11-19-2009 Massachusetts:
SALEM — The head of the Salem Mission said he supports a proposal to ban the most dangerous sex offenders from homeless shelters.
However, Mark Cote, executive director of the Salem Mission, said he has reservations about the measure and believes the state has a responsibility to provide services and housing to offenders.
The issue of banning Level 3 sex offenders from shelters picked up steam this week when it was advocated by the Massachusetts Housing and Shelter Alliance, which represents 90 organizations that serve the homeless, including the Salem shelter, which has 52 beds in winter and 34 in summer.
The statewide alliance said such a ban would save money at a time of state budget cuts, make the facilities safer and help the shelter providers raise needed funds by eliminating the perception that they harbor sex offenders.
Although shelters are not required to take sex offenders, the alliance said there is no state program to assist them when they are released from prison, and many end up at local shelters. A ban might force the state to set up some kind of program or housing for offenders prior to their release.
Cote said he did not take part in a conference call on the subject a few days ago and can see both sides of the issue. But when pressed to take a position, Cote said he would be in favor of a ban — with a number of reservations and concerns.
"What is going to happen if every shelter in the commonwealth releases all of the Level 3 sex offenders?" he asked. "Where are they going to go? Who is going to take them in? ... Who will supervise them?"
Right now, there are two Level 3 offenders living at the Margin Street shelter, and one living nearby in one of the 22 apartments overseen by the Salem Mission, according to a Web site maintained by the state Sex Offender Registry Board.
There is one Level 3 sex offender living at River House in Beverly, according to the state agency.
The offenders living in the Salem and Beverly shelters have been convicted of various crimes, including rape and indecent assault and battery on a child.
Level 3 sex offenders are given that status because they have a high risk of reoffending and pose a high degree of danger, according to the Sex Offender Registry Board.
Some supervision
The Salem shelter, which recently changed its name to Lifebridge, does not do criminal background checks on its clients but is informed by police when a Level 3 offender moves in, Cote said.
Like other residents, sex offenders are assigned a case manager, provided with medical and other services, given a bed and meals, and required to observe an 8 p.m. curfew.
"So there is some ability to supervise that population," Cote said.
Cote said he is not aware of any recent or serious incidents involving Level 3 sex offenders at the Salem Mission.
"In my 31/2 years, I never had a situation here," he said.
Cote conceded that dealing with the offenders, and responding to concerns raised by their presence in the shelter, can drain resources and put an added stress on his staff.
The issue has been a hot topic for the Greater Endicott Street Neighborhood Association, which represents residents in the tightly packed neighborhood around the shelter.
"We've been looking at those numbers," said Jeff Cox, co-chairman of the group. "There are five Level 3's in the immediate neighborhood."
Cox also pointed out that Salem has more Level 3 offenders than all of the surrounding communities, other than Lynn.
Asked about the proposal to ban sex offenders, Cox said: "We're encouraged by whatever makes the neighborhood and city safer."
There are 17 Level 3 offenders living in Salem, according to the state Web site. That's as many serious sex offenders as the combined total living in nine area communities.
No other programs
Cote said he has been asked about sex offenders during meetings with neighbors and is aware it is an ongoing concern. He added, however, that the issue is a concern "in (other neighborhoods) and in every neighborhood across the country, unfortunately."
His support for the ban might be stronger, he said, if there were a program in place to serve offenders and provide them with a place to live.
Offenders often end up in shelters, he said, because they can't find a room to rent and can't pass criminal background checks for public housing.
"Ultimately, they end up homeless," he said. "And if they are now shut out from the homeless shelter network, there needs to be a mechanism in place" to help them find housing and other services. "They're not just going to disappear." ..Source.. Tom Dalton
November 19, 2009
Salem shelter would support banning sex offenders
September 29, 2009
OH- Homeless offenders a headache
9-29-2009 Ohio:
Keeping track hard for sheriff's offices
egistered sex offenders live in Schiller and Goodale parks in Columbus.
Another gives his address as behind Paul Brown Stadium in Cincinnati, while still another stays in an old railroad steam tunnel in Cambridge.
And five live in vehicles parked on the streets of Marietta, from a pair of vans to a purple Dodge Neon.
How are sheriff's offices supposed to obey Ohio law by keeping track of such offenders and notifying neighbors of their presence?
Short answer: They can't.
"This is a horrendous problem for us," said Steve Martin, chief deputy with the Franklin County sheriff's office. "We're doing everything that is humanly possible to monitor these people."
But he acknowledges that's difficult for those who don't have a fixed address, such as the homeless. At least 160 people are "homeless" on the state's sex-offender database of more than 18,000 sex offenders, and many more are listed as living in such places as tents or vehicles, or on porches or park benches.
Examples of sex offenders' "homes" from the database: "Dayton Mall area" in Montgomery County; on "Courthouse Square" in Warren; "diversified" in Columbus; in a "Ford Fairmont station wagon" on River Road in Cincinnati; "under bridge by post office" in Newark; "across from Big Lots" on 2nd Street in Ironton; and "garage behind barber shop" on Reading Road in Mason.
Deputies are supposed to tell everyone living within a 1,000-foot radius when a sex offender moves in and monitor the offenders to make sure they keep their addresses current, as required by the law.
But keeping track of them is a challenge facing virtually every sheriff's office in Ohio, said Robert Cornwell, director of the Buckeye State Sheriffs Association.
"The real challenge comes in verifying that somebody lives someplace like under a bridge," he said. "How often do you go back and check on them to see if they're still living there?"
Martin said deputies met with the Franklin County prosecutor's office earlier this month to explore a possible change in state law. Until then, sex offenders without a permanent fixed address are being asked -- not required -- to check in daily with the sheriff's office.
Deputies struggle with who to notify when a sex offender lives in some place like a park, Martin said. Do they notify everyone around sprawling Schiller Park, for example, about the sex offender who lives there?
"Depends on what corner of the park he's in," Martin said.
In theory, the Schiller Park offender -- a 49-year-old man who has been convicted of failing to provide a change of address three times -- also would have to stay at least 1,000 feet away from Stewart Traditional Alternative School, which is across the street from the park. ..Source.. by Darrel Rowland, THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
