ADULT SEX OFFENDER MANAGEMENT PROGRAM - 6TH JUDICIAL DISTRICT

Goals/Purposes:

The primary purpose of the district's sex offender management program is to ensure public safety.  This is achieved through adherence to the guidelines for the supervision and management of sex offenders established by the Colorado Sex Offender Management Board.

The Probation Department endeavors to meet the primary goal above through the following specific activities:

• Initial Risk Assessment and Evaluation:  The Probation Department advises the Court after an offender has pled guilty or been found guilty, and before he/she is sentenced, as to whether the Department can manage the offender safely in the community.  Assessment and evaluation is driven by the "Risk, Needs, and Responsivity" principles which were first elucidated by James Bonta and Don Andrews, and which have been found to be effective in the selection of interventions to reduce offender recidivism.  The model advocates the use of empirical research to identify "criminogenic" risk factors most strongly related to recidivism; and to address those factors through treatment and other interventions ("criminal needs") in a manner suited to offender learning and other characteristics ("responsivity").
• Ongoing Risk Assessment and Evaluation:  The Probation Officer engages in ongoing assessment, utilizing valid and reliable risk assessment instruments including the SONAR, throughout the course of probation supervision.
• Sex Offense Specific Treatment:  An offender must complete a thorough course of sex offense specific treatment, as defined by the Colorado Sex Offender Management Board, to successfully complete his/her term of probation supervision.  Adult treatment typically requires a minimum of four years, depending on the effort made by the offender, and includes work on assumption of accountability, completion of a history of acts of sexual misconduct, identification and revision of cognitive distortions and deviant sexual arousal, empathy training, social skills training, development of pro-social interests, social networks, and activities, and other treatment modules.  All adult sex offenders, upon completion of sex offender treatment, remain in an aftercare program throughout the remainder of their probation sentence.
• Ancillary Treatment: An offender may need to engage in other types of treatment, such as substance abuse treatment or mental health treatment, to reduce risk, depending on needs identified through evaluation and assessment.
• Polygraphy: Adult sex offenders are required by state standards to undergo polygraph examination at least every six months during the course of probation supervision, to ensure compliance with probation terms and conditions, to clarify specific questions about past or current behaviors, and to ensure complete disclosure of sexual misconduct prior to placement on probation.
• Monitoring of Compliance with Terms and Conditions of Probation:  Adult sex offenders must follow 17 standard terms and conditions of probation, and an additional 24 terms and conditions of probation specific to sex offenders.  These conditions include avoidance of minors and places or events where minors congregate; treatment responsibilities; computer use restrictions; requirements for genetic marker testing and sex offender registration; requirements for informing the supervising probation officer regarding relationship, employment, and residential status; and others.  Monitoring frequently includes curfew requirements or requirements for an offender to call in his/her location/activities.  It also includes face to face contact at the Probation Department, or at various other sites including work sites or home.
• Community Supervisor Program:  The Probation Department and the local treatment provider, in conjuction, provide quarterly Community Supervisor Trainings for members of an offender's support network (e.g. spouses, adult children, ministers, employers, friends, etc.).  These individuals, after successfully completing the training, are then designated as "community supervisors" for the offender, and may accompany the offender to events such as church services, shopping, or entertainment activities, while ensuring the offender's compliance with supervision conditions.
• Registration:  All adult sex offenders are required by state statute to register as sex offenders throughout their terms of probation supervision, and for varying periods of time after completion of probation, subject to state statute and judicial review.

The Sixth Judicial District Probation Department created specialized services for domestic violence cases in 1998, through a Violence Against Women Act grant program.  Services included free domestic violence offender evaluation within the probation department.  The local system was superseded by new treatment standards at the state level; however pre-sentence investigations, which include evidence-based risk assessment and management, continue to be provided for all domestic violence cases.  For additional information about state requirements for the management of domestic violence offenders, please see the Colorado Domestic Violence Offender Management Board website at https://dcj.colorado.gov/dcj-offices/odvsom/homepage.

Useful Public Service Program - La Plata County

Program Purposes and Goals:

The Useful Public Service Program is a form of "restorative justice," in which offenders are given an opportunity to participate in productive activities that not only benefit the community at large, but also aim to forge a stronger connection between the offender and the community.  The program places and supervices offenders who have been ordered by the Courts to perform public service pursuant to Colorado Revised Statutes.  Public service is a sentencing alternative which my be imposed by the Courts as a condition of probation, or in some instances, in lieu of jail time.

Program Registration:

When an offender is sentenced to complete Useful Public Service, he or she must report to the Useful Public Service office in the courthouse in order to register and to obtain a work assignment.  Intake interviews are conducted in and effort to obtain a better understanding of the offender's interests and of any special skills the offender may be able to offer to the community.  All participants are assessed a fee by the Court which assists in the maintenance of the program, and which provides a medical and liability policy for the participant during the performance of public service.

Program Opportunities:

The 6th Judicial District's Useful Public Service Office maintans contact with over fifty nonprofit organizations as well as with government agencies, churches, Native American organizations, and school districts in need of volunteer services.  In addition, the office has implemented a variety of innovative programs to address the needs of elderly, disabled, and financially strained individuals in the county.  For example, the Useful Public Service Firewood Program allows offenders to deliver cords of week to those in need, in an effort to offset rising heating costs.  Additionally, local nonprofits can contact the Useful Public Service Office if they become aware of individuals with specific needs for help with chores such as moving, cleaning, or snow-shoveling.