TRI
Releases Risk and Needs Triage, “RANT™”
Web Based Decision Support Tool is Designed to Help Judges, Other
Law Enforcement Officials Assign Drug Involved Offenders to Appropriate
Community Placements
February 28, 2008: A. Thomas McLellan, Ph.D. today announced release of a web-based, electronic tool for local officials to rapidly assess drug-involved offenders at the point of arrest and target them into the most cost-effective community correction program.
Years in the making, “RANT” or “Risk and Needs Triage” was developed by Douglas B. Marlowe, J.D., Ph.D., Senior Scientific Consultant to TRI, David S. Festinger, Ph.D., Director of Law and Ethics, and Van Lam, TRI’s Senior Programmer. RANT builds upon TRI’s extensive research into the operative elements of programs for drug offenders, including which types of programs are best for which types of offenders. The fifteen minute assessment can be administered by non-specialists, including law enforcement and parole officials, and assigns offenders into one of four quadrants based on their criminogenic risks and clinical needs.
Other features include report generation – client as well as management reports - and industry-standard data security. Web based training on the system, technical support and a comprehensive user’s guide are also offered.
“Our research
has shown that drug-involved offenders’ prospects require different
types of programming depending upon their level of criminogenic risk and
clinical needs,” Marlowe said. “RANT is designed to help judges
and other local officials match offenders to placements that offer appropriate
mixes of treatment and supervision, based on a scientifically sound assessment.”
The beta version of RANT was introduced last summer and pilot tested in
Hennepin County, Minnesota. Officials there have been very pleased with
their experience with the RANT, relating that it has yielded useful empirical
evidence about their arrestee population and how they might best be served.
For more information
about RANT, visit the product web site at www.trirant.org,
or call Meghan Love toll-free at TRI, 1-866-453-9262.
