A Compendium of Risk and Needs Tools for Assessing Male Youths At-Risk to and/or Who Have Engaged in Sexually Abusive Behaviors

Abstract

Using a standardized, validated risk assessment tool is an integral part of risk management and should be employed to evaluate a youth who is at risk to and/or has engaged in sexually abusive behaviors. Risk and needs tools are needed to inform critical decisions about the allocation of services and the areas that should be targeted in treatment and supervision. Although practitioners have a number of published tools to their avail, it is often less practical to discover the type of tool, where to access the tool, information regarding its psychometric properties, and how to access relevant training. This paper offers a brief compendium of youth-applied risk tools specific to male youths who are at risk to and/or who have engaged in sexually abusive behaviors; specifically, a description of the tool and its psychometric properties, along with where practitioners may access these tools and any relevant training in using these tools, are summarized. In light of the challenges that exist when assessing risk among youths, caveats and considerations are also explored.