About the Assessment

© 2021  |  Author: John J. Liptak, EdD

Each year, more than 600,000 individuals are released from state and federal prisons. Another 9 million cycle through local jails. These returning citizens face a myriad of barriers to successfully re-entering society.

Paradigm’s newest assessment, the Barriers to Reentry Success Inventory (BRSI), helps returning citizens identify their concerns and potential barriers and develop proactive plans for overcoming them when re-entering their communities. As a revision of the previous edition, titled the Offender Reintegration Scale, this tool is self-scored, self-interpreted, and measures returning citizens’ concerns within the following scales.

• Basic needs
• Wellness
• Family
• Digital literacy
• Career development
• Job search

Complete the BRSI in Five Steps

Step 1: Complete the BRSI
Returning citizens review 12 statements within six different scales to assess their level of concern.

Step 2: Add Your Scores
Returning citizens score their responses in each of the six scales.

Step 3: Profile Your Scores
Returning citizens determine whether they scored high, average, or low within each of the six scales. High scores indicate concern about the related scale.

Step 4: Interpret Your Profile
Returning citizens review checklists that align with the six scales to identify ways to explore and plan their reentry.

Step 5: My Action Plan
Returning citizens list what they will do to successfully re-enter their communities. They will also provide a goal completion date for each action item.

Key Features of the BRSI

• Helps individuals in pre-release status develop an individualized re-entry success plan.
• Incorporates empowering, humanizing, and inclusive language.
• Includes a comprehensive administrator’s guide to help counselors, administrators, and corrections personnel use the BRSI effectively.
• Includes a new scale on digital literacy to represent concerns about the increasing use of technology in society.
• Features a new booklet format to make the assessment easier to complete and review.
• Takes an average of 25 minutes to complete the profile.
• Offers flexibility to administer individually or in groups.