ABSTRACT
IMPORTANCE OF ASSESSMENT AND CLASSIFICATION There are a number of reasons that classification and assessment of offenders are important in community corrections. First, assessment and classification help guide and structure decision making and provide important information that correctional practitioners and officials can use for basing decisions such as parole release. Second, it helps reduce bias by eliminating extralegal factors, such as race and gender, from consideration. Third, it enhances public safety by allowing court and correctional agencies to identify higher-risk offenders. Fourth, it helps manage offenders in a more efficient manner. This allows agencies to develop caseloads and workloads around risk and needs and to conserve scarce resources for those who need them most. Finally, the use of these instruments can aid in legal challenges. It is much easier to justify a decision based on a structured process that has been validated than on “gut feelings.” Perhaps the most important reason to conduct good assessments of offenders is that it improves the effectiveness of correctional programs. This is best illustrated by looking at some principles.
