Training Description
The prediction of recidivism risk and the identification of criminogenic risk/need factors are key to evidence-based practice in correctional, legal, and behavioral health settings. The newest version of the most commonly-used and widely-researched scheme for risk/needs assessment in adult offenders is the Level of Service/Case Management Inventory (LS/CMI). Following the Risk-Need-Responsivity Model of offender rehabilitation, the LS/CMI measures risk factors empirically-associated with recidivism as well as offender strengths, supervision considerations, and factors. The LS/CMI has been found to produce accurate and reliable assessments of recidivism risk across sexes, ethnicities, and countries. This blended online and instructor-led workshop will train you in the use of the LS/CMI.
The theory, structure, and meaning of each part of the LS/CMI will be discussed during the online On Demand portion of this training (Modules 1 through 5). You must complete these online modules prior to arriving for the in-class portion of your training. During the in-class portion, instructions will be given on how to reliably score the measure and interpret its findings. Case studies will be employed to allow you to practice using the tool’s coding manual and to learn to avoid common administration errors.
The LS/CMI Training Kit is included in the purchase of the LS/CMI Blended Certification Kit and will be available at the in person portion of this training.
Please note, this training is independent from the fully On Demand LS/CMI training currently offered by the Global Institute of Forensic Research. For details, visit https://gifrinc.com/ls-cmi/
Author Biographies
Jim Bonta received his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Ottawa in 1979. He is a co-author of the Level of Service offender risk-need classification instruments which have been translated into six languages and are used by correctional systems throughout the world. Upon graduating, Dr. Bonta was the Chief Psychologist at the Ottawa-Carleton Detention Centre, a maximum-security remand center for adults and young offenders. During his 14 years at the Detention Centre he established the only full-time psychology department in a jail setting in Canada.
In 1990, Dr. Bonta joined Public Safety Canada where he was Director of Corrections Research until his retirement in 2015. Dr. Bonta has held various academic appointments, professional posts and was a member of the Editorial Advisory Boards for the Canadian Journal of Criminology and Criminal Justice and Behavior. He is a Fellow of the Canadian Psychological Association, a recipient of the Criminal Justice Section’s Career Contribution Award for 2009, the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal, 2012, the Maud Booth Correctional Services Award (2015) and the 2015 Community Corrections Award, International Corrections and Prisons Association.
Dr. Bonta has published extensively in the areas of risk assessment and offender rehabilitation. His latest publications include a book co-authored with the late D. A. Andrews entitled The Psychology of Criminal Conduct now in its sixth edition (with translations in French and Chinese).
The late J. Stephen Wormith was a professor in the Psychology Department and Director of the Centre of Forensic Behavioural Science and Justice Studies at the University of Saskatchewan. He is a co-author of the Level of Service/Case Management Inventory (LS/CMI). Dr. Wormith completed his Ph.D. at the University of Ottawa in 1977. For the next 22 years, he worked as a psychologist, researcher, and administrator in both federal and provincial correctional jurisdictions in Canada. His research interests included offender risk and psychological assessment, offender treatment, sexual offenders and crime prevention.
Dr. Wormith was on the editorial board of three criminal justice journals, a Fellow of the Canadian Psychological Association (CPA), and represented CPA on the National Associations Active in Criminal Justice (NAACJ). He received the Edwin I. Megargee Distinguished Contribution Award from the International Association for Correctional and Forensic Psychology (IACFP) and the Leadership in Education Award from the American Psychological Association’s Division of Psychologists in Public Service, both in 2015. He became a member of the Board of Directors of IACFP in 2018.
Multi-Health Systems Inc. (MHS) publishes many of the best and most innovative assessments in the public safety market. These assessments are rigorous in their science, highly functional, and are also accessible regardless of a user’s level of education.
Included in MHS's offering is the Level of Service tools, the most widely used risk/needs assessments in the world. These tools measure an offender's likelihood to reoffend and guides users through the decision process that follows.
MHS helps organizations leverage research, knowledge sharing, training, and assessments, to enhance diagnostic, intervention, and rehabilitation best practices in behavioral sciences within public safety, law enforcement and child welfare. We work to move the criminal justice and public safety industries knowledge forward on the assessment, management, and treatment of offenders around the world. To enable front line agents to effectively use tools and to share thought-leaders’ expertise about progress made in the industry, MHS offers programming to promote evidence-based best practices and improve both compliance and outcomes in assessment, treatment, and monitoring.
Learning Objectives
At the end of this training you will be able to:
- 1- Describe the Risk-Need-Responsivity Model of offender rehabilitation
- 2- Apply interviewing best practices for the LS/CMI™
- 3- Combine risk assessment and case management in one convenient evidence-based system
- 4- Apply all the essential tools needed to aid in treatment planning for and management of offenders in justice, forensic, correctional, prevention, and related agencies
- 5- Assess the rehabilitation needs of offenders, their risk of recidivism, and the most relevant factors related to supervision and programming requirements
- 6- Identify offender strengths and be gender-informed
- 7- Practice administering the LS/CMI™ using case studies
- 8- Administer the LS/CMI™ in the field