Part V.

Knowledge Dissemination

The Development of Resource Materials

Many working groups recommended that the Office of Justice Programs fund the development of written materials in order to disseminate existing knowledge. The terms "manual," "source book," and "a set of briefing papers" or "fact sheets" surfaced repeatedly within these recommendations. Several working groups suggested that the Office of Justice Programs develop these materials and distribute them through the national professional associations. Summit participants suggested that these source materials be developed on the topics listed below:

• The collaborative process. This document would describe the collaborative process in terms of the roles various actors play and how to engage these individuals in a collaborative process. One working group specifically recommended the inclusion of information on the most effective ways to involve victims and recovering offenders in the process.
• Confidentiality.
• A synthesis of current research and practice. Some working groups described this as a short document that takes a case study-approach that illustrates what is working, for whom, and why. Others described this as a "state of the art" document that describes the state of knowledge and research. Other groups recommended that through this process, a state of the art model be developed and described.
• Risk assessment. Several groups suggested a document that describes the state of the research on risk assessment and risk assessment instruments, written specifically for judges, attorneys, and other criminal justice practitioners (i.e., non-researchers). One working group was even more specific, recommending a document that describes risk assessment instruments and other psychological tests, written specifically for judges and attorneys, to enable these consumers to evaluate individual examiner's procedures when they are described or presented.
• Terminology. Create a manual of terms that advances a universal language in this field.

The Development of Protocols, Guidelines and Standards

In addition to the written materials described above, a number of working groups recommended the promulgation of standards and guidelines for the field. Those recommendations include:

• The development of model legislation/laws. It was recommended that a group of legislators, lawyers, civil liberty representatives and policymakers be convened to draft model legislation/laws that are constitutionally sound and respond to the complexity of both adult and juvenile sex offenders.
• The development of guidelines for the use of the polygraph, including emerging policies and procedures.
• The development of a training curriculum to be disseminated nationally and used in a variety of training settings.
• Most notable and frequent was the suggestion that a set of nationwide standards of practice be developed, to include standards for supervision of sex offenders and standards for treatment providers. At least one working group suggested that a set of licensing criteria be established for treatment providers. Several groups suggested that standards be developed to use as criteria for the selection of appropriate treatment providers for sex offenders.