For crime prevention programs and initiatives to be effective, they must address the specific needs of a defined target population. Prior to 1998, no assessment scheme was available to identify specific domains of risk for antisocial children under the age of 12. Researchers and practitioners at the Centre for Children Committing Offences atthe Child Development Institute were thefirst to address this gap in professional practice through the development of a comprehensive psychosocial risk assessment framework specifically focused on young children in trouble with the law.
The first tool for boys appeared as a "consultation edition" in 1998, and has since been updated to Version 2. A parallel, professional tool for girls was issued as a "consultation edition" in 2001. These tools, theEarly Assessment Risk List for Boys (EARL-20B) and Girls (EARL-21G)have received international acclaim.They are also listed asendorsed assessment tools in Scotland's Risk Management Authority's Risk Assessment Tools Inventory Evaluation Directory (RATED), and are being used in Canada, Scandinavia, New Zealand and the United States. The tools have been translated into French, Dutch, Swedish, Finnish, Norwegian and Japanese.
The importance and relevance of the tools was recognized by the Canadian National Crime Prevention Centre and Justice Canada who supported the initial development, piloting and validation of the tools through discrete project funding. More recently, the EARLs were selected for a National Demonstration Site Project as the preferred tools for screening very young offenders who have been charged with criminal offences in Miami-Dade County, Florida.
