs assessment instruments to guide their decision-making. In integrating these assessments into real-world practice, a set of common misconceptions, training dilemmas, and policy concerns pose implementation challenges for probation officers and  administrators. Based on years of experience working with probation agencies, the authors have compiled a list of the most frequently encountered misunderstandings.