NCJ Number
194263
Date Published
2002
Length
12 pages
Annotation
This paper discusses critical issues in the management of sex-offender employment, and it reviews research findings on offender employment, with attention to the importance of employment in the sex offender's life.
Abstract
Structured, full-time employment is a cornerstone of nearly all community supervision programs for offenders, especially for sex offenders. Acquiring appropriate employment for sex offenders presents formidable obstacles, since many employers are reluctant to hire sex offenders because of the stigma that follows them and the restrictive special conditions of their supervision. Community supervision officers must carefully monitor sex offenders in their work-related activities to ensure they do not have opportunities to reoffend. Supervision agencies must determine how to manage sex offenders on the job in a way that adequately restricts offenders, protects the public, and simultaneously promotes successful offender reintegration. Outreach to employers can identify businesses in the community that are willing to hire sex offenders and provide supervising officers with useful information about offender behavior. Essential components of an intensive program to manage sex offenders employed in the community are the integration of supervision strategies with the provision of job search assistance, a thorough assessment of potential job placements, case-by-case placement decisions, routine employer communications, and regular monitoring of offender employment. The details of these elements of sex-offender employment supervision are discussed in this paper. 9 resources and 8 references