VA- Problems linger at sex-offender rehab center

4-6-2009 Virginia:

A new report finds that problems at the Virginia Center for Behavioral Rehabilitation didn't improve much in 2008, despite the center's having moved to its new $62 million facility in Nottoway County.

The program is the maximum-security home for 130 of the most dangerous sex offenders in Virginia. They are being held indefinitely -- at $131,000 apiece each year -- under civil-court orders for treatment after their prison sentences ended.

Since the program's beginning in a makeshift facility in Dinwiddie County in late 2003, state auditors have found fault with high staff turnover and the need for more treatment. Many of the center's residents even view the new facility as worse in ways than the prisons they came from.

"Clearly, there are still growing pains and challenges at VCBR," Meghan McGuire, spokeswoman for the Department of Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services, said of the March 23 report by the office of the inspector general.

McGuire said building a long-range recovery program will take time. "We are seeing improvement to morale," she said. McGuire also said an advisory committee was formed last year and is working on recommendations to help the center meet its mission.

(Posted by eAdvocate)

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that sex offenders with certain mental conditions can be committed civilly by courts and held beyond their prison terms for rehabilitation and treatment -- but not for further punishment.

The new report found that residents received an average of 6.6 hours a week of treatment.

Though an improvement on the 2.5 hours a week from the year before, the report said "active treatment levels . . . still remain much lower than desirable for an effective treatment program. Resident boredom and inactivity continue, with significant [adverse] behavioral results."

The staff turnover rate at the center, which has great impact on treatment and other issues, was 47.5 percent in the year that ended last June. The rate has hovered around 50 percent since the program began. For medical and nursing staff, the turnover rate was nearly 100 percent from 2007.

Staffing at such facilities across the country tends to be a problem because of the type of offenders held and because many are located in rural locations.

Concerns on the part of residents "include overly Spartan cells and furniture; a harsh environment; very limited resident privilege levels with regard to phone use, mail, television access and personal items; and limited educational, vocational and recreation opportunities."

Concerns on the part of staff include their personal safety around the offenders and the belief that management sides with the residents too often in disputes.

"Disruptive, noisy, angry residents raise tension levels among staff. Staff report that they hear from residents that residents know they cannot be touched and they taunt staff that they will be reported if the staff infringes on their 'freedom' to behave as they wish," the report said.

Among other things, the department has hired a vocational coordinator, but there are still no jobs for residents for a number of reasons.

The report noted a Catch-22 in the center's efforts to get jobs for residents. Prisons can provide jobs for inmates at 20 to 40 cents an hour under an exception to federal labor law. It appears, however, that people in a civil-commitment center must be paid at least minimum wage.

The department noted that since the inspector general's most recent visit in November, 20 residents have enrolled in college-level correspondence courses.

In an effort to improve the living conditions, some wooden beds from the former facility, located near Petersburg, have been moved to Nottoway, and the existing "slab beds" are being widened and getting more comfortable mattresses. ..News Source.. by Frank Green