The PSA uses nine factors to generate scores that estimate the likelihood of three pretrial outcomes—failure to appear pretrial, new criminal arrest, and new violent criminal arrest. Decision makers use a locally developed Release Conditions Matrix to interpret the PSA scores with a Release Conditions Matrix to inform pretrial release decisions.
Below you can review the PSA factors, understand the three pretrial outcomes, and learn how the factors are weighted and scaled.
The PSA uses nine factors to assess the likelihood of pretrial success.
The PSA uses different factors to predict three pretrial outcomes: Failure to Appear (FTA), New Criminal Arrest (NCA), and New Violent Criminal Arrest (NVCA).
Watch to learn how the PSA works and how to responsibly use PSA scores to make more effective and consistent pretrial decisions.
FTA refers to a person missing a pretrial court hearing and the court, in response, issuing a warrant, capias, or other similar response.
The PSA uses four factors to calculate the FTA score:
NCA refers to a person being arrested while on pretrial release. It includes both a custodial arrest and an arrest by citation or summons.
The PSA uses seven factors to calculate the NCA score:
NVCA refers to a person being arrested for a violent offense while on pretrial release. It includes both a custodial arrest and an arrest by citation or summons.
The PSA uses five factors to calculate the NVCA score:
Each factor is weighted and assigned different points according to the strength of its relationship with the specific pretrial outcome. At the end of the assessment, the points for each pretrial outcome are totaled. The total points assigned to FTA and NCA are then converted to two separate scales ranging from 1 to 6. Lower scores indicate a greater likelihood of pretrial success. The points assigned to NVCA are converted to a scaled score and then to the presence or absence of a “violence flag.”
The tables below show how the PSA assigns points to the factors and then converts them to scaled scores.
This table shows how the PSA assigns points to each FTA factor. The points are not the final score.
The next table shows how the PSA converts the total number of FTA points to a final, scaled score ranging from 1 to 6.
This table shows how the PSA assigns points to each NCA factor. Remember, the points are not the final score.
This next table shows how the PSA converts the total number of NCA points to a final, scaled score ranging from 1 to 6.
This table shows how the PSA assigns points to each NVCA factor. Remember, the points are not the final score.
This next table shows how the PSA converts the total number of NVCA points to a scaled score and then to a “violence flag.”
Before implementing the PSA, stakeholders work together to develop local policies to guide pretrial decisions. These policies help decision makers use and interpret the scores. One policy, called the Release Conditions Matrix, matches a person’s PSA scores with appropriate services and support to help them succeed on pretrial release.