Published on: October 7, 2026
A NABITA Tip of the Week by W. Scott Lewis, J.D.
College and school Behavioral Intervention Teams (BITs) devote significant time to assessing risk, yet many unintentionally undermine one of the most important parts of the process: documenting how risk changes over time.
Too often, teams overwrite a previous risk level with the current one. The spreadsheet, database, or case file reflects today’s assessment, erasing the path the team took to get there. That approach risks losing valuable information.
Risk assessment is not a single decision. It is an ongoing process. Every time your team discusses a case, gathers new information, or reassesses an individual’s circumstances, the current risk level should be documented, even if it doesn’t change.
Every Discussion Should Include a New Assessment
Best practice is to assign D- and E-Scale ratings each time you review a case. (If you have no idea what I mean, enroll in the NABITA Risk Rubric or the BIT Standards & Best Practices certification training.)
Each time a case is reviewed, new information may confirm the team’s original assessment. Or, it may increase the risk level. It may even reduce the risk level. Regardless of the outcome, the reevaluation itself should be documented. Think of every risk assessment as another chapter in the case history, not a replacement for the chapter before it. Charting shifting risk levels may reveal a clear trajectory over time, show cyclical triggers, or depict times of the year that experience recurrent risk spikes.
For example, a student may initially present with moderate concern. After additional outreach, behavioral observations, or review of available information, the team may determine that the individual presents a lower level of concern than originally believed. Conversely, new information may reveal escalating behaviors that warrant moving the case to an elevated risk level. Both outcomes are meaningful.
Simply leaving the previous rating in place or overwriting it with the new rating, without documenting that the team considered the new information, creates an incomplete record. If someone later asks how the team evaluated additional facts as they became available, you need a clear and legally defensible answer in the documentation.
Show Your Work
Good documentation is more than recordkeeping. It demonstrates professional judgment. If an institution later faces questions or litigation following failure to respond adequately to a significant incident, then investigators, attorneys, or regulators will not simply ask what the final risk level was. They will want to understand how the team reached its conclusions.
Documenting each reassessment allows the institution to show its work. It demonstrates that the team considered new information, discussed its significance, and made decisions based on the facts available at the time rather than hindsight. Without that history, it may appear that no reevaluation occurred.
Trends Matter
Tracking risk over time also helps teams recognize patterns that would otherwise be easy to miss. Some students experience recurring periods of distress connected to anniversaries of traumatic events, seasonal stressors, or other predictable life circumstances. Looking only at the current risk level obscures those patterns. Looking at the progression of documented assessments allows teams to anticipate recurring concerns and intervene proactively before situations escalate.
Likewise, documenting sustained improvement helps teams determine when a case can appropriately transition to inactive status. NABITA recommends moving a case to inactive status when the action items are complete for an individual and their risk has been reduced, likely to mild or moderate overall. That documented history helps demonstrate sustained improvement rather than simply an absence of new reports.
Your Documentation Should Tell the Story
Whether your institution uses a dedicated case management system or another documentation method, your records should reflect the case’s evolution. When documentation captures how risk changes over time, teams make better decisions, recognize emerging patterns, support appropriate case closure, and create a defensible record of thoughtful, consistent behavioral intervention.
Build Your Team’s Skills
Want to put these practices into action? Choose the NABITA training that best aligns with what your team needs:
To strengthen risk assessment, the NABITA Risk Rubric teaches practitioners to apply an objective rubric to standardize risk assessment and inform appropriate interventions.
To strengthen documentation and case management, BIT Standards and Best Practices (or K-12 Behavioral Threat Assessment and Management Standards and Best Practices) provide guidance to improve recordkeeping, documentation, case management, and other foundational proficiencies that support effective BIT operations.
Explore NABITA’s trainings to strengthen your team’s approach to assessing, documenting, and tracking risk over time.