Early testing and formative evaluation of the Enablers of Change assessment and sentence planning tool for adults with convictions

Wong, Kevin ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3847-2316 and Horan, Rachel (2019) Early testing and formative evaluation of the Enablers of Change assessment and sentence planning tool for adults with convictions. European Journal of Probation, 11 (1). pp. 30-48. ISSN 2066-2203

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Abstract

The Enablers of Change assessment and sentence planning tool has been designed to assess the risks, needs, strengths and protective factors of adults with convictions. Developed by Interserve, a Community Rehabilitation Company (CRC) provider in England, the tool is an innovation. The first of its kind in the United Kingdom (UK) to operationalise the risk needs and responsivity model with the ‘good lives’ model and desistance principles for the general adult population of low to medium risk of harm individuals managed by CRCs. This paper reports the development, early testing and formative evaluation of the tool and recommendations for it’s onward development. Given that such integration is regarded by many as the ‘holy grail’ of probation practice, this article is of international significance and will make an original contribution to the limited evidence base on operationalising desistance in the management of adults with convictions in the UK and other jurisdictions.