SALT LAKE CITY – The coronavirus pandemic continues to have a disproportionately adverse effect on the United States’ prison population. According to The Marshall Project, there have been nearly 187,000 cases among inmates and more than 1,400 deaths, resulting in corrections agencies being overwhelmed. A 20-year leader in criminal justice technology, Vant4ge is contributing to the mitigation effort by offering a free COVID-19 tool to help corrections departments manage the crisis and determine which inmates are the safest to release early. The comprehensive VantagePoint software platform that allows agencies to efficiently coordinate care and rehabilitation for inmates and parolees also consists of the most predictive assessments ever developed. In response to the pandemic, Vant4ge is making the risk assessment tool that features evidence-based, data-driven assessment instruments with automated scoring and reporting available to corrections administrators and case managers.
“As a tech company dedicated to criminal justice reform and improving outcomes for both offenders and communities, we wanted to help by providing the tools prison administrators can use to effectively navigate the pandemic,” says Sean Hosman, CEO and Founder of Vant4ge. “Our validated, predictive risk assessments can guide them in decision making for determining which offenders pose the lowest risk of harming their communities and are the least likely to reoffend. Early release for incarcerated individuals can minimize the strain on the prison healthcare system and increase the safety of staff and inmates in environments where social distancing is very difficult.”
Developed by prominent criminal justice experts, Vant4ge’s Static Risk Assessment (SRA) helps corrections administrators predict recidivism by type of crime, empowering them to make better decisions when it comes to early release. The SRA features 26-questions pertaining to “static” factors with resulting scores that determine future risks in three areas: felony, non-violent felony, and violent felony. These risk scores allow for the classification of an offender into one of five risk levels.
Vant4ge is further reforming case management by connecting offenders to resources such as drug rehabilitation, job training, and mental healthcare through the platform. The software also eliminates the need for regular in person meetings and check ins, allowing personnel to manage more offenders with greater efficiency and improved results with the goal of reducing recidivism rates.
