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Does Risk Assessment Make a Difference? Results of Implementing the SAVRY in Juvenile Probation
Author(s) -
Vincent Gina M.,
Guy Laura S.,
Gershenson Bernice G.,
McCabe Patrick
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
behavioral sciences and the law
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.649
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1099-0798
pISSN - 0735-3936
DOI - 10.1002/bsl.2014
Subject(s) - recidivism , risk assessment , juvenile , psychological intervention , juvenile delinquency , suicide prevention , psychology , risk management , human factors and ergonomics , injury prevention , poison control , environmental health , medicine , applied psychology , computer security , business , criminology , psychiatry , computer science , finance , biology , genetics
An effective approach to reducing recidivism is, first, to identify a youth's risk of reoffending and then to match the intensity of interventions to that risk level. This pre–post quasi‐experimental, prospective study compared 247 (pre) with 217 (post) adjudicated youths to examine the implementation of the Structured Assessment of Violence Risk in Youth (SAVRY) and its effects on case management practices in Louisiana's Caddo parish probation office. The results indicated that placement rates dropped by 50%, use of maximum levels of supervision dropped by almost 30%, and use of community services decreased except for high‐risk youths, but only after the SAVRY was properly implemented. This shift towards more appropriate allocation of resources that are matched to risk level occurred without a significant increase in reoffending. The implications for implementation and for use of risk/needs assessment in juvenile probation are discussed. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.