NCJ Number
157981
Date Published
1994
Length
140 pages
Annotation
This report describes existing sex offender treatment programs in Minnesota and examines State oversight of treatment programs by the Departments of Corrections and Human Services.
Abstract
The evaluation identified 70 programs in Minnesota that treat sex offenders, with three-fourths of them offering treatment on an outpatient basis. This report examines whether the number of reported sex crimes has changed in recent years, the characteristics of the crimes and the offenders who commit them, and the sanctions sex offenders typically receive. The evaluation also considers the treatment offenders typically receive and how much it costs, how programs assess amenability to treatment, the number of sex offenders that receive treatment, and the extent to which Minnesota's programs are consistent with national treatment standards. Other issues addressed are whether treatment programs are adequately overseen and coordinated by the Departments of Corrections and Human Services, what data programs keep to assess whether treatment works, and what is known about the effectiveness of sex offender treatment. To address these issues, the evaluation analyzed reported crime and conviction data and interviewed officials and staff from the Departments of Corrections and Human Services, community corrections administrators, probation officers, and other criminal justice professionals. Evaluation researchers also interviewed officials from sex offender treatment programs that operated in the fall of 1993, asking them to complete a short data form about each offender they treated in 1992. Finally, evaluators reviewed Minnesota and national studies of treatment effectiveness. 16 tables, 22 references, and appended supplementary information