CENTER FOR SEX OFFENDER MANAGEMENT
The Effective Management of Juvenile Sex Offenders in the Community
A Training Curriculum

 A Project of the Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice

 

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Section 1: Introduction
1 Hour

TOPIC: INTRODUCTION

Learning Activity: Introduction of Faculty and Participants
(30 minutes)

The facilitator or lead trainer should introduce the faculty and/or invite them to introduce themselves, and include their experience in working in the field of sex offender management and with juveniles in particular.

Ask each participant to consider one word that describes their experience or perception of working with juvenile sex offenders.

Participants should then introduce themselves by providing their name, the nature of their job, their experience in sex offender supervision, treatment, victim advocacy, or other fields, and their expectations of the training. Participants should then share the word they would use to describe their experience or perception of working with juvenile sex offenders.

The Framework for the Training

Note to Trainers: Under the most ideal circumstances, the training audience will be multidisciplinary in nature, and participants will represent a range of professionals involved in juvenile sex offender management (e.g., court personnel, treatment providers, juvenile probation/parole officers, victim advocates, school personnel). In the event that the participants represent a single discipline, it will be important to acknowledge that they represent only one aspect of the juvenile sex offender management process.

Now that you’ve gotten to know each other a little bit, it should be apparent that some of you have different roles and responsibilities in the management of juvenile sex offenders. And that highlights an important point: that this work is complex. It involves multiple agencies and multiple professionals, each of whom is responsible for specific and often unique functions and activities. In years past—and even in some jurisdictions today—these agencies and professionals did not (and do not) work closely with one another. Instead, they “did their own thing” and did not always concern themselves with the work of the other agencies and professionals. It may be that different agency missions, confidentiality limits, limited understanding of one another’s roles, and even “turf” issues contributed to the tendency to operate in isolation.

However, it is generally agreed that no single agency, entity, or individual can or should assume full responsibility for the complexities of juvenile sex offender management—nor are they likely to be effective on their own. Rather, the roles and responsibilities of each agency or individual tends to be interdependent and synergistic. When each of these roles and responsibilities is integrated into a more comprehensive approach, and one in which a shared vision and common goals exist, resources and outcomes can be maximized.

As I mentioned at the beginning of this section, we will use this kind of integrated and comprehensive approach as a primary foundation for this training. One well known, innovative, and influential model is known as the Containment Approach.² This model emphasizes the importance of multi–agency collaboration, and suggests that sex offenders can be more effectively managed through the close working relationships and information–sharing between treatment providers, supervision officers, and polygraph examiners. In a similar vein, the Comprehensive Approach to Sex Offender Management suggests that several elements are critical to the sex offender management process, and that a range of entities play important roles in these efforts.

Generally speaking, the Comprehensive Approach is designed to answer three primary questions:

• Starting from the moment that a disclosure of juvenile–perpetrated sexual abuse is made or a victim is identified, what are the critical activities and processes—or key components—that are necessary to facilitate juvenile sex offender management effectively?
• Who are the various stakeholders that must be involved?
• How should professionals approach their work? In other words, what are the key tenets or principles that underlie what they do?

Starting with the “how” question, the Comprehensive Approach is driven by five fundamental guiding principles (you will see these listed in the center “bubble” of slide number seven):

• Victim–Centeredness: This means that we cannot simply be offender–focused in our work. For every juvenile offender, there is at least one victim. So although a primary focus of our work is to prevent further victimization, promote public safety, and assist these youth with leading productive, crime–free lives, it is equally important to attend to the needs and interests of the victims.
• Specialized Knowledge: Although working with youthful sex offenders is similar in some ways to working with other juveniles in our justice system, there are important differences as well. Therefore, to be most effective, professionals in this field must possess specialized knowledge about juvenile sex offenders, victims, and effective interventions for this special population.
• Public Education: As you know, sexual victimization is a significant concern in our country. In fact, it is considered to be a public health problem. Much like other public health issues—such as tobacco use, drinking and driving, risk sexual behaviors that lead to HIV/AIDS—a key to prevention involves an informed public. Dispelling myths and misperceptions about these youth and their victims, while providing information about effective management (and prevention) strategies is a critical piece of the puzzle.
• Monitoring and Evaluation: In today’s day and age, the concept of evidence–based practices has become very important. This means that, ideally, what we do is based on the best available research on what works—and what doesn’t work. We must monitor and evaluate our practices to make sure that what we are doing has the desired impact. And if we find that what we are doing isn’t effective, we must be willing to refine and adjust our practices.
• Collaboration: As I have mentioned already, collaboration is vital to effectively managing this population. The sharing of information and resources, as well as having a common goal of preventing further victimization, among all of the agencies that work with sex offenders and their victims, is critical to ensure a more comprehensive, consistent, efficient, and effective approach. With juvenile sex offenders, key stakeholders should include—but not be limited to—supervision officers, treatment providers, victim advocates, judges, prosecutors and defense attorneys, law enforcement officers, school officials, and family members, among others.

These core tenets or principles represent the “underpinnings” of the Comprehensive Approach. These guiding principles should be considered and incorporated into all of the operational components of sex offender management, which are outlined next.

The “who” and “what” questions of the Comprehensive Approach are answered through an examination of the key components, represented in this graphic by the “bubbles” on the perimeter. Those components or elements, which are interrelated in many ways, are:

• Investigation/Adjudication/Disposition;
• Assessment;
• Treatment;
• Supervision;
• Reentry;
• Registration; and
• Community Notification.

And as you’ve seen in the outline of the curriculum sections, we will be focusing on each of these components in more detail throughout the course of this training, with the exception of the investigation, adjudication, and disposition component. That’s primarily because, as I mentioned earlier, this training is focused on managing youth who have already been adjudicated. Suffice it to say that, without careful investigations, victim–sensitive court processes, appropriately crafted sentences, and informed prosecutors, defense attorneys, and judges, our ability to manage these cases effectively will be hampered.

In closing, all of the agencies who work with offenders, victims, families, and the community at large have a role to play in the effective management of this population. Each entity brings a unique perspective to—and responsibility for—working toward the prevention of further victimization. I’m looking forward to discussing with you some promising ideas about the “what, how, and who” of juvenile sex offender management, and I hope that this brief introduction has provided you with a good idea of what we will be covering from this point forward.

Does anyone have any questions about what we have discussed so far?

Let’s now move on to the Overview section.