Assessments and Referrals

Maricopa County Adult Probation created the Assessment Center to screen and assess probationers post sentencing to determine risk level and various needs for the purpose of community supervision. The Assessment Center makes recommendations or referrals to help target areas identified in need of behavior change, as well as ease the transition onto probation and from jail to the streets. The Assessment Center also provides oversight for Drug Treatment and Education Fund and sex offender contract providers.

The majority of the Assessment Center clients are those who walk into the office immediately post sentencing, but the Center also assesses and screens individuals who were released from jail or the Department of Corrections. The Assessment Center also completes substance abuse assessments and facilitates early release to treatment for probationers serving a term in jail as a condition of probation who meet certain criteria and are eligible for early release to substance use treatment (Reach Out).

This Assessment Center team consists of Probation Officers, Screeners, clinical assessors and support staff. They accomplish the screenings and assessments using an empirically validated substance use test and a clinical consult/interview as necessary.

The current screenings and assessments completed by the Assessment Center include:

• Offender Screening Tool (OST)
• Adult Substance Use Survey (ASUS)
• DNA testing sample
• Arizona Sex Offender Assessment Screening Profile for Regulatory Community Notification

Typical Probationer Characteristics

• Substance Use needs - Outpatient or residential
• Serving a jail sentence as a condition of probation
• No violent, sex, or escape offenders
• Newly sentenced or reinstated
• Low educational level

Program Characteristics

• Empirically validated testing
• Community residential providers screen clients in jail
• Takes the guesswork out of treatment placement for assigned Probation Officer