CA- State to cut back housing aid for paroled sex offenders, officials say

2-10-2009 California:

The state will stop paying long-term motel and apartment rents for thousands of sex offenders across California under an order Monday from a top corrections official, who acknowledged the move likely will add to the rolls of sex offenders who become homeless to avoid the living restrictions under Jessica's Law.

Last month, MediaNews reported that the state spent nearly $22 million in 2008 to house paroled sex offenders, in some cases paying in excess of $2,000 a month to help them abide by Proposition 83. The ballot measure, which 70 percent of voters backed in 2006, banned sex offenders from living within 2,000 feet of a school or a park where children regularly gather.

Some parolees have received the free housing for more than two years, MediaNews found, and some motels in the Bay Area have become home to as many as 18 sex offender parolees at once. In at least a few cases, the state put them up in places within the banned zones, according to an analysis of parole housing data.

The new order from Scott Kernan, undersecretary for operations with the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, applies to all parolees and sets a 60-day limit for transitional housing aid, except in special cases. Nearly 5,000 sex offenders received parole housing aid over the 12 months ending Jan. 31, Kernan said — most for longer than 60 days.

"I do think it led to parolees not having any real motivation to self-sufficiency," Kernan said. "I certainly hope we'll be able to help them transition. "... Parolees will be on their own and find their own housing."

Parole agents have struggled to manage sex offenders under the 2,000-foot ban, which leaves few areas for sex offenders to live, particularly in the Bay Area and other urban regions. The result has been a steep rise in the number of paroled sex offenders who register "transient" — from 88 before the law passed to 1,257 as of Dec. 28.

Critics of the residency limits, including the California Sex Offender Management Board, argue that Jessica's Law does more harm than good by weakening stability for sex offenders, adding to the risk of another sex offense. The board, which includes members from law enforcement, parole, probation and sex offender treatment, issued a report last month in which it encouraged Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and state lawmakers to rethink the 2,000-foot ban.

"It seems unwise to spend such resources as a consequence of residence restriction policies which have no track record of increasing community safety," the report said.

Kernan said the move has less to do with the state budget crisis than the fact agents have strapped all parolee sex offenders with global positioning system anklets. He said the money would go to assistance — "such things as boots, bus tokens, tools so they can get employed" — for the larger population of more than 125,000 parolees statewide.

"I am concerned that transient status is going to increase and that I'm making it more difficult for agents out there to find residences for them," Kernan said. "But aiding parolees to become self-sufficient is a big part of moving on."

He declined to speculate on whether the change might also increase the number of sex offenders sent back to prison for violating Jessica's Law. ..News Source.. by John Simerman, Contra Costa Times