Sex offenders often don't get enough treatment in prison

7-16-2013 Florida:

JACKSONVILLE — When the state releases sex offenders like the man charged with kidnapping and killing Cherish Perrywinkle last month, they’re typically mandated to get therapy while on probation or parole.

State law says the offender is responsible to pay for his or her own treatment, but employment for a registered sex offender is difficult to come by. Participation while serving time is also not a given, according to those who work with Florida sex offenders.

This worries some advocates, who feel therapy in prison or after gives the newly released offenders a better chance at staying out of prison — and not making a victim of anyone else.

It’s impossible to know what treatment, if any, that 56-year-old Donald James Smith — arrested June 22 in 8-year-old Cherish’s death — may have received in state prison.

Florida Department of Corrections spokeswoman Ann Howard said Smith’s probation file has been destroyed due to their retention policy to keep records for three to five years. Most of the prison file is also gone, she said, but even if it were available, information about his mental health treatment would be protected by federal health privacy laws (HIPAA).

He was required to see a counselor during parole, records show, and for three years, he was detained in the Florida Civil Commitment Center for treatment under a law for violent sexual offenders. But even there, patients can’t be forced to take part in counseling.

“The biggest issue is, some of these guys have been in prison 14 years and never got any treatment,” said Martin Driscoll, a licensed mental health counselor specializing in sex offender treatment in Dade City. “Either it was never offered or, because of the stigma in prison associated with what they’ve done, they didn’t enter treatment voluntarily.”

The recidivism rate for offenders who stay in group therapy is very low — single digits out of hundreds, Driscoll said, in his experience. He often sees unemployed patients and makes arrangements for them to pay when they can. But 15 years ago he had a contract with the state that covered the mandatory treatment.

Now, state law specifies that registered sex offenders must get the treatment while under state supervision at their own expense, or face probation violations if they don’t comply.

Generally, some state prisons offer therapy programs for sex offenders while others don’t, said Misty Cash, spokeswoman for the Florida Department of Corrections. When programs are available, inmates with mental illness diagnoses are often routed to facilities that have what they need, Cash said, but treatment is still optional unless the state seeks a court order.

Once they leave, Cash said, there’s no state money to pay for continued counseling.

“Like any inmate, once they walk out the door, and once they’ve fulfilled their obligation to the state, it’s upon them to follow through,” Cash said. “If they have probation to serve and the court is monitoring them, we’re able to make sure they’re doing what they need to do.”

In Duval County, there are some options for people re-entering the county after serving at least six months on a felony conviction, said Katherine Burns, executive director of the Jacksonville Re-Entry Center.

The center offers its program to inmates while they’re still incarcerated, and a case manager is available to any felon who lived in Duval County and committed their offense here before going to prison.

Up to 800 people take the center up on its offer for help each year, although separate statistics aren’t kept on how often they’re registered sex offenders, Burns said. Overall, those who go through the re-entry have a 47 percent lower rate of re-offending within a year of release, Burns said.

The center, which is also the place felons and sex offenders register with police, doesn’t provide services other than some limited food and clothing. But it does pay for short-term housing and mental health treatment through its portion of Jacksonville Journey funding. Sex offenders are offered the same options as any other inmate leaving prison, Burns said.

“Basically they’re treated just the same as everybody else, but the requirements are more stringent,” she said.

For indigent offenders, the center will pay for 30 days of housing and 90 days of counseling, which is often court-ordered for much longer. The offenders are typically on their own after that time frame, although extensions are occasionally approved when funding permits, Burns said.

Because of the particular difficulty with offenders convicted of what society judges the worst crimes — murder and sex offenses — their cases are routed to a specialized case manager more skilled at helping them find jobs.

Housing restrictions too are problematic, since registered sex offenders in Florida can’t live 1,500 feet from a church, school or bus stop and predators are limited to more than 2,500 feet away from the places children frequent.

The re-entry center has a list of designated locations that are legal, often hotels or apartments, but it’s not unusual for the few slots to be filled up.

“That’s why we look at that list in advance and try to figure out who is coming here, and who needs housing,” Burns said. “It’s challenging.” ..Source.. by KATE HOWARD PERRY