Sex Offender Placement in Our Communities

1. Sex Offender Placement in Our Communities Monroe County Probation NYSAC February 10, 2009

2. Sex Offender PSI • Presentence Investigations (PSI) • Assist Judge in making sentencing decision • State Mandated (but only 15% funded) • Enhanced Sex Offender PSI (in jeopardy per State Aid cuts) • One (1) Probation Officer (2008 = 136 enhanced PSI) • Detailed interview regarding sexual history • Investigate computer use, pornography history etc • Home/neighborhood visit (children? items used to attract children? Day Care or schools in neighborhood? vehicles used by defendant etc)

3. Enhanced PSI (cont.) • Extended Victim Impact process • More sensitive letter to victim & multiple attempts at victim contact • Where plea bargain, explain probation conditions, restrictions, treatment, GPS etc. • Addendum for Sex Offender Registration Act determination (assist Judge with Risk Assessment) • Check Email, MySpace, Facebook etc. names & info

4. SORA Risk Assessment

5. Probation Supervision • Seven (7) Probation Officer Sex Offender Specialists (in jeopardy due to State Aid cuts) • Enhanced Conditions of Probation • Specialized treatment (limited to 2 agencies) • No contact <17 • Disclosure to landlord, employer, school administration, those with whom intimate etc • No pornography, no social networking, no internet w/o Probation Officer approval. • No cell phone w/camera, no camcorder, no 900 calls • No children’s clothing, toys etc; • No law enforcement clothing • No post office box • Polygraph examinations • Regular Police Collaboration

6. Supervision (cont.) • GPS/Sex Offender Pilot (state $ in jeopardy) • Global Position System (GPS) on all sex offenders until stable; all SORA 3 • Exclusion zones • Real-time monitoring - Probation & 911 Center; ‘Crime Scene Inquiry’ • Probation Officer teams: nights/weekends, immediate response to alerts, surveillance, home visits, victim safety checks, Order of Protection checks etc

7. Sex Offender Housing – State Mandates • 2006: Penal Law 65.10(4a) – Mandated Probation Condition • Where victim is <18, refrain from knowingly entering area 1,000 from school ground etc. (with some exceptions) • 9/17/07: Supreme Court ruling permits ‘…innocent transit in a moving vehicle within 1,000 foot public area around school grounds…’

8. Sex Offender Housing – State Mandates (cont.) • 2008: Executive Law 243(4) -- Requires State Probation Director to establish rules for local Probation regarding SORA Level 2 or 3 housing (‘instruct local probation’) • Draft Probation Rule 365 -- Where SORA 2 or 3 sentenced to Probation, an investigation shall consider: • Concentration of sex offenders in certain area or municipality • The number of sex offenders at a specific property. • Proximity of vulnerable populations • Accessibility to family, friends, sex offender treatment etc • Availability of permanent housing

9. Sex Offender Housing – State Mandates (cont.) • Draft Rule 365 – Local Probation should consider… • Victim address, age, relationship • Known Orders of Protection • Known presence of persons <18 in residence • Local Probation should summarize findings and make recommendation to Court as to appropriateness of residence • Same rules apply when probationers seek change of address

10. State Mandates – Local Challenges • Lawmaker intent genuine & understandable – protect children • But, not developed by practitioners (police, probation, DA, sex offender treatment specialists) • Judges didn’t ask for this additional guidance or task • Not evidence-based, as State agencies now demand of local government when applying for grant funding • SORA imperfect… • Complicated & confusing to public • Level 1, 2, 3; Sexually Violent Offender; Predicate Sex Offender; Sexual Predator • Plea bargains • SORA Level 2 & 3 misleading – many lower level sex offenders at higher risk • Recent AP article – not a deterrent

11. State Mandates – Local Challenges (cont.) • 1,091 Registered Day Care Providers in Monroe County (OCFS) • Unknown thousands of unregistered day care providers • 22 School Districts in Monroe County • 120 individual schools just in the City of Rochester

12. State Mandates – Local Challenges (cont.) • 316+ sex offenders on probation in Monroe County • Most sex offenders reside in City of Rochester • Residency restrictions promote relocation to suburban/rural – less concentration of offenders and ‘vulnerable populations’

13. Sex Offender ProbationersFebruary 3, 2009

14. State Mandates – Local Challenges (cont.) • Sex Offender residence restriction – unreasonable task for local Probation • Most probationers already residing at, or returning to, their own residence upon sentencing, not looking for housing…decisions relate to removing the probationer from his home • Most victims are family members or associated, but… • Other offenders are best monitored if they can remain in their family • Sex Offender treatment programs are near schools & day care centers • Probation offices are near schools & day care centers • Court is near schools and day care centers (Day Care inside some Courthouses)

15. State Mandates – Local Challenges (cont.) • Examples of Concentration (1) Registered centers only (2) Probationers only, not including parolees or Registered Sex Offenders not under supervision

16. State Mandates – Local Challenges (cont.) • How many sex offenders = ‘too many’? • Rare cooperative landlord, resulting in several sex offenders residing in same building • Vulnerable entity definition -- no common agreement • Penal Law 220 (drug free school zones) • Original DPCA definition (colleges, nursing homes, places of worship etc)

17. State Mandates – Local Challenges (cont.) • Local Probation agencies in peril – State Aid reduced from 46.5% to current 15% while state mandates expand • Vacant Probation Officer positions, mandated overtime, high caseloads, Probation Officers perform data entry & prepare court reports • New Law/Rule creates: • Need for home visit where none was required before • Additional interview items for Investigating Probation Officer • Additional report to the Court

18. Case Example • Bi-polar male, convicted in Texas of attack on 14-year old neighbor while residing alone and while ‘off meds’ • Transfer to Monroe County to reside with parents in affluent suburb; classified SORA Level 3; stable when in treatment, on meds, with full time job and supervised by Probation and his parents; no problems since his move to Monroe County • Private day care opens in residence just behind probationer’s family home; neighbors demand ouster & contact media • Relocated to a series of motels, moving each time other motel tenants complained or where children moved in…continues to reside alone in motel room; stable, but risk is higher due to lack of permanent housing

19. Monroe County Reentry Task Force • Sex Offenders released from prison – greater challenge • Same 2008 sex offender housing law to State Parole (impact on County Social Services Commissioners also) • Lack of housing prompts extensive use of emergency housing facilities ($42/day public cost) • Risk remains high due to unstable housing & residing in proximity of other sex offenders

20. Solutions? • Stabilize State Aid to Probation – allow local Probation to adhere effectively to state mandates and reduce sex offender caseloads to allow intensive intervention; or, implement a moratorium on all new mandates • Restore GPS/Sex Offender funding for pilot counties (Monroe, Onondaga, Rensselaer, Westchester…) • State Parole, Probation, Reentry take the lead in identifying safe, secure, stable permanent housing for sex offenders.

21. Questions? Bob Burns, Probation Administrator Monroe County Office of Probation – Community Corrections 33 N. Fitzhugh St, Suite 2000 Rochester, NY 14614-1233 585 753-3765 rburns@monroecounty.gov