Removal of Non-scored Items from the Post Conviction Risk Assessment Instrument: An Evaluation of Data-driven Risk Assessment Research within the Federal System

In 2009, the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts developed a dynamic risk assessment instrument, the Post Conviction Risk Assessment (PCRA), consisting of 15 scored items and 15 non-scored items that prior research had suggested should predict recidivism but that, at the time of the instrument’s development, were unavailable for analytical purposes in the case management system. The authors examined whether these 15 non-scored items improve the PCRA’s predictive accuracy or whether these non-scored items warrant removal from the instrument.