National Guidelines for Post-Conviction Risk and Needs Assessments

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David A. D’Amora, MS, LPC, CCFC is a senior policy advisor at the CSG Justice Center, is a licensed clinician with 45 years’ experience working in the areas of risk and needs assessment, violent offenders, and offenders with mental illness and has provided technical assistance and consultation to 49 states. At the CSG Justice Center he has co-authored Adults with Behavioral Health Needs under Correctional Supervision: A Shared Framework for Reducing Recidivism and Promoting Recovery (New York: The Council of State Governments Justice Center, 2012) and most recently A Five-Level Risk and Needs System: Maximizing Assessment Results in Corrections through the Development of a Common Language (New York: The Council of State Governments Justice Center, 2016). Prior to joining the CSG Justice Center, Mr. D’Amora served as the vice president of agency programs for a community-based agency providing multiple types of correctional and behavioral health treatment to formerly incarcerated people under community supervision. He was also a clinician at Somers State Prison and Meriden-Wallingford Hospital in Connecticut as well as a consultant with another national criminal justice technical assistance provider.

Tracy Hudrlik is currently the Interstate Director for the state of MN, serving as the Adult and Juvenile Interstate Compact Commissioner. In this role, she is responsible to provide statewide direction, planning and coordination of all activities related to the Interstate Compact for Adult Offender Supervision and Interstate Compact on Juveniles. She is the primary liaison between the Department of Corrections and the courts, corrections agencies, attorneys, law enforcement, compact staff across the country and other agencies in regard to the Interstate Compact process. As part of the Field Services Management team, she is also involved in leading the implementation of evidence-based practices, coaching of agents, statewide risk/needs assessment tool and a statewide behavior modification tool. Tracy has worked in the field of corrections for over 30 years, holding positions in both Minnesota and Wisconsin ranging from Probation and Parole Agent, trainer, reentry services coordinator and Interstate Compact Commissioner.

Daryl G. Kroner, Ph.D. is a professor in the School of Justice and Public Safety and Southern Illinois University Carbondale. Prior to this position, he was employed as a correctional psychologist from 1986 to 2008. His current research interests include risk assessment, measurement and mechanisms of change, and criminal desistance.

Jeff Locke serves as a senior policy advisor within the BJA Policy Office’s Corrections, Reentry and Justice Reform team. Before joining BJA, Jeff served as an attorney advisor within the Office of the Secretary of Commerce’s Office of General Counsel, where he worked on trade, technology, and law enforcement issues. Prior to Commerce, Jeff served as Program Director for Criminal Justice and Legal Counsel at the National Governors Association, where he worked on justice reform and drug issues. Jeff has also served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Togo, West Africa. Locke holds a master’s degree in public policy from Harvard Kennedy School and a J.D. from Boston College Law School.

Brian Mirasolo is Deputy Commissioner of Field Services for the Massachusetts Probation Service in Boston, Massachusetts. He first joined the service in 2004 as an Assistant Court Services Coordinator in Essex and Suffolk counties. He was promoted to the position of Suffolk Superior Court probation officer, a job he held from 2005 to 2008. Mirasolo became Acting Probation Officer in Charge at Suffolk Community Corrections Center from 2008 to 2009. In May 2009, he accepted a position as acting Chief Probation Officer at the Office of the Commissioner of Probation (OCP), which he held until September 2014. In September 2014, he was promoted to Field Services Administrator. He received the 2018 George M. Keiser Award for Exceptional Leadership which is presented each year by the National Association of Probation Executives (NAPE) to a corrections professional who has demonstrated exceptional leadership qualities. He is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in Legal Studies. He also graduated from Suffolk University, Summa Cum Laude, with a Master’s in Public Administration.

Lahiz P. Tavárez, MA, is a Project Manager at the CSG Justice Center. She works on projects centered on risk and needs assessment communication and implementation guidance. In previous roles at the CSG Justice Center, Lahiz administered the CSG Justice Center’s internal data management system and oversaw internal data collection and reporting processes, developed networks of community services for people returning to the community after incarceration, provided technical assistance to recipients of Second Chance Act grants, supported projects centered on improving risk and need communication in corrections and reentry of people convicted of sexual offenses, and worked to expand the Reentry Services Directory. Prior to joining the CSG Justice Center, she interned at the New York State Assembly as a legislative assistant, as well as with Albany County’s Crime Victim and Sexual Violence Center (CVSVC), acting as a victim advocate at Albany Criminal Court on behalf of CVSVC, and at SUNY Albany’s University Police Department (UAPD), also participating in UAPD’s Advisory Committee. Lahiz received a BA in criminal justice from SUNY University at Albany and an MA in forensic psychology at CUNY John Jay College of Criminal Justice.