Where for Art Thou? Transient Sex Offenders and Residence Restrictions

12-4-2013 National:

Abstract:
The purpose of this study was to better understand transient (homeless) sex offenders in the context of residence restriction laws. Using the entire population of registered sex offenders (RSOs) living in the community in Florida (n = 23,523), transients were compared with other sex offenders on relevant demographics, risk factors, county characteristics, and residence restriction variables.

Significantly higher proportions of transient sex offenders were found in counties with a larger number of local-level restrictions, vast territory covered by these laws, wide-distance buffer zones, higher population density, and expensive housing costs. Sex offenders were more likely than the general population to become homeless.

Transients were more likely than non-transients to have a history of registry violation. Few transients absconded, but when they did, they were more likely to abscond from registration than probation. When implementing sex offender management policies, lawmakers should consider transience as an unintended negative consequence. ..Source.. by Jill Levenson -AND- Alissa R. Ackerman -AND- Kelly M. Socia -AND- Andrew J. Harris

FL- Roadside Camp for Miami Sex Offenders Leads to Lawsuit

7-10-2009 Florida:

MIAMI — They used to be invisible, the four or five convicted sex offenders camping out on the Julia Tuttle Causeway connecting Miami to Miami Beach. But for three years now — pushed by local laws that bar them from living within 2,500 feet of where children gather — more and more criminals have moved in.

“At first, I thought ‘Tuttle’ was a halfway house,” said Ricky Dorzena, 23, sitting in the encampment his probation officers recommended five months ago. “Then they said, ‘No, you’re staying under a bridge.’ ”

At least 70 convicted sex offenders live here now, in a shantytown on Biscayne Bay with trash piles clawed by crabs. It has become what even law enforcement officials call a public-safety hazard, produced by laws intended to keep the public safe.

On Thursday, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit in state court to strike them down. The complaint argues that Miami-Dade County’s 2,500-foot restriction illegally pre-empts the state’s restriction of 1,000 feet, creating a situation in which sex offenders are more likely to flee supervision and commit new crimes.

Similar challenges to local residency restrictions in New York and New Jersey have recently succeeded in court, but legal experts say the Florida case will be watched closely because few states have tougher laws, or have drawn as much attention for child abductions — from Adam Walsh to Caylee Anthony.

“Florida is important because they have tested the bounds,” said Corey Rayburn Yung, an expert in sex-offender law at John Marshall Law School in Chicago. “If Florida’s courts are willing to say, ‘No, no, you can’t do this,’ then it’s a sign that most other courts would come out the same way.”

The camp is a community no one wants to exist. The first sex offenders here, like Patrick Wiese, 48, who said he served time in prison after having his stepdaughter touch him inappropriately, arrived nearly three years ago and would like to leave. Smoking a cigarette under the bridge on Thursday, Mr. Wiese said he wants to move to Homestead. He has money. He has a job at a sandwich shop, but cannot find an apartment that complies with the law.

“I’ve checked out 17 places,” he said, after displaying his Florida license, which lists his address as “Julia Tuttle Bridge.” “The probation officer says no.”

In the beginning, he said, the camp was small, without many problems. But lately, it has become more tense as the recession and the steady flow of former prisoners added residents.

Under the bridge on Thursday, tents and plywood shacks competed for space with rusty bicycles, a skinny cat, and a beige lawn chair. In a sign of the camp’s bereft permanence, a yellow electrical cord attached to a generator snaked through the camp flat against the ground, pounded by countless footsteps.

“Sometimes we have harmony, sometimes chaos,” Mr. Wiese said. Mr. Dorzena, who said he served 17 months in jail for having sex with a 14-year-old when he was 18, smoked a cigarette beside him. “Right now,” Mr. Wiese said, “we have so many people here, it’s chaos.”

The police agree.

John Timoney, the Miami police chief, said that on the Fourth of July, several officers used a stun gun against a man under the bridge who, in a fit of depression, began cutting himself with a knife, apparently in a suicide attempt. Chief Timoney predicted more violence.

He said he had told city, state and county officials that the men (only one or two women live there) needed to be moved to more permanent homes, even if it meant changing one or more laws. He has gotten mostly studies in return, along with politicians accusing one another of shirking responsibility.

“It’s like a hot potato,” Chief Timoney said. “Everyone is just passing it on.”

In fact, Jose Diaz — the county commissioner who sponsored the law establishing the 2,500-foot boundary in 2005 — said state corrections officials were to blame for placing sex offenders on state-owned land. He defended the county law by saying, “If I can save some kids from going through this agony, I’ve done my job.”

Gov. Charlie Crist, meanwhile, placed responsibility squarely on local governments, which have “the right to do what they feel is appropriate for the citizens that they serve.”

Gretl Plessinger, a spokeswoman for the State Department of Corrections, put the problem in a broader perspective: “It’s an issue that everybody needs to deal with.”

But as the camp’s continued existence shows, no one has — which is not a surprise, Mr. Rayburn Yung said. “These laws are always universally popular,” he said. “The public loves it.”

Only the courts may force a change. The A.C.L.U. lawsuit argues that extreme residency restrictions contribute to homelessness, and lead sex offenders to commit more crimes because they are “living in filth and squalor, remote from family life.”

For proof, it cites the state’s online list of registered sex offenders and predators, which shows that 236 offenders in Miami-Dade County have skipped out on their probation, including some who used to live under the bridge on the causeway.

Ms. Plessinger said corrections officials shared the A.C.L.U.’s concerns. Noting that living under an interstate was a last resort caused by lack of money and the strict local rules, she said: “It’s not a good situation. It’s not a good situation for probation officers. It’s not a good situation for the offenders under the bridge, but it’s also not a good situation for public safety in Miami-Dade.” ..Source. by DAMIEN CAVE

Cost Of Rural Homelessness

5-18-2009 Maine:

State of Maine Rural Supportive Housing Cost Analysis

PORTLAND -- Providing permanent supportive housing for homeless people in rural Maine is less expensive than serving them while they are homeless, and provides a better qualify of life at the same time, according to the results of a new study.

Rural homeless people with disabilities who retained permanent, supportive housing saw a reduction in spending of 32 percent. The study defined permanent supportive housing as affordable housing for those who are homeless, where support services for people with mental illness or co-occurring disorders of mental illness and substance abuse are available, either on-site or in other community locations.

The study also reported a 57 percent reduction in the cost of mental health services over a six-month period. Part of that reduction was a dramatic 79 percent drop in the cost of psychiatric hospitalization, from $452,800 to $96,641.

The study was prepared by Melany Mondello of Shalom House; Jon Bradley of Preble Street; and Tom Chalmers McLaughlin, PhD. and Nancy Shore, PhD., both from the University of New England. It is the first statewide cost of homelessness data collection in the country that looks at costs of rural homelessness.

"Providing permanent housing has been the mission and purpose of Shalom House for over 37 years. This study provides further evidence that permanent supported housing is an effective solution for people with mental illness who are homeless. We are thrilled to have partnered with so many agencies, statewide, to complete this study." Mary Haynes-Rodgers, LCSW, Executive Director, Shalom House, Inc.

The 163 participants in the study were chosen from all areas of the state. As Greater Portland was the focus of the 2007 Cost of Homelessness study it was excluded from this rural analysis. The current study mirrors the 2007 findings that it is less expensive to provide permanent housing and services to homeless people with disabilities than to serve them through emergency shelters.. The results provide solid evidence to support the importance of permanent supportive housing development throughout Maine.

Researchers looked at actual cost records of service providers and individual service records to determine costs. Previous studies in other states used estimated cost calculations and estimated service contacts to determine costs.

The great majority of participants (97 percent) have severe mental illness; more than a third also suffer from chronic alcohol or drug abuse.

Other reductions reported in the study include a 95 percent decrease in incarceration costs and a 32 percent decline in ambulance transportation costs.

Homeless people who obtain supportive housing avoid returning to emergency shelter, cutting emergency shelter costs by 99 percent.

Total costs, including that of providing the permanent supportive housing, were lower for people living in supportive housing by $1,348 per person. That is a total savings of nearly $220,000 over 6 months for the 163 people in the study.

"This study shows that providing permanent housing and services to people with mental illness or substance abuse issues is cost-effective, even in rural settings," said Nancy Fritz, Director of Homeless Initiatives for Governor Baldacci. "It offers clients a higher level of personal stability."

MaineHousing Director Dale McCormick said the findings provide a winning strategy for Maine.

"Providing permanent housing saves the taxpayer money and improves the lives of people who are homeless in rural Maine," McCormick said. "Everyone benefits."

The study found an equally dramatic improvement in the quality of life, measured in areas that include work, learning, health, relationships, understanding self, and independence.
"I have regained my self-assurance, which was absolutely taken from me during my 11 months of homelessness," one supportive housing tenant said.

Meanwhile, income increased on average by 77 percent. The number of study participants reporting that they had no income declined from 41 percent to 17 percent.

The mission of Shalom House, Inc. is to offer hope for adults living with severe mental illness by providing a choice of quality housing and support services that help people lead stable and fulfilling lives in the community. ..Source.. by Shalom House, Inc