Determining the youth’s required level of supervision and placement is essential to the rehabilitation process. DYRS assesses the youth’s risk of re-offending by using a validated, data-driven tool called the Structured Decision Making (SDM) assessment. The outcome of the SDM risk assessment guides the level of restrictiveness in which the youth will receive services.

The SDM tool uses various factors Including:

• Offense severity
• Number and type of prior adjudications
• Number of out-of-home placements
• School discipline/attendance, substance abuse issues and
• Peer relationships