Common types of assessments requested, and assessment tools used are detailed below:
- Violence Risk – HCR-20V3, SAVRY, FAM
- Sexual Violence – RM2000, RSVPV2, SVR-20V2, SARN, JSOAP
- Spousal Violence – SARAV3, B-SAFER
- Violent Extremism – VERA-2R
- Stalking – SAM, SRP
- Psychopathy – PCL-R, CAPP
- Personality Disorder – IPDE, PAI, LPFS
- Cognitive Ability – WAIS-IV, WMS, MMSE, TOMM
- Adaptive Functioning – ABAS
- Executive Functioning – Hayling and Brixton
- Adult ADHD – ASRS, B-BAARS, DIVA5, ACE/ACE+
- Autism Spectrum Conditions – ADOS-2, ADI-R, SRS, SCQ
- Trauma / Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder – TSI, DAPS, CAPS
- Emotional wellbeing – Becks inventories, GAD-7, PHQ-9
- Anger – STAXI
- Protective Factors – SAPROF, SAPROF-Y, SAPROF-SO
- Risk of Reoffending – LS-CMI, IORNS
- Assessment of Fire Setting Risk
- Mental / Personality Disorder – NetSCID DSM-5 CV
CPS specialise in prison law, and have significant experience in assessing life and indeterminate sentenced prisoners providing an opinion on their risk of reoffending, risk of serious harm, suitability for progression, treatment need and the necessity to undertake interventions or consolidation work (e.g. a Psychologically Informed Planned Environment (PIPE)). CPS also undertake psychological assessments unrelated to the parole process to aid in treatment and/or sentence planning, suitability and the need/necessity for interventions to be undertaken and cognitive ability. CPS can also help in assessing clients considered to be ‘complex’ cases (e.g. history of mental disorder, learning disability, personality disorder, neurodevelopmental disorder) and who may have spent time in both a secure hospital as well as a prison, due to having experience of working in both settings. CPS are experienced in assessing male, female and young offenders and use assessments suitable for the particular client group.
CPS also have considerable experience in immigration law cases providing an opinion on the client’s risk of reoffending and risk of serious harm, and the potential negative impact of being deported if this is directed (e.g. on emotional wellbeing). In order to provide an assessment of risk of reoffending and to explore the possible psychological impact for an individual returning to their native country or leaving the UK, a variety of assessments are used. CPS recognise that not all assessment tools are appropriate for use with some client’s due to cultural differences and the populations they were developed/validated on therefore, assessments are tailored to the individuals needs and when needed, an interpreter is used to ensure the clients viewpoint is represented as fully as possible, and the assessments undertaken are as reliable as they can be. British Psychological Society guidelines for working with interpreters in health settings are adhered to.
