A Psychometric Evaluation of the Community Risk Needs Assessment (CRNA)

• In Event: Poster Session 1

Abstract

The Community Risk Needs Assessment (CRNA) is a structured professional judgement tool developed by BC Corrections to guide the case management of sentenced clients under community supervision in British Columbia, Canada. Specifically, in alignment with the Risk-Need-Responsivity principles, probation officers rate each client on their criminogenic needs (9 items) and static risk (10 items) to establish an overall needs, overall risk, and overall supervision level, which guides appropriate supervision levels and tailored intervention plans. This study examined the inter-rater reliability, structural validity, and predictive validity of the CRNA to ensure that it continues to be relevant for a client population with increasingly complex needs. First, inter-rater reliability was examined by comparing two independent ratings for 36 cases using interclass correlations. Despite some item level differences, overall ratings had acceptable inter-rater reliability. Next, data for 3,493 clients were analyzed to examine the tool’s structural and predictive validity. Strong correlations were found between item-level and overall ratings indicating good structural validity. Logistic regression and survival analyses showed that the CRNA had adequate predictive validity when examining four-year recidivism for all clients; however, predictive accuracy was not as strong for Indigenous clients. Recommendations for future research are discussed.

Authors

• Buyun Xu, BC Corrections

• Hana Ryu, Simon Fraser University, BC Corrections

• Leigh Greiner, BC Corrections

• Margaret Erickson, BC Corrections