| Summary: | Since 2001, Vermont Department of Corrections (DOC) sex offender treatment providers and probation and parole officers have scored every adult male sex offender under community supervision on three measures of static (unchangeable) risk at intake (i.e., Static-99, RRASOR-Rapid Risk Assessment for Sex Offence Recidivism, and VASOR-Vermont Assessment of Sex Offender Risk) and one measure of dynamic (changeable) risk (i.e, SOTNPS) at intake and then every six months thereafter. This project conducted record reviews to verify the accuracy of the risk assessment scores and examined how scores on the Sex Offender Treatment Needs and Progress Scale (SOTNPS) and one or more of these static risk instruments can be combined into an overall model of risk assessment. An empirically derived decision-making model was created to assist correctional administrators, probation and parole officers, and treatment providers in allocating and delivering supervision and treatment services based on an individual's treatment needs and risk to sexually re-offend. Three hypotheses were tested. First, it was expected that one or more static risk measures (Static-99R, Static-2002R and VASOR) would predict sexual recidivism with moderate accuracy in the sample. Second, a dynamic risk measure, Sex Offender Treatment Needs and Progress Scale (SOTNPS), or a subset of risk factors contained in this measure would also predict sexual recidivism with moderate accuracy and be sensitive to the changes in dynamic risk over time. Third, a combined static and dynamic risk measure would predict sexual recidivism more accurate than either measure alone.
|
|---|
