Juvenile Detention Risk Assessment

A basic tool used in the risk screening process is a detention risk assessment instrument or RAI. The risk instrument is a written checklist of criteria that are applied to rate each minor for specific detention-related risks. The overall risk score is then used to guide the intake officer in making the critical decision whether to detain or release an arrested youth.

In the dozen years since the start of JDAI, local detention risk assessment instruments (RAIs) have been implemented at JDAI sites in more than 15 states. These RAIs are not clones of one another. Each one is tailored to fit state and local laws, policies, and procedures. They have different names and formats. But they are all grounded in the principles of objectivity, uniformity, and risk assessment described [in this report], and they incorporate other common design elements.