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Risk-needs assessments (RNAs) assist correctional staff in assigning supervision and programming. While gender is a well-known predictor of crime, for decades contemporary RNAs have claimed "gender-neutrality" or risk prediction equality for males and females. Unfortunately, females are frequently overclassified, relegated to a category higher than their risks indicate. Using ridge and mixed effects regression methods, we sought to enhance the predictive accuracy of the Modified Positive Achievement Change Tool (MPACT) comparing three common assessment development methods via a 10-state sample of youth (N = 241,596) across multiple justice settings. Findings demonstrated recidivism rates vary substantially by gender and bias/overclassification is likely for assessments using a "gender-neutral" approach. Tools that oversample females, or attempt "equally weighting," have similar issues. However, "gender-specific" methods create prediction parity, rooting out overclassification. Study takeaways include the need to evaluate tools for overclassification, methods of eliminating gender bias, while achieving strong predictive validity in development of the MPACT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effect of abuse victimization in correctional samples has been researched previously, particularly with an eye toward these experiences on justice-involved youth and prison samples' offending and recidivism behavior. The role of this type of victimization, including physical abuse, sexual abuse, and polyvictimization, is less studied in jail populations. The effect of abuse victimization is also less researched among other outcomes, including behavioral health disorders (BHDs) and substance use disorder (SUD). While the effect of abuse, generally, has been examined, less is known about how abuse perpetrator type and timing of abuse impact justice-involved individuals' outcomes. Using logistic regressions, we examined the influence of abuse perpetrator type (non-stranger or stranger) and timing (before childhood, after childhood, or before and after childhood) in a population of jailed adults from one state (n = 4,713). Outcomes studied included internalizing BHDs, externalizing BHDs, and severe SUD. Results indicated that abuse perpetrated by a non-stranger yielded a greater impact on mental illness compared to abuse perpetrated by a stranger. In contrast to abuse experienced as an adult, childhood abuse was more consistently associated with internalizing and externalizing disorders but was not related to severe SUD, with an exception of physical abuse. Further, BHDs and SUD were strongly associated with each other. Overall, polyvictimization had the strongest effect on the outcomes compared to either physical abuse or sexual abuse alone. Our findings suggest that screening for abuse experiences as a potential destabilizing factor in justice-involved populations could improve case management and interventions for people incarcerated in jails. Results also highlight the importance of distinguishing between the perpetrator type of abuse and timing of abuse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An abundance of research has established Adverse Childhood Experiences' (ACEs') contributions to deviant behavior. Recently, studies have demonstrated the importance of Positive Childhood Experiences (PCEs). Yet, the PCE establishment as a predictive scale is needed. In a multistate, robust sample (N = 254,874) of justice-involved youth, we examined PCE scale effects and ACE-PCE combinations on recidivism using mixed effects logistic regression while adjusting for the impact of state. Presence of PCEs was associated with lower reoffending likelihood, and ACEs were related to increased recidivism odds. Further, PCEs demonstrated a protective impact on ACEs. A ceiling effect on the ACE-PCE composite score was also identified, where an increase in scale items presented a curvilinear recidivism association. Findings provide an examination of PCE influence across multiple youth populations and their ability to counteract ACE effects. Policy implications discuss the utility of PCEs as case management goals and intermediate outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In most states and jurisdictions, risk assessments are incorporated into justice system practice. Despite decades of use, the methods of tool development are rarely translated to the field. Many agencies implement 'off-the-shelf' versions, where a tool developed with a unique set of methods and subjects demonstrates prediction shrinkage when applied to a new jurisdiction. Using a large, 10-state sample of assessed youth (N=494,050), we isolate, test, and evaluate the relative impact of notable risk assessment variations, including: item selection, response weighting, outcome definition/duration, and jurisdiction. We further combined approaches to evaluate an 'optimized' development approach. Findings revealed substantial gains with each variation tested, where optimized models provided a full effect size predictive improvement. We discuss best practices for the future of risk assessment, noting the predictive accuracy lost when implementing tools off-the-shelf, and describe how optimization techniques substantially improve risk prediction, specifying a given tool to an agency's needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coronavirus has had a significant impact on daily life. Prisons are not exempt from the impact of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Prisons are particularly at risk due to their secure environment and vulnerable inmate populations. We examine steps taken by the 50 state departments of correction and the Federal Bureau of Prisons to mitigate COVID-19 as reported on their websites. While states vary in their response to the virus, those responses do not appear to be related to regional or political differences. Few are testing or quarantining all inmates, and there are more proactive responses devoted to staff than inmates in their facilities. Findings demonstrate that prison systems' policies regarding COVID-19 testing, quarantining, and provision of personal protective equipment for inmates do not fully align with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendations. As a result, the steps prison systems are taking to mitigate the effect of COVID-19 may be more reactionary than proactive, which may be less effective overall. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since their seminal work, Andrews and Bonta outlined the Central Eight assessment domains. As the landscape and utility of criminal justice assessments extended, tool developers expanded upon their initial development principles searching to further risk prediction gains. However, often overlooked in recent advancements is the foundation and usage of associated needs assessments. As a critical component of contemporary tools, particularly for youth, results of needs assessments identify and prioritize program placement. These additional tools comprise domain subscales that represent common predictors of need. Due to their latent nature, need assessment requires careful development and assessments of construct validity. While important, examinations of construct validity are seldom completed for contemporary tools, and their results rarely used for meaningful tool improvements. The current study describes the needs assessment development of the Modified Positive Achievement Change Tool (MPACT). Substantial psychometric evidence of construct validity is provided, describing the tool's updated, six needs constructs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An impediment to offender reintegration and rehabilitation is so-called collateral consequences—restrictions imposed by state and/or federal laws that apply to people who have been arrested, convicted, or incarcerated. Some laws limit formerly incarcerated individuals' eligibility for certain occupations and professional licensure and substantially restrict employment opportunities. In this paper, we examine bars on employment and licensure and the ways states are addressing issues that impact an individual's ability to obtain lawful employment or licensure. We examine each state's process related to either a restoration of civil rights or a judicial administrative certificate that enables those with a criminal record to have a significantly better chance of obtaining employment or licensure. In particular, we focus on certificates of rehabilitation (COR). These certificates provide the recipient with the right not to be denied employment or licensure solely based on their criminal record. Findings reveal that only 16 states and the District of Columbia have CORs. States with CORs vary considerably in their process for obtaining a certificate, and only one state allows for interstate reciprocity of CORs. We discuss the policy implications of these results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Risk assessments have become prevalent in the juvenile justice field. Many of these tools are adopted off-the-shelf and not adapted to fit the characteristics of a jurisdiction's justice-involved youth. We examined the Positive Achievement Change Tool (PACT) in Iowa. Although used widely, the PACT is relatively unmodified. We updated the tool via item selection and weighting, gender-specific models and multiple outcomes, developing the Modified Positive Achievement Change Tool (M-PACT) for Iowa. We identified an average predictive accuracy increase of 7%. Evidence of reduced racial disparity was also observed, and research implications outline the need to customize assessments to improve predictive accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

U.S. state statutes provide the minimum hiring and training requirements for correctional officers (COs), but it is unclear whether COs have achieved professionalism. This article utilizes a statutory analysis to examine state hiring qualifications and training requirements for COs. The findings reveal that not all 50 have statutes outlining CO hiring and training requirements. Although some states are very specific, many provide only general standards. As such, statutes regarding CO hiring and training are far from uniform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 2003 Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) mandates that U.S. state correctional systems regulate and reduce staff-on-inmate sexual misconduct in state correctional facilities. As data on correctional officer sexual misconduct are limited and its legal definition varies across states, this study utilized statutory analysis to document how staff sexual misconduct is defined and how it is punished across state correctional systems. The most notable finding is that although all 50 states have statutes designed to protect incarcerated persons from being sexually victimized by correctional staff, they are far from uniform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thirty years ago the Women and Criminal Justice (WCJ) journal was founded to provide a venue for the publication of articles by and about women as they interacted with the criminal justice system. A particular focus was given to how patriarchy defined that experience for women caught up in the system as the victimized, accused and convicted, women professionals who worked in the system and women (and men) academics who studied both groups. In our research we reviewed nearly 30 years of articles with special attention to their treatment of gender, feminism, and intersectionality. We found that from the first WCJ was open to the "intersectional" lives of women, and that race, class, and gender influenced the experiences of women as offenders, victims, and practitioners. The analysis of this intersectionality of women's lives remains a focus of the journal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A number of studies find that solitary confinement is associated with mental impairment. Yet, confinement dosage and which individual and exogenous variables lead to mental impairment have received less attention. This study of 2 years of data on disciplinary segregation male inmates employs a repeated measures design to examine how isolation affects mental health and psychological needs. The findings indicate that the duration of disciplinary segregation and incarceration, incidence of homelessness, and other individual-level factors had deleterious effects on mental health and psychological needs. Vocational programming and a high school education were found to be protective factors for psychological needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies have demonstrated that adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are prevalent in justice-involved youth and related to recidivism. However, the effect of programming on reducing reoffending for youth with a trauma history is not well researched. This study aims to examine the prevalence of ACEs across different subsets of justice-involved youth, as well as the impact of family-based programming and aggression replacement training (ART) for youth exposed to ACEs. Presence of ACEs among 50,862 in Washington State is examined via multiple statistical tests. Results indicate that ACEs are prevalent in this sample, with higher ACE scores being associated with a greater risk of reoffending for different types of recidivism. Both family-based programming and ART had an impact on recidivism for males, while only completion of ART resulted in a decreased odds of reoffending for females. However, an intervention between programming and ACEs was nonsignificant, indicating that these particular interventions are not more beneficial for youth exposed to trauma than they are for the general justice-involved youth population. Findings outline the need to give ACEs serious consideration in the juvenile justice system, as these trauma experiences can inform case management and programming. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Positive Achievement Change Tool (PACT) was developed in 1997 using a theoretical construction of items, responses, and weights. While derived from an original tool created for a Washington State probation population, the risk-need assessment is one of the most widely used youth tools utilized today. To advance the model from its theoretical construction, the current study demonstrates tool updates making use of a large sample of Washington State youth (N = 50,862). Specifically, several mechanisms were utilized to customize the assessment, including (a) item weighting, (b) outcome specificity, and (c) gender responsivity. Based on the updated design, we identify improvements in predictive validity of the continuous risk scale, accuracy of risk-level assignment, and reductions in racial/ethnic disparity. Scheduled to be implemented in the coming year, this article describes the development of the Modified Positive Achievement Change Tool (M-PACT). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]