Initial Classification Evaluation: The Development, Validation, and Testing of a Short Screener

• In Event: Community Correction Measures and Practices: Classification, Assessment, and Evaluation

Abstract

The Center for Advancing Correctional Excellence! partnered with Maryland’s Department of Probation and Parole (MDPP) to develop the Initial Classification Evaluation (ICE). ICE, designed using static risk factors, quickly screens new intakes into individuals who are at a “lower recidivism risk” from those at a “higher violence risk”. A construction and validation sub-sample allowed the former to create the screener while the latter validated it. A receiver-operating curve tested the predictive validity of the tool against one of these dichotomous outcomes: one-year re-arrest, one-year re-arrest for a person offense, and one-year re-arrest for an offense involving a weapon. The primary objective of this paper is to examine whether a quick screener, ICE, is a good means to identify those who need a fuller assessment from those who do not. Currently, there is a test in field offices on the utility of a screener. Additionally, it is identified how including stet/nolle pros/dismissed charges influences the distribution of risk and the AUC. Overall, the screener’s predictive power was best for the weapon offense re-arrest, then the person offense re-arrest, and lastly the general offense re-arrest.

Author

• Alex John Breno, George Mason University