CA- CDC halts, reduces financial aid to Salinas sex offenders

8-1-2009 California:

The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation is cutting or reducing aid to about 10 sex offenders this month in Salinas, officials said, due to a policy enacted in May to prevent parolees from living off taxpayer money.

As a result, sex offenders will have to find help from friends or family, be able to afford their own housingor become homeless.

The policy was enacted May 1 after CDCR officials decided to limit a parolee's rehabilitation assistance, which includes housing, to 60 days, said spokesman Seth Unger.

"We are no longer going to be subsidizing sex offenders indefinitely," Unger said. "It was always supposed to be transitionary."

The Salinas sex offenders to lose financial backing in August - approximately 90 days since the change was enacted -all reside at the Inns of California motel at 1215 De La Torre Road, said Wes Ellison, unit supervisor in Salinas for the CDCR's parole department.

The motel's manager, Bakul "Buck" Panchal, told The Salinas Californian in February he has housed parolees for the past three years at the going rate of $1,100 per month. He could not be reached for comment Friday.

According to the Megan's Law Web site, Salinas is home to 230 registered sex offenders, 32 of which live at the motel.

The state pays about $20,000 a month for rooms at the Inns of California, Ellison said, adding that the reduction of assistance to the 10 sex offenders would save the state another $5,000 - case-by-case reviews prompted the department to only reduce aid to some parolees.

But Unger said the policy change is not a direct result of California's new budget, passed last week, which included numerous spending cuts to offset a $26 billion deficit.

Instead, he said, it was done to prevent sex offenders from abusing the system designed to get them back on their feet.

"We found some have been consuming a large quantity of dollars," Unger said. "The goal of the program was to help the parolees - not for them to live off taxpayers for their entire parole term."

For fiscal years 2006-07 and 2007-08, the state used $36.6 million in taxpayer money to pay for housing, Unger said.

Officials added that many of the parolees already pay all or part of their own rent, while others have applied for Social Security Income payments or are seeking employment.

Along with rent, Ellison said, some parolees received help to pay for bus fare and work attire.

"We're not just dumping them out of the system," he said. "This has been ongoing for months, and they knew it was coming."

Ellison said the public should not be concerned that sex offenders are free to roam the streets of Salinas at will.

He said all sex offender parolees have been ordered to wear GPS devices allowing parole agents to know their whereabouts at all times.

"It tracks them 24 hours a day," he said. "It also tracks where they've been." ..Source.. by KIMBER SOLANA