In conducting the survey, the staff made over 350 telephone contacts with classification experts, research organizations, and justice system agencies. These contacts and the literature review indicated a recent trend toward formalizing offender classification, establishing criteria for screening decisions, and increasing reliance on standardized instruments for decisionmaking input. This sourcebook includes three sections; a state-of-the-art summary, site reports, and telephone interview summaries. The first section describes current classification instruments and practices that are employed at the stage of determining risk classification for institutionalized offenders. The site visit reports provide an indepth look at currently used instruments and how they operate in four specific agencies. Telephone interview summaries contain succinct descriptions of six agencies and their use of classification tools. The survey revealed that almost every institutional facility in the country classifies inmates according to risk, but relatively few use formal instruments in making custody-level decisions. Those that do report that instrument use has resulted in a trend toward less secure housing, fewer escapes and rule infractions, and greater consistency in custody-level assignments. Instruments developed for use in housing decisions are some of the best researched in the criminal justice system, and none of the agencies surveyed reported legal challenges implicating the instrument used for inmate classification is designed to evaluate five elements, including custody problem (physical risk the inmate presents), criminal sophistication, crime severity, abuse history, and legal restraints. Footnotes, tables, classification forms, and score sheets are included. For related documents, see NCJ 76058-59 and 76061-62.