Mark your calendars: RSVP training Oct. 22

Just a quick reminder for you sex offender evaluators:

On Thursday, October 22, Stephen Hart of the Mental Health, Law, and Policy Institute at Simon Fraser University in Canada will be in Oregon, giving an all-day training on his Risk for Sexual Violence Protocol (RSVP), a descendant of the Sexual Violence Risk-20 instrument. The training, sponsored by the Northwest Forensic Institute, will be held at Portland State University in downtown Portland.

The RSVP uses structured professional judgment (SPJ) to assess sex offender risk. Preliminary research suggests excellent interrater reliability, concurrent validity with actuarial tools, and moderate predictive validity about equivalent to that of actuarial tools. An advantage over the actuarials, however, is its risk management focus. Evaluators derive individually based risk scenarios and then create strategies to manage identified risks.

This promises to be a good training. Dr. Hart is a great presenter, not to mention an internationally renowned researcher, forensic psychologist and past president of the American Psychology-Law Society.

The cost is $175 (only $75 for students), and you can get more information and register online.