Identifying and Building the Capacity of Resource Sites

CSOM has identified nineteen jurisdictional, cross-disciplinary teams who have developed innovative sex offender management and supervision techniques. The project is assisting those sites to build their capacity to serve as resources for other jurisdictions who are interested in instituting successful, collaborative supervision programs.

Activities of the Resource Sites Initiatives

• CSOM has identified nineteen jurisdictions around the country who have developed innovative approaches to sex offender management. Each jurisdiction has developed its own strategy in a different way, resulting in an array of approaches.

• CSOM is inventorying, documenting, and analyzing the accomplishments of these sites and making available these learnings to others.

• CSOM is enabling these sites to share their experiences with the field through documentation of those experiences and a peer-to-peer training program.

• CSOM is assisting these sites to advance their own practices through the exploration of new initiatives, information sharing, training, and technical assistance.

Case Studies on CSOM's National Resource Sites, 2nd Edition, Revised (April 2001)

In an effort to highlight some of the most promising sex offender management practices in the nation, the Center for Sex Offender Management has developed case studies of CSOM's nineteen National Resource Sites. The case studies showcase the many unique strategies that the CSOM Resource Sites have implemented to effectively manage sex offenders under community supervision and offer the sites' experiences as lessons to other jurisdictions interested in learning more about how to establish or enhance their own sex offender management practices.

The Nineteen Current CSOM Resource Sites

• Dodge, Fillmore, and Olmsted County’s, Minnesota Sex Offender Unit provides specialized and comprehensive evaluation, supervision, and treatment services for adult and juvenile sex offenders, victims, family members, and communities. The unit has used an institutionalized approach to the collaborative case management of sex offenders for over seventeen years. Victim safety has long been a top priority, and Victim Service representatives serve critical roles as members of the case management team, as well as the Community Notification Committee and other partnerships.

• The Utah Juvenile Sex Offender Authority is dedicated to further developing a continuum of services for juvenile sex offenders. The site has implemented a comprehensive system for the assessment, management, and treatment of juvenile sex offenders. Standards for the treatment of juvenile sex offenders have been adopted from those set forth by the National Adolescent Perpetrator Network.

• The Navajo Nation in Tuba City, Arizona has developed a committee comprised of representatives from the Tribal Court, Tribal Probation, the Tribal Council, the Tribal Prosecutor’s office, law enforcement, mental health providers, local schools, child advocates, community members, and others to examine critically what resources are available to treat and supervise sex offenders and to provide restoration to victims of sexual assault. These entities work together on an ongoing basis in order to ensure that they are capitalizing on their resources in the most effective way possible in order to prevent future victimization.

• The Assiniboine-Sioux Tribes at Fort Peck, Montana convene Child Protection Team meetings at the local rape crisis center. Representatives from the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Tribal Court, Indian Health Services, the FBI, the Criminal Investigators, and others participate in these meetings, used mainly as a venue to discuss their sex offender cases and explore solutions to their common problems. The tribes’ approach is victim centered, and utilizes community education on an ongoing basis to encourage victims of sexual assault to report the crimes that have been perpetrated against them and seek assistance from the tribes’ extensive support network.

• Tarrant County, Texas established a council in 1981 that has implemented multi-disciplinary sex offender units in several criminal justice agencies; established a children’s advocacy program; developed treatment guidelines for perpetrators and victims of sexual assault; and have promoted consistently collaborative relationships among those responsible for the community management of sex offenders. Tarrant County also operates a “chaperone” program as part of their approach to sex offender management. Through this program, sex offenders identify significant others who agree to chaperone sex offenders while in public places. Chaperones are taught extensively about the dynamics of sex offending behavior, and trained to recognize and respond to the signs of relapse behavior.

• 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.

• Orange County, California has developed an intensive sex offender unit whose mission is to enhance public safety, provide victim protection, and promote victim reparation through a collaborative approach to managing sex offenders in the community. Orange County has also developed guidelines for sex offender treatment providers, which address treatment, modality, content, and duration. The approach holds as its chief values the prevention of victimization, the protection and recovery of victims, and the well being of the community, including the offender.

• Jackson County, Oregon is among the earliest programs (developed in 1982) to use a comprehensive, collaborative approach, involving treatment providers, community corrections, law enforcement, polygraphers, mental health and children's services, and prosecutors. Representatives from all of these disciplines participate in monthly collaborative meetings. Treatment is offered to the offender, the non-offending family members, and victims. The community corrections agency has also provided leadership across the state on community notification practices that promote public safety.

• In New Haven, Connecticut, there exists a unique collaboration between the Office of Adult Probation, the sex offender treatment provider, and a victims' advocate. The victim advocate, hired with Probation Department funds, serves as part of the sex offender supervision team. This effort builds on a collaborative model developed in another area of the state, and takes advantage of a previously established partnership among probation, police, treatment, and victim services concerning issues of community notification and officer safety. A researcher is documenting the outcomes of the efforts in both parts of the state.

• Maricopa County, Arizona has pioneered lifetime probation supervision, and was one of the first jurisdictions to use specialized caseloads, including intensive supervision, for sex offenders. There is extensive collaboration among probation, the court, the prosecutor's office, treatment providers, and law enforcement. The probation department has secured assistance from the National Institute of Justice to evaluate the effectiveness of their approach.

• The Wisconsin Sex Offender Treatment Network used the initial support of the Wisconsin Corrections Department to provide training to therapists from around the state. That training has helped to ensure the availability of specialized, professional treatment capacity across Wisconsin. The Network provides training for new professionals and continuing education and networking for Fellows of the Network.

• In Massachusetts, a group including the Parole Board, the Department of Correction, the Office of the Commissioner of Probation, and the Sex Offender Registry Board are working together to create a continuum of treatment and supervision for sex offenders throughout the criminal justice system. A single treatment provider is providing treatment within the institutions and training to parole officers who manage sex offenders. Researchers have been added to the institutional treatment staff to offer additional opportunities for program evaluation and the development of refined risk assessment instruments. The Parole Board has implemented an Intensive Parole Supervision Unit as a pilot program using a containment approach that combines treatment, supervision, and use of the polygraph.

• In Westchester County, New York, the Probation Department works closely with the court, the district attorney's office, and sex offender treatment providers. The department uses a supervision model based on 26 probation conditions imposed by the court at sentencing. These emphasize accountability and relapse prevention strategies, and are monitored by officers with caseloads kept at 35 per officer. Treatment groups are offered on-site at the department's offices.

• Jefferson County, Colorado is a rural district with the first juvenile sex offender probation unit in the state. This jurisdiction is developing the standards for juveniles 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.

• Chittenden County, Vermont was the first county to have an integrated and comprehensive statewide sex offender supervision and treatment program. It pioneered the use of relapse prevention with sex offenders in 1983, and currently has in place a continuum of prison and community based programs that match services to offender risk and need levels. A recent innovation is Vermont's use of trained community volunteers to provide support to offenders reintegrating into the community.

• In Washington County, Vermont, the Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services (SRS), Barre District, and the Washington County Mental Health Services (WCMHS) have partnered since 1993 to provide local individualized or “wraparound” supervision and treatment services for juveniles with sexual offending behaviors. The SRS is responsible for juvenile probation and contracts with WCMHS to provide therapeutic case management to these youth. WCMHS case managers maintain caseloads of up to six youths each; SRS caseloads are usually over 25 juveniles. In each case, a treatment team (consisting of a SRS worker, WCMHS case manager, sex offender treatment provider, substitute care providers, and others) is formed to assess risk of reoffense, come to consensus about needed supervision, create a treatment plan, and monitor the youth’s compliance with the plan. The treatment plan is strength-focused—all parties involved help the adolescents focus on and acknowledge their strengths, while addressing their specific problems and teaching them appropriate behavior.

• Spokane, Washington is noteworthy for the innovative leadership of law enforcement, particularly in the area of neighborhood supervision in conjunction with probation and community organizations. The Spokane Police Department, Department of Corrections, and community volunteers work closely on registration, community notification, and supervision issues.

• Johns Hopkins/National Institute for the Study, Prevention, and Treatment of Sexual Trauma represents the medical approach to the treatment of sex offenders. The Institute works closely with members of the defense bar representing offenders voluntarily seeking treatment prior to arrest or conviction, as well as with Federal probation providing treatment to their probationers.

• The Yankton-Sioux Tribe of South Dakota has formed a multi-disciplinary team including representatives from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Federal and Tribal Probation, Tribal Social Services, Indian Health Services, the tribal school system, law enforcement, victim advocates, and others that meet on a monthly basis to combat the many issues facing those responsible for the prevention, treatment, and supervision of sexual offenders.  The team is committed to coordinating services for victims of sexual assault, working together to prevent sexual abuse, and to promoting collaboration among those who manage sex offenders.