About the Report The Report, Part II: Review of the Re-Entry Process:

chapters and policy statements:
About the Report of the Re-Entry Council

Policy Statement 8, Research Highlight 4

While assessment instruments should be comprehensive, more complicated systems that assess many factors are less reliable.

While it is important for assessment procedures to be comprehensive, research has shown that risk assessment processes which assess more than 10 factors are less reliable than other, less complicated systems. [1]   Among those prison classification systems that examine a variety of risks, few have been properly designed and tested for reliability and validity. [2]   The development of intake procedures should involve the careful consideration of these competing interests.

  1. James Austin, Findings in Prison Classification and Risk Assessment, US Department of Justice, National Institute of Corrections (Washington, DC: 2003). back
  2. Ibid. back
staff