Ottawa gives $7.48M for sex offender reintegration program

5-8-17 Canada:

Circles of Support and Accountability, which helps reintegrate sexual offenders after they're released from jail, will receive $7.48M from Public Safety Canada.

A Canadian initiative that helps reintegrate convicted sexual offenders back into society — an approach that cuts recidivism rates by anywhere from 67 to 92 per cent — has been granted $7.48 million in funding by the federal government.

Circles of Support and Accountability, which has 14 sites across the country, will received the money over five years to fund its National Capacity Project, Public Safety Canada said in a press release Friday.

The previous Conservative government had scrapped funding for all but one CoSA site in 2015, leaving the rest to scramble for other sources of income.

“Re-establishing funding for this important Canadian-made program demonstrates our commitment to evidence-based criminal justice policy,” Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Minister Ralph Goodale said in the release.

“This project will help reduce victimization and keep our communities safe by holding ex-offenders accountable for their actions and giving them the support they need to become responsible and productive members of society.” ..Continued.. by Jackie HongStaff Reporter

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Scheme Launched To Prevent Sex Offenders Re-Offending

5-30-2013 United Kingdom:

VOLUNTEERS are needed for a scheme which holds convicted sex offenders to account and radically reduces re-offending.

The Circles of Support and Accountability scheme is run across England and Wales and was launched in 2002. Since then it has supported 160 offenders - none of whom have committed a contact sexual offence while working with Circles.

Cambridgeshire MAPPA (Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements) which includes representatives from police, probation, the prison service, local authorities and health, is now hoping to set up the county's first scheme in Peterborough.

Assistant Chief Constable Mark Hopkins, MAPPA Chair, said: "Introducing the Circles scheme is about strengthening our ability to reintegrate sex offenders safely into the community.

"This is not about reducing the work of MAPPA but adding another asset to our management of offenders.

"The scheme has already proved very successful in areas of the UK and we are keen to begin this work in Cambridgeshire."

Circles trains a small group of volunteers to meet regularly with a convicted sex offender to provide support and share risk information with the authorities.

All volunteers must pass an assessment centre, are provided with training and managed by Circles East. The process is supported by professionals from MAPPA.

Mr Hopkins added: "A key factor in re-offending is social isolation and loneliness and it's therefore important that we manage the needs of offenders in enabling them to safely reintegrate into the community.

"This, of course, must take into account the needs of victims and the community and is overseen by professionals and volunteers."

Circles East of England co-ordinator, Annabel Francis said: "Circles of Support and Accountability is a brave community response to the very serious problem of sexual abuse in our communities.

"Our volunteers make a real difference in offenders' lives. And, in doing so, prevent women and children from becoming victims." ..Source..

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Find a better way to keep our children safe

5-16-2013 Australia:

SEX offenders are seen by the community as the scum of the Earth. They are considered to be monsters, people who should be abandoned by the community, locked up for a very long time, placed on a sex offenders register and, if they are ever released, monitored for life.

Recently, we read in the Herald Sun that new technology will mean that these heinous offenders will have tracking devices attached to them, so if they're not in jail, "we" know where they are.

But is there a better way? Does placing someone's name on a sex offenders register protect the community? Does putting an ankle bracelet on someone make our children safer? Let's look at some facts.

The Victorian Law Reform Commission's 2011 report on the Sex Offenders Registration Scheme found that there is little evidence to suggest that registration schemes are an effective means of reducing child sexual abuse because they deter offending. In fact, the report found that most sex offences are committed by people with no previous convictions for offences of that type.

Importantly, the report found that details about people who might be potentially dangerous reoffenders sit alongside those of offenders who pose no risk of harm, with police and child protection authorities having no reasonable means of allocating risk ratings, and investigative resources, to particular offenders. Despite that, at the current rate of increase, there will be approximately 10,000 registrations by 2020.

No doubt the new, you-beaut, whiz-bang one-size-fits-all tracking scheme will also grow like topsy with, as the Herald Sun reports, sex offenders, arsonists and boozers being monitored 24/7. That should make us all feel safe - shouldn't it?

The reality is quite different. Recently in Indianapolis in the US the systems at a GPS tracking company crashed.

Believe it or not, police throughout the nation had to scramble and lock up 16,000 criminals until the problem was solved. And of course GPS monitoring relies on someone actually watching and understanding the signals being transmitted from the device. As critics of the system in Vancouver make clear, GPS monitoring does not alert corrections officers when an offender commits an offence, but merely indicates their location.

Again, I suspect, as with the registration scheme there will be no reasonable means of allocating risk and investigative resources. While the policy might, during a 24-hour news cycle, have the objective of making people think the Government is tough, and will make everyone safer from these deviants, it's not and it won't.

There is a better way, but it's hard and it involves the community not abandoning these people.

Circles of Support and Accountability, or CoSA, is a community-orientated, restorative justice-based reintegration program that assists people in their effort to re-enter society after a period of incarceration for a sexual offence. It exists in Nova Scotia, Canada as well as in some parts of the UK and USA.

A "circle" involves three to five trained volunteers from the community who commit themselves to forming a circle around, supporting and holding accountable the offender or "core member".

The circle meets regularly to facilitate the core member's practical needs such as access to medical services, assistance with housing and employment and providing emotional support. In return, the core member commits to open communication with the circle regarding his identified risk factors, problematic behaviour and day-to-day problems in an effort to end his offending and increase public safety.

The motto of CoSA is No more Victims: No one is Disposable. Early evaluations suggest that the approach works with massive reductions in recidivism, or reoffending rates, compared with offenders not involved in a "circle".

Yes, it's easy to dispose of people who commit crimes, but to do so places a big financial burden on all of us, and to what end? Crime rates rise while our prison population escalates and more money is spent on registers and tracking people.

If the community is serious about wanting to be safer and reducing crime, then surely we have to do more than just listen to the "tough on crime" rhetoric of our politicians. It's hard, but we have to get involved.

As a CoSA volunteer said: "I used to be like everyone else. I hated these guys. Then I met one. He's a human being. Once I understood that, I could not turn my back on him. I hate what he's done but if he's willing to do his part, I'm willing to be there to help him. I don't want there to be any more victims."

And shouldn't that be the bottom line? ..Source.. by Rob Hulls was Victoria's attorney-general and now is director of RMIT's Centre for Innovative Justice

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Support stops sex offenders

8-24-2012 National:

Program that helps released pedophiles ease into community also reduces chances they'll reoffend

What is the best way to prevent a sex offender at the end of his prison term from victimizing someone else?

The answer is simple, according to experts: provide a community of support.

But try to find a supportive community, and things get a whole lot more complicated.

"Our natural tendency is to push these people away. But it turns out to be the worst possible thing we can do," said Andrew McWhinnie, who works with sex offenders in his role as an adviser with Circles of Support and Accountability (CoSA).

The not-for-profit program, which is funded by various government departments, including the chaplaincy division of the Correctional Service of Canada, works under the tag line No More Victims.

But its work - providing support to sex offenders in the community - would likely be distasteful to any-one who has ever been the victim of a sex crime.

Sex offenders have been in the news at least four times this week in B.C. On Thursday, Abbotsford police arrested a child lurer who breached the conditions of his probation, only a few days after the department warned the community about another recently released pedophile who decided to take up residence in the city. Meanwhile, police on Vancouver Island arrested a sex offender with a backpack full of women's and girls' underwear, and another man is facing charges for allegedly molesting young boys at a public pool.

"Most people could care less about [sex] offenders," McWhinnie told the Sunday Province. "They want them to go back to jail ... but what they don't think about is how many more victims that can mean."

Instead, CoSA helps sex offenders ease back into society. Volunteers, at the request of the offender, can help him find housing, get him to appointments and make sure he has food. "Those first few days [after being released from jail] can be absolute hell," said McWhinnie, adding police alerts, which inform a community about the presence of a sex offender, can make daily life very difficult.

But the alerts, such as those recently issued by Abbotsford police after two sex offenders settled in that community, can also provide an added level of accountability.

One of the offenders, Jeffrey Goddard, who was released from prison in February after being convicted of luring teenage boys online, was arrested Thursday for breaching the conditions of his probation in a ruse that was "remarkably similar" to his previous crimes. Goddard's picture was released by police when he left prison, and it was an alert citizen who brought his recent online activity to police attention, said Abbots-ford police Const. Ian MacDonald.

In 2010, while Goddard was on bail awaiting trial, another citizen spotted the sex offender sitting in a hot tub at an Abbotsford public pool and called police.

Last week, when child sex tourist Donald Bakker decided to make Abbotsford his home, police issued another warning and a map highlighting his new neighbourhood.

MacDonald defended the department's decision to issue the public alerts, saying warnings are not made lightly and are not made with the intention of running the offender out of town.

"We consider the individual's right to privacy, and we try to find a balance," MacDonald explained. Police and behavioural sciences officers look at each case independently with the ultimate goal of keeping people safe. In Abbotsford, the chief or deputy chief must sign off on all public notifications. The privacy commission is also notified, as well as the offender himself.

MacDonald said police are very aware that offenders with support are less likely to reoffend.

Conversely, it is offenders who feel alienated and isolated who are at risk of falling back into old behaviour and hidden sexual deviance, said Simon Fraser University criminologist Rob Gordon.

Statistics show about 14 per cent of sex offenders will reoffend in the five years after their release from prison. That number drops to six per cent after 10 years and four per cent after 15 years. ..Source.. by Glenda Luymes, The Province

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Do pedophiles deserve sympathy?

6-21-2012 National:

Editor's note: James Cantor, an associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Toronto, is a psychologist and senior scientist at the Sexual Behaviors Clinic of the Center for Addiction and Mental Health. He is editor in chief of "Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment" and blogs at Sexology Today.

One cannot choose to not be a pedophile, but one can choose to not be a child molester.

As stories of sexual abuse emerged from the Jerry Sandusky trial, and as the public looks on with horror, a central element to the case that has received scant attention is pedophilia itself.

"Pedophilia" was long used as a synonym for "child molestation," and both were often seen as psychological failures of self-control. Child molesters were thought to be acting out their own histories of abuses, reacting to fears of adult relationships, or manifesting a symptom that might be resolved in psychotherapy, after which they would no longer be pedophilic.

Recently, however, a number of studies have starting changing that view. It appears that one can be born with a brain predisposed to experience sexual arousal in response to children.

Pedophilic men have significantly less white matter, which is the connective tissue that is responsible for communication between different regions in the brain. Pedophiles perform more poorly on various tests of brain function, tend to be shorter in height and are three times more likely to be left-handed or ambidextrous (characteristics that are observable before birth). Although nonbiological features may yet turn up to be relevant, it is difficult, if not impossible, to explain the research findings without there being a strong role of biology.

No one has been able to find a way to change pedophiles into nonpedophiles. But that does not mean we cannot prevent child molestation. Sexual preference for children doesn't have to result in actual sexual behaviors toward children.

Cases of child molestation that involve long strings of victims over the course of years illustrate what can happen when someone gives in to, or outright indulges, his sexual interests, regardless of its potential damage on others. It is those cases that dominate headlines and provoke revulsion toward pedophiles.

But they are rare. An untold number of cases merit sympathy.

The science suggests that they are people who, through no fault of their own, were born with a sex drive that they must continuously resist, without exception, throughout their entire lives. Little if any assistance is ever available for them.

They are often unable to consult mental health professionals (because of mandatory reporting rules); their families will often disown rather than support them; and despite the openness of the Internet, there are few options for coming out and joining communities of other pedophiles for mutual support.

Having encountered thousands of cases, it is my experience that the pedophiles who do go on to become actual child molesters do so when they feel the most desperate. Yet, much of what society does has been to increase rather than decrease their desperation.

In the United States especially, the great majority of attention is on punitive measures, invoked after the fact. However, the more beneficial social policies may be those aimed at prevention.

The best example of this effort is the Prevention Project Dunkelfeld in Germany, supported financially by private donation. It began with a media campaign aimed at people struggling to resist their sexual interests to children. By offering counseling and other services, it is expected that they can remain offense-free. Hundreds of people contacted the Dunkelfeld project after it was established. People from all over the world, including Austria, Switzerland and England, turned to the assistance.

Another example is the Circles of Support and Accountability, which was developed in Canada. The programs are staffed by volunteers who have received training from professionals. They provide support to people who are under no mandate to attend but are nonetheless seeking help to not commit sexual offenses.

It's too early to tell whether these efforts are effective over the long term, but preliminary reports are encouraging.

Even though very few researchers study the causes of pedophilia, we hope that the scientific community will learn more as new tools and opportunities become available.

If it is the brain's wiring that ultimately determines who will go on to develop pedophilia, can we detect it early enough to interrupt the process? Until we uncover more information, we will do more good by making it easier for pedophiles to come in for help rather than force them into solitary secrecy. ..Source..

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Does 'befriending' sex offenders stop new crimes?

7-5-2011 United Kingdom:

Paedophiles and other sex offenders are the subject of regular public outrage and demands for longer jail terms, but could "befriending" them be the best way to stop them committing more crimes?

"I said to myself my worst nightmare is someone who offended against very young girls because my nieces are those ages. Sure enough, that's exactly what I got."

Sarah from London is a volunteer working with a category of former prisoners few of us would feel comfortable meeting at all, let alone on a regular basis.

Along with four others she regularly meets a man convicted of serious sex offences against children who has since been released back into the community.

She's part of a "circle" which befriends but also monitors offenders. The idea came from Canada where a survey by the country's prison service found it reduced re-offending by 70%.

The first circles in the UK were formed in 2002 and there are currently 63 running across England and Wales. It is based on the premise that while some offenders have friends and family to return to when they come out of prison, others have not and the more isolated they are, the more likely they are to re-offend.

Sarah says she was partly inspired to volunteer by the press coverage surrounding the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.

"There was a lot of press talking about paedophiles, lots of big splash front pages saying 'evil'. I started to think there's got to be a way to stop this from happening in the beginning."

Sarah joined her circle through child protection charity The Lucy Faithfull Foundation, one of several organisations which run circles in the UK. Volunteers receive 20 hours of instruction and are supported by a liaison officer.

They meet offenders discreetly in local cafes where they talk about everything from what could lead to re-offending to finding work and fitting back into society.

Emotionally charged

Before the first meeting, they are told a lot of detail about the crimes and background of the offender. The meetings with the group - 4-6 volunteers plus the offender - are for about an hour, once a week, for the first few months, with the whole programme lasting one or two years. Each member of the group typically speaks to the offender on the phone at least once a week.

Despite her initial concerns, Sarah has been able to work with two offenders, both of whom have been imprisoned for offences against girls under 14. Sarah found the first encounter was highly emotionally charged.

"There's a lot of trepidation. You never know how you're going to react. Your first instinct is to feel disgust and revulsion over what they've done."

Sarah believes by questioning offenders about their behaviour and helping them settle back into everyday life she has helped to keep them from re-offending. In the case of the offender she is currently working with, Sarah believes her group has helped him turn round a long history of offending behaviour.

"I don't consider myself a bleeding-heart liberal. I'm someone who looks at the big picture and tries to find a solution. As far as the police tell us he hasn't offended in five years. He doesn't want to re-offend again, he doesn't want to create any more victims."

Grooming spotted

The Lucy Faithfull Foundation says of the 35 offenders who have taken part in their circles project so far, only three have been found to have re-offended.

In one of these cases, volunteers in East Anglia say they became suspicious of the offender's behaviour. Circle volunteer Ian says from the start they felt there was something wrong.

"He was telling us things which just didn't sound right. We reported it. The police reckoned he was grooming a young boy."

The offender was subsequently sent back to prison.

Donald Findlater, director of research and development at The Lucy Faithfull Foundation, says great care is taken in choosing which offenders are selected. A determination to change their behaviour pattern is key.

"Not all sex offenders are suitable for a circle. Professional staff need to assess that the individual is committed to leading a good life and keen to get support in doing this."

He feels in the vast majority of cases the circles have been effective.

"I have no doubt that circles are making a tangible difference to the lives that sex offenders lead and to the safety of the public."

Circles are part of a wider programme to rehabilitate sex offenders. The National Offender Management Service offers treatment to around 1,200 sex offenders a year in prison and the same number who have been released back into the community.

Many experts with experience in rehabilitating sex offenders agree circles have potential to stop re-offending, but they are only part of the overall effort to stop further crimes being committed.

"Circles have a lot to offer, particularly in cases of very socially isolated sexual offenders or offenders," says David Middleton, professor of community and criminal justice at De Montfort University, and former head of the government's sex offender strategy and programmes.

"However they are not a substitute for experienced and well trained professionals."

The circles projects are part funded by government money channelled through local police, probation and offender management budgets. This frustrates some victims group who feel more money should be directed at those who have been abused.

Many are also highly sceptical that sex offenders can be rehabilitated. Peter Saunders, chief executive of the National Association of People Abused in Childhood, feels while circles may have some value, there are more reliable ways of monitoring offenders.

"Abusers cannot be trusted at their word. We tend to favour the idea that these kind of offenders need to be electronically tagged for a very long time." ..Source.. by BBC

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