Integrating Risk, Needs, Responsivity Principles into Delaware’s Prison Program Planning

• In Event: Lessons from the Field: Implementing the RNR Simulation Tool from the Community to Prison

Abstract

The State of Delaware Department of Correction (DOC) has worked for the past three years to integrate the Risk-Needs-Responsivity (RNR) Simulation Tool, developed by George Mason University’s Center for Correctional Excellence, into its inmate classification system. Beginning in Spring 2017, DOC began assessing eligible inmates with the RNR Simulation Tool to determine their most urgent rehabilitative programming need. Those program recommendations form the basis of the inmate’s classification plan. DOC has worked extensively with GMU to group its correctional programming into various program categories addressing the criminogenic needs most likely to address recidivism, and has integrated the RNR offender assessment tool into its computerized offender management system. This presentation will explore the criminogenic needs present in DOC’s prison population as determined by the RNR Assess Jurisdiction’s Capacity Tool and will explore the practical aspects of integrating an RNR assessment tool into prison operations.

Authors

• Joanna Champney, Delaware Department of Correction

• Samantha Zulkowski, Delaware Department of Correction

• Caitlyn Creech, Delaware Department of Correction