Utility of the Fordham Risk Screening Tool (FRST) in an Alternative-to-Incarceration Program

Abstract

Completing a thorough violence risk assessment for every client may not be a feasible goal in correctional mental health settings, where there is often a high demand for assessment but limited staff and resources. Violence risk screening tools can address this issue by identifying individuals who may need further assessment. This study describes the application of a violence risk triage tool, the Fordham Risk Screening Tool (FRST), in an alternative-to-incarceration program setting. The FRST was compared to a violence risk assessment tool widely used by such services, the Correctional Offender Management Profiling for Alternative Sanctions (COMPAS). Additionally, different methods of rating the FRST were examined, resulting in widely varying sensitivity and specificity rates. A comprehensive rating of the FRST demonstrated 80% sensitivity in identifying those deemed as high risk by the COMPAS. Though not an intended function of the FRST, both measures produced small, nonsignificant area under the curve values when attempting to identify those who violently recidivated. Potential explanations for these findings, practice implications, and recommendations for future research are discussed.