Colorado

Training:

Provided a consultant to conduct a two-day supervision training to a multidisciplinary audience in Golden, Colorado, June 2005 (51 participants).

Delivered a training at the request of the Colorado State Court Administrator’s Office and the Colorado Sex Offender Management Board on the effective management of juvenile sex offenders in the community and the statewide standards that have been developed to manage this population to probation officers, treatment providers, judges, victim advocates, and others in Golden, Colorado, June 2002 (150 participants).

Provided staff and a consultant to make a presentation on sex offender treatment and the importance of collaboration at the request of the Sexual Assault Interagency Council in Denver, Colorado, September 1999 (75 participants).

Resource Sites:

The Colorado Sex Offender Management Board has developed statewide standards for the supervision of sex offenders. These standards include guidelines regarding the certification of treatment providers, polygraphers, and plethysmographers. The board has also developed standards for the management of developmentally delayed sex offenders and sex offenders who have been sentenced to lifetime probation.

Jefferson County established the first juvenile sex offender probation unit in the state. The jurisdiction has developed standards for juvenile sex offender management for use by other judicial districts in Colorado. The state is also doing extensive data collection in several sites, including this one, to test/validate seven different risk assessment instruments on sex offenders.

2004: Each year approximately 350 sex offenders return to the Denver metropolitan and El Paso County areas to begin parole, to enter community corrections programs or, for those offenders who have completed their sentences, to enter the community without supervision. A study published in July 2003 found that the recidivism rate among Colorado sex offenders is as high as 48% depending on the amount of treatment an offender received in prison. However, department data indicate the actual rates of reoffense are probably much higher. The Colorado Department of Corrections will engage in a comprehensive assessment of their sex offender management practices, work to identify strengths and needs in these practices, design and implement a strategy to address these needs, and evaluate the program's impact. Ultimately, the grant team seeks to enhance and improve the transition services available to sex offenders as they are released from Colorado's Sex Offender Treatment and Monitoring Program. The target community for this project will be the seven-county Denver-metropolitan area and El Paso County. The target area consists of cities and towns in rural and urban areas and is home to more than 60% of the state's population.

2003: The State of Colorado has a combination of urban, rural, and mountain communities. The rural portions of the eastern plains represent approximately 10% of the population, while the Front Range which runs through the middle of the state (including the Denver metro area) comprises 70% of the population. The mountain communities, which contain approximately 20% of the population, face unique transportation challenges in the winter when mountain passes are closed. There are 22 judicial districts, 64 counties, 178 school districts, and more than 300 law enforcement agencies with too few residential treatment facilities and foster homes. Through the grant program, the Colorado Division of Criminal Justice proposes to improve the management of juvenile sex offenders in the state. The Colorado Sex Offender Management Board (SOMB) was created over ten years ago to develop standards and guidelines for the management of sex offenders in the community. Most recently the SOMB has developed standards and guidelines for juveniles who have committed sexual offenses. Although there is support for the juvenile standards throughout the state, many communities are facing significant challenges to implementing them. Through this grant, jurisdictions are undergoing a structured cross-system analysis of their current sex offender management practices to identify gaps in implementing SOMB standards. Following the identification of jurisdictions' strengths and needs, grant funds will be used to assist local teams in starting collaborative meetings, developing jurisdiction-specific strategies, and developing performance measures to improve the management of juveniles who commit sexual offenses.

1999: Jefferson County is a suburban area west and south of Denver that covers 777 square miles. It is the most populated county in the state, with more than 500,000 residents. Funds from an implementation/enhancement grant were used to develop a more effective system to identify, intervene with, and manage juvenile sex offenders. Through the grant, three new staff positions were added. One position is a pretrial supervision officer who specializes in assessing and managing juveniles alleged to have committed sexual offenses. This officer works with juveniles from the time of their first police contact through the court process. Another position that was added is a probation officer who coordinates expanded community supervision teams in a school pilot project. The third position funded was a grant manager/research coordinator to administer the grant, collect data, and conduct analysis for evaluation purposes. The individuals serving in these positions also serve on a multidisciplinary collaborative working group that addresses intervention with juveniles who commit sexual offending behavior.