Corrections department needs to improve sex offender reporting

1-18-2011 Vermont:

MONTPELIER – State Auditor Tom Salmon, CPA, today released the results of an audit that looked at the caseloads of the Department of Corrections probation and parole officers who are designated to supervise sex offenders.

Recently adopted legislative provisions limit caseloads of the Department of Corrections’ (DOC) probation and parole officers (POs) assigned to supervise sex offenders to 45 cases with some exceptions. The legislature also required that the auditor look at Corrections’ sex offender PO caseloads.

The auditor said that offenders who commit sex crimes evoke concern and fear in communities. Because of the heightened concern and since sex offenders are frequently supervised in community settings, supervision of convicted sex offenders is an important public safety issue.

“The Legislature’s attention to caseloads among other aspects of DOC’s supervision of sex offenders reflects the concern of many in Vermont communities,” Salmon said.

Overall, the auditor’s office found that almost all of the POs supervising sex offenders had caseloads in accordance with the statutory requirements. One out of 29 of Correction’s designated sex offender POs had a caseload in excess of the statutory limit.

Although PO caseloads were largely found to be in accordance with the statutory requirements, the auditor’s office determined that the tools that DOC uses to monitor caseloads warrant attention. The reports used to identify active caseloads contained data errors and system anomalies. Some of the causes for the report inaccuracies were a lack of training in the DOC system for DOC personnel and the lack of procedures specifying the timing and process for updating offender records. Salmon also commented that DOC is hindered by an antiquated computer system.

The audit report’s recommendations emphasize actions that can be taken to ensure the availability of reliable reports for continuous monitoring of PO caseloads.

“I am confident that implementation of our audit recommendations will help DOC to improve monitoring of caseloads and accuracy of the information in its system, and will promote consistency in the assignment of sex offenders under community supervision to appropriate POs” said Salmon.

The auditor also noted that during the course of the audit DOC field personnel and central office staff were professional and cooperative.

DOC Commissioner Andrew Pallito said in a letter to the auditor’s office: “We are committed to ensuring that sex offender caseloads comply with statutory requirements.”

The report entitled “Sex Offender Supervision: Corrections’ Caseloads Were Largely in Accordance with Statutory Requirements, but Monitoring Tools Could Be Improved.”

The audit report released today by the Auditor’s Office is the second in a series of audits expected to be performed related to sex offenders and sexual abuse response issues. The first report, “Sex Offender Registry: Reliability Could Be Significantly Improved,” was issued in the summer 2010 and addressed the reliability of the state’s sex offender registry and made recommendations to the Department of Public Safety, Department of Corrections, and the Court Administrator. It is also available on the auditor’s web site. The auditor’s office expects to conduct a second audit of the registry once planned improvements are implemented. ..Source..