2003: New Hampshire is a small, sparsely populated and primarily rural state of only about 1.2 million people. Almost 25 percent of the approximately 2,500 offenders incarcerated in the state are sex offenders. Of these, 451 will be eligible for parole between now and 2006. On average, there are 300 sex offenders on probation and 200 on parole at any given time. The New Hampshire Department of Corrections and the Statewide Steering Committee for Sex Offender Management began meeting regularly more than a year prior to applying for this grant and conducted an assessment of the state's sex offender management system. Several gaps within the state's law enforcement, judiciary, treatment, and supervision system(s), which represent barriers to the effective sentencing, treatment, and supervision of sex offenders in the state, were identified during the assessment process. As a result of these gaps, many offenders do not receive the assessment, treatment, or supervision services that will sufficiently ensure safety. Through this grant the project seeks to increase awareness and understanding throughout the criminal justice system regarding the dynamics of sex offending and address gaps in policy in practice as they relate to the processing of sex offender cases, treatment, supervision, and polygraph testing. It is estimated that this project will affect 3,700 misdemeanant and felony sex offenders statewide. The New Hampshire team is utilizing grant funds to readdress and validate its assessment findings and project goals, refine its strategies for accomplishing these goals, and develop sound evaluation methods for measuring progress in meeting these goals.
