(BOP) - The Bureau of Prisons (BOP) believes that an inmate's return to the community begins on the inmate's first day in prison. The BOP conducts a variety of screenings and assessments to identify programs and services to prepare inmates for their eventual return into society after completion of their sentence. Identifying each inmate's individual needs, and addressing those needs to improve reentry outcomes, is an integral part of this preparation process.
As a result of the First Step Act of 2018 (FSA), the BOP is developing an enhanced "Risk and Needs Assessment System (RNAS)" to assess the individual risk that an inmate will recidivate (return to prison) and to identify the programs which will address the needs of an inmate to reduce his or her recidivism risk. For the "Risk Assessment" portion of the RNAS, the BOP is using the FSA risk assessment instrument called the Prisoner Assessment Tool Targeting Estimated Risk and Needs (PATTERN) to assign a recidivism risk score to each inmate. (To read more about PATTERN, see the Attorney General's published report.)
To further develop the enhanced "Needs Assessment" part of the RNAS (which assesses the needs of inmate in order to reduce his or her recidivism risk), the BOP has issued a Request for Information (RFI). The RFI gives external groups or individuals the opportunity to suggest and submit needs assessment instruments and tools that might be used in the BOP's enhanced RNAS. The BOP is specifically looking for assessment instruments and tools to evaluate criminogenic and other critical needs.
For more details on the BOP's current needs assessment system, see: https://www.bop.gov/inmates/fsa/resources.jsp
To offer solutions or feedback on the RFI, see: https://beta.sam.gov/search?keywords=15BNAS20RFI0005&sort=-relevance&index=opp&is_active=true&page=1