How to run assessments

eCourtDate includes two pretrial risk assessments you run in the browser against a single case: the **Public Safety Assessment** and the **Virginia Pretrial Risk Assessment Instrument**. You enter a case number, answer the instrument's factors, watch the scores update, and download the result as a PDF.

### Overview

- **What it is:** A scoring screen under **Cases** > **Assessments** that calculates published pretrial instruments for one case at a time.
- **Why it matters:** Your agency gets consistent, documented scoring behind every release and supervision recommendation.
- **Who uses it:** Pretrial officers, case managers, and supervisors preparing a recommendation for the court.
- **Expected outcomes:** Scores on screen, a suggested release level on the PSA, and a downloadable PDF.

### Prerequisites

- An eCourtDate account that can open **Cases** and its **Assessments** tab (a role can hide either one)
- A case number already in eCourtDate, because **Case Number** searches your existing cases
- The client's criminal history details needed to answer the instrument's factors
- Supervision levels carrying a **Risk** value if you want them listed with a PSA release level (create these under **Admin** > **Automations** > **Supervisions**)

### How-To Steps

#### Step 1: Open the Assessments screen

1. Click **Cases** in the top navigation.
2. Select the **Assessments** tab.
3. Review the card for each instrument and click **Learn more** for the publisher's own documentation.
4. Click **Start Now** on the instrument you want to run.

Skip these steps when you are already in a case. Open the case under **Cases** and click **PSA** to open the Public Safety Assessment with the case number filled in. The button carries the case number only, so type in **Case Number** and click the match to load the client details and the prefilled factors.

#### Step 2: Look up the case

1. Enter the case number in **Case Number**.
2. Click the matching case number in the suggestion list below the field.
3. Review the client panel that appears, which shows **NAME**, **AKA**, **AGE**, **LANGUAGE**, and any client photos.
4. Click **View Client** to open the full client record in a new tab.
5. Click **Toggle Client** to hide the panel once you have checked it.

#### Step 3: Confirm the values eCourtDate fills in

1. Check **Age at current arrest**, calculated from the client's date of birth and the case arrest or offense date.
2. Check **Prior failure to appear pretrial in the past two years**, counted from the client's events marked FTA in that window.
3. Check **Prior failure to appear pretrial older than two years**, checked when an older FTA event exists.
4. Check **Current violent offense**, checked when the case offense description matches a violent offense keyword.

#### Step 4: Answer the remaining factors

1. Select each checkbox that applies to the case, such as **Pending charge at the time of the arrest** or **Prior felony conviction**.
2. Enter a count in each number field, such as **Prior violent conviction** on the PSA or **Length of residence (in years)** on the VPRAI.
3. Clear any red message shown in place of the results before you read the scores.

#### Step 5: Read the results

1. Review the **Results** list, which colors each score green, yellow, or red by severity.
2. Read the scores your instrument reports, listed in the table below.
3. Read the **Release Level** heading on a PSA, which eCourtDate derives from the FTA and NCA scores.
4. Review the list under "Recommended conditions:", which adds **Mandatory Statutory Conditions** and **Court Date Notifications** at every level, **Criminal history checks once per month** from level 2, and **Check-in once per month** at level 3.
5. Review any supervision level shown below those conditions, which appears when its **Risk** matches the release level.

| Instrument | Results shown |
|------------|---------------|
| Public Safety Assessment | **New Criminal Arrest (NCA)** and **Failure to Appear (FTA)** scored 1 to 6 with a plain language likelihood, plus **New Violent Criminal Arrest (NVCA)** as YES or NO |
| Virginia Pretrial Risk Assessment Instrument | **Risk Level** from Level 1 (Low risk) to Level 5 (Highest risk), plus **Raw Score** |

#### Step 6: Download the assessment

1. Click **PDF** at the top right of the card.
2. Save the downloaded assessments.pdf file with your case records.

### What to Expect

Scores recalculate the moment you change a field, so there is no submit step and no save step. The **Results** list stays hidden behind a red validation message until the required fields are answered. eCourtDate writes your answers into the page address as you work, so you can bookmark the link or send it to a colleague and reopen the same assessment. Nothing is stored as a record in eCourtDate, which makes the downloaded PDF your copy of the result.

### Best Practices

- Start from the case record's **PSA** button so the case number arrives with the assessment.
- Verify every prefilled value, especially **Age at current arrest** and the two prior FTA factors, before you rely on a score.
- Download the **PDF** before you close the tab, because closing it leaves no record behind.
- Give supervision levels a **Risk** of 1, 2, or 3 so they line up with a PSA release level.
- Email research@ecourtdate.com when your agency needs an instrument that is not on the **Assessments** screen.

### Frequently Asked Questions

**Q: Which assessments can I run?**

A: Two. **Public Safety Assessment** and **Virginia Pretrial Risk Assessment Instrument** each appear as a card under **Cases** > **Assessments**.

**Q: Where is the save or submit button?**

A: There is not one. The screen scores as you type and the **PDF** button is how you keep the result.

**Q: Can I run an assessment without a case number?**

A: No. **Case Number** is required, and the message "Case number is required" replaces the results until you enter one.

**Q: Can my agency add its own assessment questions?**

A: Not from the app. The card at the bottom of the **Assessments** screen asks you to email research@ecourtdate.com for custom risk assessments.

**Q: Why does the VPRAI show no release level?**

A: **Release Level** and its recommended conditions come from the PSA scores only. The VPRAI reports **Risk Level** and **Raw Score** instead.

### Troubleshooting

**Issue:** The results are missing.

**Symptoms:** A red message reads "Case number is required" or "Age at arrest is required".

**Solution:** Enter a value in **Case Number**, then enter a value above zero in **Age at current arrest**.

**Issue:** A red message asks for a prior conviction.

**Symptoms:** The message reads "Prior conviction is required if prior violent is 1 or more" or "Prior conviction is required if prior sentence is true".

**Solution:** Select **Prior conviction**, or correct **Prior violent conviction** and **Prior sentence to incarceration** if either was entered in error.

**Issue:** No client details or prefilled factors appear.

**Symptoms:** You typed a case number but the client panel never loads.

**Solution:** Click the case number in the suggestion list below **Case Number**, because eCourtDate loads the client and the prefilled factors only when you select a case from that list.

**Issue:** The Assessments tab is missing.

**Symptoms:** The tab strip on **Cases** shows the other tabs but not **Assessments**.

**Solution:** Ask an administrator to open **Admin** > **Users** > **Roles**, edit your role, and remove assessments from **Hidden Navigations**.

> **Important:** If you continue to experience issues after following these troubleshooting steps, sign in to eCourtDate and create a ticket by clicking the ticket button in the bottom right corner of the screen.

### Related Articles

- [How to conduct risk assessments](/how-to-conduct-risk-assessments)
- [How to Manage Cases](/how-to-manage-cases)
- [How to define supervision levels](/how-to-define-supervision-levels)
- [How to manage supervisions](/how-to-manage-supervisions)
- [How to Manage Clients](/how-to-manage-clients)