JUSTICE DEPARTMENT AWARDS $3.2 MILLION TO COMMUNITIES

FOR SEX OFFENDER MANAGEMENT

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Twenty-eight state, local and tribal jurisdictions will be better able to monitor sex offenders who are released from prisons into their communities as a result of $3.2 million in grant funding announced today by the Justice Department. This is the first year that communities will receive grants under the Comprehensive Approaches to Sex Offender Management Program, administered by the Department's Violence Against Women Office (VAWO).

"One of the issues facing communities is the return of sex offenders following their release from incarceration," said Attorney General Janet Reno. "These funds will help enable many parts of the system to work together to develop and implement programs to effectively supervise offenders and counsel victims."

Fifteen of the 28 awards are planning grants to assist jurisdictions in developing comprehensive, collaborative approaches to managing sex offenders. The remaining 13 grants will help communities implement such strategies or enhance current programs.

"We know that about 234,000 convicted sex offenders are under the care, custody or control of corrections agencies on an average day, and nearly 60 percent are under conditional supervision in the community," said Laurie Robinson, Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Justice Programs (OJP), which includes VAWO. "We must develop ways to better manage these offenders, so they can live in communities without posing a danger to other community members."

Grant funds will be used to develop teams of representatives from law enforcement, prosecution, courts, corrections, probation, social services and victim organizations to identify strengths and weaknesses in sex offender management systems and assess the staff and equipment necessary to identify, track and treat sex offenders. Planning funds will also be used to gauge the need for training probation officers and other criminal justice personnel, treatment providers and victim advocates about sex offender management.

"The program involves victim advocacy organizations in the development of policies that guide probation and parole agencies' management of sex offenders," said Bonnie Campbell, Director of VAWO. "Victims play a key role not only in holding offenders accountable, but also in finding ways to help themselves and the community heal."

Connecticut will use its funds to hire a victim advocate and a relapse prevention officer to enhance the New London Sex Offender Unit. In Clark County, Nevada, the Department of Family and Youth Services will develop specialized services for juvenile sex offenders, including year-round supervision, community residential treatment and education programs.

Iowa's Department of Correctional Services will use its grant funds to enhance accountability of sex offenders through home visits and surveillance by department staff and provide treatment and counseling to offenders and victims.

The Washington State Department of Corrections will use its grant funds to support local multidisciplinary teams to address the re-entry of sex offenders into the community. They will develop strategic plans to ensure adequate community support services, prepare the community and decrease recidivism among offenders.

In Fiscal Year 1999, Congress appropriated $5 million for sex offender management initiatives. Three million was set aside for the Comprehensive Approaches to Sex Offender Management Grants. VAWO received 65 applications requesting $9.3 million and is awarding 28 grants totaling $3.2 million based on decisions guided by a peer-review process. Remaining funds will be used for training and technical assistance for the grantees and other interested jurisdictions across the country and will be administered by the Center for Sex Offender Management in Silver Spring, Maryland.

Attached is a list of the specific grant awards, identified as either planning or implementation/enhancement grants. More information about the sex offender management program and violence against women efforts can be found at VAWO's Website at www.ojp.usdoj.gov/VAWGO or OJP's Website at www.ojp.usdoj.gov, or by calling the National Criminal Justice Reference Service toll-free on 1-800/851-3420.

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VAW99196

After hours contact: Linda Mansour on 202/616-3534 or page on 202/516-6843

STATE	JURISDICTION	GRANTEE	AMOUNT
ARKANSAS	Little Rock	University of Arkansas	$49,862
CALIFORNIA	San Diego	San Diego County Probation Department	$50,000
	San Luis Obispo	San Luis Obispo County Probation	$49,948
IDAHO	Boise	Idaho Department of Juvenile Corrections	$49,862
MARYLAND	Baltimore	Baltimore City Division of Probation and Parole	$49,951
NEW JERSEY	Trenton	New Jersey Department of Corrections	$43,883
NEW YORK	New York	City of New York	$50,000
	Oswego	Oswego County Probation Department	$49,908
	Kingston	Ulster County Probation Department	$44,255
OHIO	Cleveland	Cuyahoga County Board of Commissioners	$50,000
	Dayton	Montgomery County Board of County Commissioners	$47,780
RHODE ISLAND	Providence	Rhode Island Governor's Justice Commission	$37,670
SOUTH DAKOTA	Marty	Yankton Sioux Tribe	$50,000
WEST VIRGINIA	Charleston	West Virginia Division of Corrections	$50,000
WISCONSIN	Oneida	Oneida Tribe of Indians	$50,000
TOTAL	15	15	$723,119

OFFICE OF JUSTICE PROGRAMS

COMPREHENSIVE APPROACHES TO

SEX OFFENDER MANAGEMENT GRANT PROGRAM

FY 1999 IMPLEMENTATION/ENHANCEMENT GRANTS

STATE	JURISDICTION	GRANTEE	AMOUNT
COLORADO	Golden	Jefferson County	$182,198
CONNECTICUT	Hartford	Office of Planning and Management	$249,274
IOWA	Des Moines	Iowa Fifth Judicial District's Department of Correctional Services	$216,081
NEVADA	Las Vegas	Clark County Department of Family and Youth Services	$225,000
STATE	JURISDICTION	GRANTEE	AMOUNT
NEW YORK	White Plains	Westchester County Probation Department	$250,000
OHIO	Columbus	Franklin County Court of Common Pleas	$181,597
OREGON	Grants Pass	Josephine County Community Corrections	$173,490
	Portland	Multnomah County Department of Community Justice	$249,937
SOUTH CAROLINA	Columbia	South Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice	$136,973
TEXAS	Houston	Harris County Judicial District Community Supervision and Corrections	$72,800
VERMONT	Waterbury	State of Vermont Department of Corrections	$185,505
WASHINGTON	Olympia	Washington Department of Corrections	$124,939
WISCONSIN	Milwaukee	Milwaukee County Mental Health Division	$248,236
TOTAL	13	13	$2,496,030

October 1999