Sustainability of Evidence-Based Practices: Risk-Need-Responsivity in Probation 7 Years Later

• Published date: 01 May 2024
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/00938548241229193
• Author: Gina M. Vincent,Dara C. Drawbridge,Spencer G. Lawson,Kristina Todorovic,Rachael T. Perrault
• Date: 01 May 2024

CRIMINAL JUSTICE AND BEHAVIOR, 2024, Vol. 51, No. 5, May 2024, 643 –666.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/00938548241229193

Article reuse guidelines: sagepub.com/journals-permissions

© 2024 International Association for Correctional and Forensic Psychology

643

SUSTAINABILITY OF EVIDENCE-BASED

PRACTICES

Risk-Need-Responsivity in Probation 7 Years Later

GINA M. VINCENT

DARA C. DRAWBRIDGE

SPENCER G. LAWSON

UMass Chan Medical School

KRISTINA TODOROVIC

University of Southern Indiana

RACHAEL T. PERRAULT

UMass Chan Medical School

This quasi-experimental, pre-post study investigated the sustainability of risk-needs assessment (RNA) and the risk-need-

responsivity (RNR) practices in five juvenile probation offices across two states 7 years after rigorous implementation. The

study evaluated adherence to practices and facilitators of sustainability via interviews with leadership (N= 10) and probation

officers (N= 84) and a seventh-year cohort of youth propensity score matched to a cohort from the first year of implementa-

tion (n= 730 per state cohort). Probation officers in both states reported relatively high adherence to RNR-based practices,

and one state significantly improved adherence to its RNA administration policies and the risk principle. Adherence to the

risk principle in placement and service referral decisions regressed in the other state. Essential ingredients for sustainment

included maintaining staff training and monitoring, evolving RNR practices through the adoption of complementary evi-

dence-based practices, and having court personnel who enable best practices.

Keywords: juvenile justice; risk-needs assessment; risk-need-responsivity; sustainability; implementation

AUTHORS’ NOTE: The authors thank the probation leadership and officers at the study sites. We also thank

our statisticians and research associates, Lisa Lundquist, Cassandra Beinemann, Maxwell Christensen,

Danielle Rieger, and Lauren McDowell. This research was funded by the Office of Juvenile Justice and

Delinquency Prevention (PI: Vincent, 2016-JF-FX-0057) and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur

Foundation (07-88401-000-HCD) Models for Change Initiative Research Network. Correspondence concern-

ing this article should be addressed to Gina M. Vincent, Department of Psychiatry, UMass Chan Medical

School, 222 Maple Avenue, Shrewsbury, MA 01545;e-mail: Gina.Vincent@umassmed.edu.

1229193CJBXXX10.1177/00938548241229193Criminal Justice and BehaviorVincent et al. / SUSTAINABILITY OF EVIDENCE-BASED PRACTICES

research-article2024

644 CRIMINAL JUSTICE AND BEHAVIOR

State and local juvenile justice systems have experienced substantial reform over the last

15 years resulting in significant reductions in juvenile arrest, adjudication, and incarcera-

tion (Hockenberry & Puzzanchera, 2019) and increased adoption of various evidence-based

practices (Juvenile Justice Geography, Policy, Practice & Statistics, 2021) to reduce recidi-

vism. One of the most well-studied and widely recommended evidence-based practices in

justice settings (National Research Council, 2013) is the risk-need-responsivity (RNR)

model (Andrews & Bonta, 2010). The RNR framework has three primary principles. The

risk principle suggests the system should reserve intensive interventions (e.g., confinement,

more services) for the highest risk cases. The need principle stipulates case management

practices should provide programming that targets individuals’ dynamic risk factors that

influence their offending (criminogenic needs). The responsivity principle indicates pro-

gramming should consider how well the styles and modes of programming are matched to

individuals’ attributes that may affect treatment response. For the RNR approach to be fully

realized, it requires agencies to adopt a valid risk-needs assessment (RNA) to accurately

identify individuals’ risk for reoffending and their key dynamic risk factors (e.g., impulsivity

and substance use) to target with services.

Despite the widespread adoption of RNAs and RNR, there are many challenges faced by

systems when implementing these practices, including how to translate information from

RNAs into case management decisions. For example, probation studies have shown that case

plans are often not linked to the results of RNAs as the RNR model prescribes (e.g., Miller &

Maloney, 2013; Viglione et al., 2015). Moreover, probation officers may misunderstand how

to use the practices or simply do not buy-in to their value (Ingel et al., 2022). However, trans-

lating RNAs and the RNR approach into probation practice requires buy-in from not only

probation officers (POs) but also other key stakeholders throughout a jurisdiction (e.g., judges,

attorneys, and probation leadership). The representatives of all groups must be engaged in the

development of strong policies and implementation procedures (Vincent, Guy, & Grisso,

2012) to cultivate stakeholder buy-in. Studies of RNAs or RNR use in criminal-legal settings

that incorporated strong stakeholder-engagement and guidance from researchers report more

positive findings (e.g., Viljoen et al., 2019), than those without this engagement.

While strong implementation-related studies of RNA and RNR are slowly increasing, a criti-

cal next step is to investigate whether the implementation of these practices is sustained over

time. To date, there are very few studies on the sustainability of evidence-based practices or

reform efforts of any sort in legal settings (e.g., Miller & Palmer, 2020). Moreover, most studies

reporting limited adherence to RNR practices do not disentangle whether this outcome was due

to an initial implementation problem versus a sustainability problem. To address this gap, the

current study gathered an additional wave of data from juvenile probation offices in two states

7 years after the comprehensive implementation of RNA and RNR-based practices.

IMPLEMENTATION OF FIDELITY AND SUSTAINABILITY

With the substantial uptake of evidence-based practice reforms in justice settings, it is

imperative for criminal-legal research to not measure impacts (such as recidivism) without

also measuring fidelity. Implementation strategies are the methods used to enhance the

adoption, implementation, and sustainability of innovations (e.g., RNR, assessment strate-

gies, and new interventions) in practice settings (Proctor et al., 2013). To achieve improved

outcomes, new practices need to be paired with effective implementation strategies (e.g.,

revising written procedures, obtaining stakeholder buy-in, and designing decision-support