SMART Office Grant: Training and Technical Assistance for Circles of Support and Accountability in Sex Offender Management

Every day, sex offenders are released from incarceration without any formalized community supervision to control their behavior once in the community. These individuals are free to leave the state (or jurisdiction) and are not subject to any restrictions on their residential and employment choices, interactions with community members, or travel. This population poses a risk to the community to which they return, raises community concerns about safety, and is difficult to monitor and provide the necessary stabilizing services to.

The COSA model fills a gap in services for some offenders left by criminal justice policy; essentially, those at highest risk of reoffense who are being released at the end of their sentences without a formal process of aftercare. COSA programs were created, in part, to address the threat perceived by communities that sex offenders pose when they return from prison. The COSA initiative emerged in Canada in the 1990s as a community-based, restorative justice movement that “focuses on the need to engage the community in the reintegration process.” At its core, COSA enlists volunteers from the community to aid in the management of high-risk sex offenders. COSA typically targets male offenders who have a long history of offending, failure in treatment, antisocial values and attitudes, are at high-risk for reoffending (for new sex or other offenses), and who are likely held until the expiration of their prison sentence and released with no probation or parole supervision. Each Circle consists of a Core Member (sex offender) and four to six community volunteers. A COSA volunteer meets with the Core Member daily and the Circle meets once a week during the initial 60 – 90 days. The key to the program is “a relationship scheme based on friendship and accountability for behavior.”

COSA programs have been initiated and implemented by faith-based organizations, community volunteer groups, and as an adjunct to criminal justice community corrections programs. In those programs working in tandem with corrections professionals, a Circle is typically made up of volunteers, a Core Member (sex offender), and an Outer Circle (professionals); Circle volunteers work in teams of four to six with a Core Member and are supported by an Outer Circle.

More information about the Canadian COSA model is available here:
www.csc-scc.gc.ca/text/prgrm/chap/docs-eng.shtml#4

Goals, Objectives, and Deliverables

The COSA Training and Technical Assistance Program will support projects funded under the Promoting Evidence Integration in Sex Offender Management: Circles of Support and Accountability for Project Sites Grant Program by providing training and technical assistance to jurisdictions that wish to develop COSA programs in conjunction with community corrections programs and to provide ad hoc training and technical assistance to community volunteer groups, faith-based organizations or others seeking to develop COSA programs.

The successful applicant will plan and deliver training and technical assistance to three award recipients under the COSA Grant Program and develop and carry out training and technical assistance in response to ad hoc requests from jurisdictions and sex offender management practitioners interested in the COSA model. FY 12 COSA grantee technical assistance needs may vary depending on the jurisdiction’s sex offender supervision practices, whether the jurisdiction has implemented some form of COSA program or not, and if the jurisdiction has experience with using volunteers in sex offender management. As a result, applicants should be able to demonstrate: 1) expertise in sex offender management practices, 2) experience in developing and implementing the COSA model, 3) proficiency in developing and providing technical assistance in sex offender management, 4) ability to complete program assessments, 5) knowledge of recruiting, training and managing volunteers, and 6) experience in educating the public about sex offenders and sexual violence, including community notification schemes, public education campaigns, and victim support programs.

The successful applicant will also assist COSA grantees in collecting the following information to be included in the jurisdiction’s final report to the SMART Office:

• Descriptive information about sex offenders in the jurisdiction, including those eligible for COSA.
• Recidivism (new charges for sexual, violent, and any criminal offenses, and returns to prison).
• Changes in offender criminal behavior, measured as pro-criminal attitudes or antisocial behavior.
• Employment and education opportunities.
• Housing opportunities.
• Drug and alcohol use.
• Participation in sex offender treatment, substance abuse and mental health services.
• Program cost effectiveness.

Other activities and deliverables will include:

• Onsite delivery of training and technical assistance to three COSA grantees, including the development of training materials.
• Program assessment of each COSA grantee.
• Training and technical assistance delivery plan based on identified needs of each COSA grantee.
• Individual training and technical assistance plans for each COSA grantee.
• Provision of ad hoc training and technical assistance on COSA, including onsite, email, and phone support, to requesting entities.

A report for possible future publication and dissemination will be the final deliverable for this project. The report should document the process of developing COSA programs in each COSA grantee site and contain, but not be limited to, descriptions of the process involved in developing and conducting the training and technical assistance, descriptive information on the number and types of training and technical assistance provided to jurisdictions and the number and types of ad hoc training and technical assistance provided to community volunteer groups, faith-based organizations or others implementing COSA programs.