NY- $30M later, Mid-State facility not yet housing sex offenders

12-30-2008 New York:

MARCY — The state still plans to civilly confine sex offenders at a newly renovated building on the grounds of the Mid-State Correctional Facility in Marcy, according to officials with the New York State Division of Budget.

Although the building currently remains empty after more than $30 million in renovations, budget officials said there has not yet been any need to start placing sex offenders at that site.

The plan always has been to start filling 150 beds available at the Mid-State facility as the Central New York Psychiatric Center in Marcy nears its capacity of 150 offenders, budget officials said.

But since the CNY psychiatric center has gradually accumulated only 127 sex offenders to date after beginning the process in July 2006, officials said there still is more room before the Mid-State facility must be utilized.

And because no patient has ever been released from civil confinement by completing the state's sex offender treatment program since it began, state Office of Mental Health and budget officials said they expect there will be a need to house offenders at the Mid-State facility in April.

“That number is totally dependent on the rate of commitment by the courts, and we anticipate that number will slowly grow,” state Office of Mental Health spokeswoman Jill Daniels said Monday.

As of Dec. 18, 185 sex offenders were being housed through the state's treatment program. In addition to 127 offenders housed at the CNY Psychiatric Center, 46 were being held at the St. Lawrence Psychiatric Center in Ogdensburg and 12 in a temporary unit in Manhattan, Daniels said.

Before any offenders can be housed at the Mid-State secure treatment facility, however, budget officials said the state still needs to hire 266 mental health staff, including psychologists, operation staff and security staff.

The CNY Psychiatric Center currently employees 272 staff members dedicated toward civilly confined sex offenders.

History of program

Initiated under former state Gov. George Pataki and signed into law in March 2007 under former Gov. Eliot Spitzer, the civil commitment program aims to keep violent sex offenders in state custody even after they've finished their prison sentences.

The law orders the state to evaluate sex offenders as they approach the completion of their sentences to determine if they still are dangerous to society. If so, a trial process would determine whether the offender should be locked up in a psychiatric facility or released under strict supervision.

The facilities in Marcy initially were proposed as supplements to a 500-bed state facility for sex offenders at Camp Pharsalia in Chenango County. But after current state Gov. David Paterson recommended closing the Pharsalia complex, the two local facilities will take on the lion's share of the civilly confined patients, state legislators said.

Opposition to Marcy site

State Sen. Joseph Griffo, R-Rome, is among the legislators concerned by that prospect.
“My philosophy has always been that they should house the offenders in one statewide facility as originally proposed,” Griffo said. “I don't believe in bringing them across the state, and I don't want to see this area become the place where they dump this population.”

As a result, Griffo said he's not bothered one bit that the renovated Mid-State facility has not yet been utilized.

“Not filling the additional space is not a bad thing because that means there's not a need, and I don't want to see them dumping that population here as opposed to other areas of the state,” Griffo said.

Once the Mid-State facility is used, however, Griffo said he hopes the security precautions are sufficient to protect staff members and the surrounding communities.

Most of the multi-million dollar renovations were related to establishing proper hospital standards within the facility and building a security fence, budget officials said.

At the CNY Psychiatric Center, there were 13 patient-related staff injuries that resulted in time out of work from July 2006 through November 2007, mental health officials said.

Then from November 2007 through November 2008, an additional 11 patient-related staff injuries were reported. ..News Source.. by ROCCO LaDUCA, Observer-Dispatch