---
kind: "section"
citation: "18 U.S.C. § 3635"
title: "18"
title_heading: "Crimes and Criminal Procedure"
number: "3635"
heading: "Definitions"
release: "119-102"
date: "2026-07-12"
url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/18/3635"
units:
  - "Part II — Criminal Procedure"
  - "Chapter 229 — Postsentence Administration"
  - "Subchapter D — Risk and Needs Assessment System"
---

# §3635. Definitions


In this subchapter the following definitions apply:

- (1) **Dyslexia.—** The term “dyslexia” means an unexpected difficulty in reading for an individual who has the intelligence to be a much better reader, most commonly caused by a difficulty in the phonological processing (the appreciation of the individual sounds of spoken language), which affects the ability of an individual to speak, read, and spell.
- (2) **Dyslexia screening program.—** The term “dyslexia screening program” means a screening program for [dyslexia](#1) that is—
  - (A) evidence-based (as defined in section 8101(21) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 ([20 U.S.C. 7801(21)](/usc/20/7801.md?p=21))) with proven psychometrics for validity;
  - (B) efficient and low-cost; and
  - (C) readily available.
- (3) **Evidence-based recidivism reduction program.—** The term “evidence-based recidivism reduction program” means either a group or individual activity that—
  - (A) has been shown by empirical evidence to reduce recidivism or is based on research indicating that it is likely to be effective in reducing recidivism;
  - (B) is designed to help [prisoners](#4) succeed in their communities upon release from prison; and
  - (C) may include—
    - (i) social learning and communication, interpersonal, anti-bullying, rejection response, and other life skills;
    - (ii) family relationship building, structured parent-child interaction, and parenting skills;
    - (iii) classes on morals or ethics;
    - (iv) academic classes;
    - (v) cognitive behavioral treatment;
    - (vi) mentoring;
    - (vii) substance abuse treatment;
    - (viii) vocational training;
    - (ix) faith-based classes or services;
    - (x) civic engagement and reintegrative community services;
    - (xi) a prison job, including through a prison work program;
    - (xii) victim impact classes or other restorative justice programs; and
    - (xiii) trauma counseling and trauma-informed support programs.
- (4) **Prisoner.—** The term “prisoner” means a person who has been sentenced to a term of imprisonment pursuant to a conviction for a Federal criminal [offense](/usc/18/3156.md?p=a-2), or a person in the custody of the Bureau of Prisons.
- (5) **Productive activity.—** The term “productive activity” means either a group or individual activity that is designed to allow [prisoners](#4) determined as having a minimum or low risk of recidivating to remain productive and thereby maintain a minimum or low risk of recidivating, and may include the delivery of the programs described in [paragraph (1)](#1)[^1] to other [prisoners](#4).
- (6) **Risk and needs assessment tool.—** The term “risk and needs assessment tool” means an objective and statistically validated method through which information is collected and evaluated to determine—
  - (A) as part of the intake process, the risk that a [prisoner](#4) will recidivate upon release from prison;
  - (B) the recidivism reduction programs that will best minimize the risk that the [prisoner](#4) will recidivate upon release from prison; and
  - (C) the periodic reassessment of risk that a [prisoner](#4) will recidivate upon release from prison, based on factors including indicators of progress and of regression, that are dynamic and that can reasonably be expected to change while in prison.

## Footnotes

[^1]: So in original. Probably should be “paragraph (3)”.

## Source credit

(Added Pub. L. 115–391, title I, § 101(a), Dec. 21, 2018, 132 Stat. 5207.)