HCR-20 Revision (Version 3)

HCR-20 Violence Risk Assessment Scheme

HCR-20 Revision (Version 3)

Given the large amount of research conducted on the HCR-20 itself, decision-making about risk, and violence generally, we are revising the HCR-20. The HCR-20 is a set of professional guidelines that is subject to empirical evaluation. As knowledge and research increase on violence and risk assessment, it is only appropriate to update risk assessment instruments. Like risk, knowledge is not static – procedures for assessing risk that are not rooted in current knowledge risk becoming obsolete.

To date, we have been considering changes, some small and some large, to the HCR-20 item content, domain coverage, assessment procedure, and scoring rules. The fundamental “Structured Professional Judgment” approach will remain intact. We have started the pilot testing process, and are planning several field trials of the HCR-20 (Version 3) in the US, Canada, and Europe.

Updates will be posted here as they become available.