Welcome to the What's New section of our web site -- where new site features and information will be highlighted. Find out about new events on our calendar and upcoming CSOM activities and publications.

Job Openings
The Center for Effective Public Policy, a small, expanding, non-profit criminal justice consulting firm is seeking to immediately fill two full-time positions, for the Center for Sex Offender Management (CSOM) project, in their Silver Spring, Maryland office (just outside of Washington, DC). The positions will be filled when the ideal candidate is identified and include:

• A Training Assistant who will provide support to the CSOM training initiative and assist with the development, dissemination, and delivery of a national training curriculum.

Please click on the above links for more information regarding these positions.

CSOM has identified five additional resource sites who have developed innovative sex offender management and supervision techniques.

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.