Reforming pretrial practices has been a major focus of jurisdictions around the nation over the past several years. And at the core of these reformation initiatives are pretrial release assessments. Actuarial pretrial assessments are one component that can be used to assist judicial officers and other pretrial professionals in determining pretrial decisions.
The right pretrial risk assessment can also help with key pretrial goals such as ensuring a defendant appears in court, reducing unnecessary detention, improving public safety, and supporting fair judicial processes. Many jurisdictions have used the National Institute of Corrections Measuring What Matters publication as a guide to collecting pretrial outcome and performance measures. These metrics provide valuable insights and resulting data that can lead to more effective decision-making and ultimately contribute to a more just and equitable society.
A primary objective of any sound pretrial program is the use of a validated pretrial assessment instrument. Pretrial assessment tools are used to evaluate an individual’s likelihood of reoffending or failing to appear in court if released before trial. These tools provide an objective and standardized approach, considering factors such as criminal history, employment status, and community ties. The effectiveness of pretrial risk assessment tools can be measured by assessing their accuracy in predicting pretrial outcomes.
At equivant Pretrial, you can choose from a library of pretrial assessment instruments including our in-house developed California Pretrial Risk Assessment-Revised (CAPA-R), PSA, VPRAI, VPRAI-R, and ORAS-PAT. Contact us today to learn more about our actuarial pretrial assessments offerings, robust data collection capabilities, API toolkit, CJIS compliant hosting options, and more! We’re here to support your agency’s workflow and pretrial needs.
