LEVEL OF SERVICE (LS) ASSESSMENT TOOLS AC1
Level of Service (LS) Assessment Tools
This Commissioner’s Requirement describes the principles and procedure for the administration of the Level of Service (LS) suite of tools in prisons
Page 2 of 6 Date of issue: 20/5/2016
LEVEL OF SERVICE (LS) ASSESSMENT TOOLS AC1
Contents
1. Standards
2. Level of Service/Risk, Need, Responsivity (LS/RNR) Scoring Guide
3. Eligibility Criteria for the LSI-R:SV
4. Eligibility Criteria for the LS/RNR
5. Exceptions
6. Review and Override of Risk
7. Additional Sentences
8. Requesting a LS Assessment
9. LS Risk Assessment Quality Assurance
10. LS Risk Assessment Support
11. Filing LS Assessments
Related Policy and Procedure
Level of Service/Risk, Need, Responsivity (LS/RNR) Scoring Guide (MHS)
LS/CMI Participant Workbook (MHS)
LS/RNR Interview Guide
Level of Service Inventory – Revised: Screening Version (LSI-R:SV) Coding Rules
Offender Management Framework
Resolve Familiarisation Guide
Resolve User Guide
1. Standards
v The LS suite of tools must be conducted in accordance with the licence entered into by the Multi Health Systems (MHS) and Corrections Victoria
v The LS tools will be scored in accordance with the relevant scoring guides
v Staff administering the LS tools must be accredited to administer the tool
v The LS tools are scored and stored electronically in the Risk Assessment Tool in Resolve
2. Level of Service/Risk, Need, Responsivity (LS/RNR) Scoring Guide
The LS/RNR Scoring Guide instructs staff on how to administer and score the LS/RNR and must be referred to at all times, however general rules for administering the tool include:
v Assessors should be objective and use varying sources of information to verify the prisoner’s account where possible
v When conducting an assessment on a prisoner identified as a Major Offender, assessors must consult the Major Offenders Unit (MOU) for additional information
v When conducting an assessment on a prisoner with a cognitive impairment, assessors must consult the Disability Forensic Assessment and Treatment (DFATS) Prison Services Coordinator for additional information
v Motivational Interviewing (MI) techniques should be used to engage the prisoner in a narrative and create a responsive interview environment
3. Eligibility Criteria for the LSI-R:SV
Assistant Managers from the Sentence Management Division (SMD) will complete the LSI-R:SV in Resolve for all prisoners as part of the initial classification process, within fourteen days of sentencing or a sentenced prisoner’s reception into prison custody.
There are eight items that must be answered or scored on the LSI-R:SV:
To ensure the validity of the assessment, only one question can be omitted.
Once finalised, the LSI-R:SV Summary Report must be printed and placed in Section 1 of the Prisoner’s Individual Management File.
4. Eligibility Criteria for the LS/RNR
Assessment and Transition Coordinators will complete the LS/RNR in Resolve within six weeks of the completion of the LSI-R:SV, for prisoners assessed as Medium and High risk, with six months or more remaining on their sentence. In the majority of cases, these assessments will occur within the regions at the prisoner’s classified location.
The LS/RNR is a risk/need instrument in which static risks and dynamic (criminogenic) needs are combined to produce an overall assessment of offender risk. Along with the ‘central eight’ risk factors considered in Section 1, the LS/RNR also looks at Strengths (protective factors), responsivity considerations, specific risk/need factors, as well as non-criminogenic needs.
There are five sections that must be completed on the LS/RNR:
1 / General Risk/Need Factors2 / Specific Risk/Need Factors
3 / Prison Experience – Institutional Factors
4 / Other Client Issues
5 / Special Responsivity Considerations
To ensure the validity of the assessment, no more than four questions can be omitted when completing section 1 (and only one per subsection).
When conducting assessments on an Aboriginal prisoner, assessors should offer that a support person be present during the interview, such as an Aboriginal Wellbeing Officer or Aboriginal Liaison Officer.
An override of the Risk Level can be considered where appropriate. Refer to Section 6 for more information regarding overrides.
Once finalised, the LS/RNR Summary Report must be printed from Resolve and placed in Section 1 of the Prisoner’s Individual Management File.
5. Exceptions
There may be prisoners that are not in a position to engage in the assessment process and discussions about their offending behaviour because of their circumstances. These prisoners may include:
Prisoners Accommodated at: / Acute Assessment Unit, Melbourne Assessment Prison (MAP)Marrmak Unit, Dame Phyllis Frost Centre (DPFC)
St Johns Unit, Port Phillip Prison (PPP)
Thomas Embling Hospital
High-security or management unit
Prisoners with the Risk Alerts / S1 – Immediate risk of suicide or self harm
V1 – Immediate threat and/or significant violence history against authority figures
P1 – Serious psychiatric condition requiring intensive and/or immediate care
Assistant Managers administering the LSI-R:SV and Assessment and Transition Coordinators administering the LS/RNR should consult with a mental health professional to determine whether a prisoner with a P1 alert is able to engage in the assessment process.
Additionally, there may be other instances where it is deemed appropriate to defer the completion of the LSI-R:SV and/or LS/RNR. These should be considered on a case-by-case basis and consultation should occur with the Offender Management Development Branch (OMDB) as required. In these situations Sentence Management staff will continue to monitor the prisoner’s progress and should their circumstances change, a Sentence Management panel will be convened to complete the LSI-R:SV.
6. Review and Override of Risk
Assessors can review and override the calculated Risk Level using professional judgement as required. The request for override must be accompanied by supporting comments and submitted to the Assistant Manager, Offender Risk Assessment, OMDB in Resolve for approval. Given the comprehensive nature of the assessment tools, overrides will be very rare.
The assessor must demonstrate why he or she views the overall Risk/Need Level differently to that of the calculated level, using logical argument and reasonable evidence. To ensure the integrity of the tool, the Risk Level can only be overridden up or down by one Level.
Note – The five LS/RNR Risk Levels (Very Low, Low, Medium, High and Very High) has been condensed into three Risk Levels (High, Medium and Low). Therefore, an override from Low to Medium will not be possible, if the offender scored in the Very Low range of the LS/RNR, as this would be seen as moving up two levels to Medium. Similarly, an override from High to Medium will not be possible, if the offender scored in the Very High range of the LS/RNR, as this would be seen as moving down two levels. The numeric Risk Score in Resolve should be used when determining whether the prisoner falls within one of these categories.
Reasons for increasing the Risk Level might include:
v a ‘cluster’ of serious offending that occurred over a sustained period
v Multiple positive responses in Section 2 of the LS/RNR for Personal Problems with Criminogenic Potential or History of Perpetration
Reasons for decreasing the Risk Level might include:
v one or more areas of Strength being identified in Section 1
v If a prisoner scores high in static (historical) items, though scores low in dynamic areas (for example, has pro-social attitudes and support)
Each of the eight sub-components in Section 1 can be marked as a strength. A strength is something that serves as a protective factor and actively reduces the chance of anti-social behaviour. Care should be taken when marking strengths; assessors should always refer to the Scoring Guide and consider whether the sub-component is a very low or low risk area, as well as whether the strength was present at the time of the offending.
Assessors seeking an override should consult OMDB as required, prior to recommending a review of the Risk Level.
7. Additional Sentences
OMDB will monitor additional sentences and forward requests to the Assessment Transition and Coordinators at the prisoner’s current location if the LSI-R:SV or LS/RNR needs to be administered or updated. This may require the assessor to update questions regarding the number of prior convictions and current offences in the Criminal History section. In other instances, a sentence change may mean that a prisoner with a LSI-R:SV now requires a LS/RNR, because they now have more than six months remaining on their sentence. Additionally, prisoners previously assessed using the VISAT with new convictions may require an updated risk assessment.
When updating the risk assessment, the update function can be used in Resolve for prisoners with an existing LSI-R:SV or LS/RNR, to change one or more individual elements without re-scoring the whole tool.
If a low risk prisoner with a LSI-R:SV moves to Medium or High risk due to an update, a LS/RNR will need to be completed within six weeks, for prisoners with six months or more remaining on their sentence.
8. Requesting a LS Assessment
Prisoners sentenced on or after the 20th January 2015, will be screened using the LSI-R:SV, at the time of initial classification. Prisoners requiring a full LS/RNR (Medium and High risk on the LSI-R:SV, with six months or more remaining on their sentence) will be identified subsequent to the screening process, using reports generated from Resolve and PIMS.
If, for whatever reason prison staff believe a prisoner requires a LS Assessment they can request that a LS Assessment be completed, via the Assistant Manager, Offender Risk Assessment, OMDB, using the DOJ-CV-Risk Assessment email address. The Assistant Manager will ascertain whether the prisoner is eligible to be assessed and arrange for the assessment to be allocated.
Note – prisoners sentenced between 2008 and 20th January 2015, will have been assessed using the Victorian Intervention Screening Assessment Tool (VISAT), with some exclusions (such as SVO or breach of parole prisoners). E*Justice can be used to ascertain the prisoner’s general risk of re-offending, offence specific and offence-related needs.
Prisoners sentenced prior to 2008, will have had a Tier 1 completed based on the Level of Service Inventory – Revised: Screening Version (LSI-R:SV). Staff should check PIMS to determine whether there is a current Tier 1.
9. LS Risk Assessment Quality Assurance
OMDB is responsible for the ongoing integrity of the risk assessment tool including quality assurance, as well as staff training and case management development. This includes ensuring that staff responsible for administering the LS suite of tools complete relevant training, are supported and have the necessary knowledge to perform their duties.
In providing quality assurance, OMDB staff may perform random audits on risk assessments conducted by Assistant Managers or Assessment and Transition Coordinators, as well as observe interviews and provide training to new staff.
10. LS Risk Assessment Support
LS Content and Administration Support
v Offender Management Development Branch (OMDB), via the DOJ-CV-Risk Assessment email address
Resolve Technical Support and User Access
v The CV-IT Support Desk, via the DOJ-CV-IT Support email address
11. Filing LS Assessments
Once a risk assessment has been finalised, the LSI-R:SV or LS/RNR Summary Report must be printed and placed in Section 1 of the Prisoner’s Individual Management File.
The Summary Report provides a summary of key information captured in the assessment, as well as analysis of the offender’s criminogenic needs via a histogram.
Page 2 of 6 Date of issue: 20/5/2016