Overview
The ODARA is a 13 item actuarial instrument created by N. Zoe Hilton, Ph.D., and colleagues at the Mental Health Centre Penetanguishene, in collaboration with the Ontario Provincial Police, and first published in 2004 by N. Zoe Hilton, Grant T. Harris, Marnie E. Rice, Carol Lang, Catherine A. Cormier, and Kathryn J. Lines. The ODARA is primarily for use with adult men with a history of physical violence against an intimate partner and can also be used with adult women. The ODARA is one of the most widely used intimate partner violence risk assessment instruments in Canada and is extensively used in the United States and some European nations.
For coding questions on the ODARA, users should first consult the full scoring manual, available here:
- Domestic Violence Risk Assessment, 2nd edition, https://www.apa.org/pubs/books/domestic-violence-risk-assessment-second-edition
- Chapter 6, Scoring manual for the Ontario Domestic Assault Risk Assessment, can also be purchased separately for under $20 USD at https://psycnet.apa.org/PsycBOOKS/toc/17188
Users may also direct coding questions to an ODARA Independent Trainer found on this page [beginning Fall, 2025].
Free Webinars
Free online webinars on the Ontario Domestic Assault Risk Assessment (ODARA) and related content
Brief Overview of the Ontario Domestic Assault Risk Assessment (ODARA)
By Zoe Hilton. Hosted by Domestic Violence Resource for Increasing Safety and Connection (DV RISC)
June 2, 2022
Intimate Partner Violence: Treatment Needs and Evidence-Based Treatment Planning
By Zoe Hilton. University of Toronto Department of Psychiatry City-Wide Grand Rounds
February 24, 2023
Domestic Violence Risk Assessment: Stories and Algorithms
Dr. N. Zoe Hilton’s Professorial lecture, hosted by University of Toronto and Waypoint Centre for Mental Health Care.
November 7, 2022
Strategic Planning: Maine’s Roadmap to Implementing Risk Assessment
Recorded webinar by Faye Luppi, Esq., on Maine’s strategic planning process for selecting and implementing the Ontario Domestic Assault Risk Assessment (ODARA)
January 12, 2022
https://dvrisc.org/resource/strategic-planning-maines-roadmap-to-implementing-risk-assessment/
Policy and Practice
The full scoring manual should be used whenever scoring the ODARA. Do not rely on the ODARA scoring sheet.
The American Psychological Association (APA) holds the copyright to the ODARA scoring manual. Permission to reproduce these documents in whole or in part, such as in an offender records management system, requires the permission of the APA.
APA provides details on permissions policies and application forms and procedures at: https://www.apa.org/about/contact/copyright/seek-permission. The APA Copyright and Permissions Information can be found at: https://www.apa.org/about/contact/copyright.
Official translations of the ODARA exist in French [https://odara.waypointcentre.ca/] and German [https://www.knfp.ch/prognose/odara]. Official translations into other languages must be approved by a certified ODARA trainer fluent in the target language in a process which includes approval of the English back-translation by an ODARA Independent Trainer.
