In July, CSG Justice Center staff along with an expert consultant (1) met to review the current content from the working group conversations and the surveys to begin drafting the guidelines, (2) sent invitations to additional candidates for the advisory group, (3) determined the structure of and hosted the third working group meeting, and (4) held further discussions regarding next steps for the working group and project team action items.
At the beginning of July, CSG Justice Center Staff and the consultant held individual introductory calls with new advisory group members to welcome them to the group, discuss the project, and catch them up on what the working group has discussed thus far. Additionally, CSG Justice Center staff sent out more invitations to recommended candidates and received one more acceptance to join the advisory group.
CSG Justice Center staff shared project information, past working group meeting notes, and links to the surveys with new advisory group members. The foundational survey focused on gathering information on how working group participants define various terms and concepts related to risk and needs assessment, specifically fairness, accuracy, transparency, interrater agreement, fidelity, validation, and revalidation. The consensus survey requested brief responses to six questions focused on definitions of risk and needs, what is important to consider to improve equity, and understanding contexts (e.g., environmental, criminal conduct, etc.) that should be considered in risk and needs assessment. Survey results were used to inform agenda setting for working group meetings, framing more in-depth discussions around those concepts, and drafting content for the final product(s).
On July 14, the CSG Justice Center project team, along with the consultant, hosted the third virtual Risk Assessment Guidelines Working Group meeting. The meeting convened a group of practitioners, policymakers, researchers, and representatives from national criminal justice organizations to examine and respond to various questions regarding risk and needs assessment. Prior to the meeting, the project team shared a preliminary draft of the guidelines document. During the meeting, (1) CSG Justice Center staff and the consultant discussed initial thoughts regarding the development of the proposed guidelines, (2) CSG Justice Center staff and the consultant led a conversation about a proposed addition to the guidelines based on questions that arose during development of the draft, review of survey responses, and previous working group conversation, and (3) the working group provided initial thoughts and feedback on the preliminary draft.
Following the third working group meeting, toward the end of July, the project team (1) debriefed and discussed further development of the draft of the guidelines, (2) developed and shared a copy of the meeting notes, (3) shared a narrative—including the original goals, list of products to be developed, and the anticipated results of this work—with the advisory group, and (4) further developed the first draft of the guidelines and shared them with the advisory group to request feedback and any additional thoughts.
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• 7/02 – Call with project team and consultant to discuss next steps regarding new advisory group members, review the current content from the conversations and the surveys to begin drafting the guidelines, and discuss next steps regarding the working group and project team action steps.
• 7/02 – Call with working group participant to discuss the Risk Assessment Guidelines Project and strategies for moving the conversation forward.
• 7/09 – Project lead and expert consultant held an introductory call with a psychologist, who accepted the invitation to join the Risk Assessment Guidelines Project Advisory Group, to welcome them to the group, discuss the project, and catch them up on what the working group has discussed thus far.
• 7/09 – Project lead and expert consultant held an introductory call with an Assistant Professor in the School of Criminal Justice at the University of Cincinnati, who accepted the invitation to join the Risk Assessment Guidelines Project Advisory Group, to welcome them to the group, discuss the project, and catch them up on what the working group has discussed thus far.
• 7/09 – Project lead and expert consultant held an introductory call with an independent consultant, who accepted the invitation to join the Risk Assessment Guidelines Project Advisory Group, to welcome them to the group, discuss the project, and catch them up on what the working group has discussed thus far.
• 7/13 – Call with project team and consultant to discuss additional responses to the surveys from the new advisory group members, review and discuss the preliminary draft of the guidelines, determine the direction of the discussion for the third working group meeting, and discuss next steps regarding the working group and project team action steps.
• 7/20 – Project lead and expert consultant held an introductory call with Associate Professor and Director of the Whitney M. Young Ph.D., who accepted the invitation to join the Risk Assessment Guidelines Project Advisory Group, to welcome them to the group, discuss the project, and catch them up on what the working group has discussed thus far.
• 7/21 – Call with project team and consultant to debrief from the third working group meeting, discuss further development of the draft of the guidelines, and discuss next steps regarding the working group and project team action steps.
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