Sex Offenders in the Community: Post-Release, Registration, Notification and Residency Restrictions

June 2010:

Karen J. Bachar: Today's presentation is on “Sex Offenders in the Community: Post-Release, Registration, Notification and Residency Restrictions.” The management of sex offenders in the community post-release is an issue of increasing concern to law enforcement, policymakers and the public.

In recent years, there've been many efforts made to strengthen registration and notification. At the same time, we haven't paid a lot of attention to related matters, such as how residency restrictions may impact offenders' efforts to find work and stability, how their living arrangements — what happens when they get released from prison, whether rates of recidivism have changed according to these policies and whether these policies have succeeded in increasing public safety. These are some issues that a lot of people ask.

And to talk about these and related issues to sex offenders, I am happy to have a panel of experts to share their information.

First up will be Dr. Elizabeth Letourneau, who is an associate professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Medical University of South Carolina.

She's worked on Family Services Research Center since 2000 and studied various aspects of sex offending and sexual victimization for more than 20 years. Her research examines interventions for youth who engage in risky behaviors, including juveniles who have sex offended, youth with HIV who engage in unprotected sex and delinquent youths who engage in risky sexual behaviors.

Next, Dr. Kristen Zgoba is the supervisor of Research and Evaluation at the Office of Policy and Planning for the New Jersey Department of Corrections. Her research involves studies of homicide offenders, sex offenders and geographic analysis. She serves on the board of directors at the American Correctional Association and is on the editorial board for Victims and Offenders, Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency and Criminal Justice Abstracts.

Last but not least, we have Alisa Klein, who is a public policy consultant to the Association of Treatment for Sex Abusers, an international, multidisciplinary organization dedicated to preventing the sexual abuse through assessment, treatment and management of individuals who have sexually ...continued... by National Institute of Justice