Adolescent Risk Assessment Instruments 
 
Given the developmental differences between adults and adolescents, different tools are needed for adolescents. The three most commonly used risk instruments are: the Juvenile Sex Offender Assessment Protocol-II (J-SOAP-II); the Estimate of Risk of Adolescent Sexual Offense Recidivism (ERASOR) and the Juvenile Sexual Offense Recidivism Risk Assessment Tool-II (JSORRAT-II). Of these three instruments, the J-SOAP-II and ERASOR are clinical, or dynamic, instruments that assess both static risk factors (factors that cannot be changed, such as prior offenses) and dynamic risk factors (factors that can change, such as substance abuse), whereas the JSORRAT-II is an instrument that evaluates only static risk factors. 
Several risk assessment instruments also include an assessment of an adolescent’s protective factors. These include: the AIM2; the Juvenile Risk Assessment Tool (J-RAT), and the MEGA. The protective factor scales in these instruments were not empirically tested prior to 2016, and are recommended as theoretical instruments for clinical use and treatment planning at this time.1  
1 Phil Rich, 2014, Chapter 4: Assessment of Risk for Sexual Reoffense in Juveniles Who Commit Sexual Offenses, Sex Offender Management Assessment and Planning Initiative (Section 2), Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering, and Tracking. Retrieved July 20, 2017, from https://smart.gov/SOMAPI/sec2/ch4_risk.html 
 
For more information, see the Sex Offender Management Assessment and Planning Initiative’s information on Chapter 4: Assessment of Risk for Sexual Reoffense in Juveniles Who Commit Sexual Offenses.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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