Juvenile court decision-makers often must decide whether youth need certain interventions to reduce the risk of harm to others. Is the risk sufficiently great that some sort of protective intervention is necessary? Risk assessment can assist with these decisions. The primary purpose of this Guide is to provide a structure for jurisdictions, juvenile probation or centralized statewide agencies striving to implement risk assessment or to improve their current risk assessment practices.

Empirical support for aspects of the manual can be found in the following publications:

• Vincent, G. M., Guy, L. E., Fusco, S.L., & Gershenson, B.G. (2012). Field reliability of the SAVRY with probation officers: Implications for training. Law Hum Behav. 2012 Jun;36(3):225-36. doi: 10.1007/s10979-011-9284-2
• Vincent, G. M., Guy, L. E., Gershenson, B.G., & McCabe, P. (2012). Does risk assessment make a difference? Results of implementing the SAVRY in juvenile probation. Behav Sci Law. 2012 Jul;30(4):384-405. doi: 10.1002/bsl.2014.
• Vincent, G. M., Paiva-Salisbury, M. L.,Cook, N. E., Guy, L. S., Perrault, R. T. (2012). Impact of risk/needs assessment on juvenile probation officers' decision making: Importance of implementation. Psychology, Public Policy, and Law. 2012 Nov; 18(4):549-576. doi: 10.1037/a0027186.