This technical assistance will help with the classification and prioritization of high-risk violent offenders. It will allow SCDPPPS to focus its limited resources on those most likely to reoffend, which will increase the safety of domestic violence victims and the community. One objective for this technical assistance is to have a subject matter expert provide assistance with finalizing the DVSA, including determining if the most appropriate metrics are measured and scored appropriately. The second objective for this technical assistance is to have assistance with classification of domestic violence offenders based on the DVSA findings with offenders supervision being prioritized based on risk levels. In order to be successful, individuals administering the DVSA would require training and support on scoring and interpreting results of the tool. The committee members would benefit from additional support to identify risk factors and scoring of behavior based identifiers. In addition, it would be helpful if this technical assistance could identify assessments that SCDPPPS are unaware of and provide any additional published research regarding domestic violence assessments. Also, assistance with quality control of assessment administration and scoring to ensure reliability of the tool.
Participants will include Sharon Chafin and the DVSA Committee members. DVSA Committee member include the Director of Victim Services, Domestic Violence Unit Manager, and the Director of Program Planning and Development. The 28 domestic violence agents will administer the DVSA to the offenders and supervise them according to the results.
Offenders currently are assigned a risk level based on results of the COMPAS Core actuarial risk assessment. SCCPPPS would like to develop and test a risk assessment tool that identifies domestic violence offenders most at risk of reoffending and those with the capacity to cause serious harm or death. SCDPPPS is currently piloting an in-house tool, the Domestic Violence Supervision Assessment (DVSA) and it was determined that outside assistance was needed to ensure the tool is valid and incorporating all risk factors. SCDPPPS has the ability to improve the process for identifying domestic violence offenders at risk of reoffending, defined as committing a new domestic violence offense and identifying those who are likely more dangerous, defined as having a higher lethality. An effective risk assessment tool will allow the Domestic Violence Program prioritize the domestic violence offenders most at risk of reoffending. One of the challenges that SCDPPPS is facing is lack of published research regarding the risks factors of offenders on community supervision committing a new domestic violence offense and the risk factors of offenders more likely to cause serious harm or death to their victims. Additionally, none of the current risk assessment available are suitable to SCDPPPS and community supervision due to the lack of victim engagement post-conviction. In addition, limited data has been collected on the DVSA thus far. Long term, SCDPPPS may not be able to financially afford to incorporate the risk assessment into its Offender Management System (OMS). There is a gap between expert feedback on developing risk assessments and determining scoring weights and SCDPPPS’ development of the DVSA. SCDPPPS wants to achieve an effective domestic risk assessment tool that identifies domestic violence offender most at risk of reoffending and those who may perpetrate deadly violence.
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