8-21-2014 Oklahoma:
Shedding the stigma and reducing recidivism through support, education and therapy – not prison time
OKLAHOMA CITY – Sex offender. The phrase conjures pariahs living under bridges. Adults "grooming" children for devastating abuse. Violent men who take what is not freely given. Broken people.
And yet, here comes Tyler, bounding down the hall with his dusty blonde Justin Bieber haircut and chunky sneakers. He turned 16 today. He and his family have just come from Chuck E. Cheese. Tyler’s mom smiles as she tells the other parents in her support and education group at the University of Oklahoma Medical Center, "Teenagers can regress back to Chuck E. Cheese if they want."
"A grown man can regress back to Chuck E. Cheese if they want," laughs Dr. Michael Gomez, who leads the group.
Under Oklahoma law, Tyler is a sex offender. But here at the University of Oklahoma’s Center on Child Abuse and Neglect, he’s "an adolescent with illegal sexual behavior." Doctors here teach kids like Tyler that 'sex offender' "isn’t their identity," Tyler’s mom, Amanda, says. "It’s a mistake you made." A serious mistake requiring treatment, but one that need not define them. "Kids are kids and should be treated as kids," says Jaclyn Rivera, assistant district attorney in the juvenile division of the Oklahoma County District Attorney Office. Rivera tries many of these cases and, whenever possible, makes treatment here a condition of probation. "You don’t want to be throwing around labels when you’re talking about kids," she says.
Founded in 1986, the University of Oklahoma’s program has pioneered the use of a weekly family-oriented support, education and therapy group to treat these children. Based on simple behavioral-therapy principles like positive reinforcement, positive social involvement with peers and clear structure and expectations, the program has had astounding success. Its recidivism rate – the proportion of kids from the program who go on to commit another sex offense – is 3 to 5 percent, about the same as the rate of sex offenses among the general population.
"You need to have good sense and you need to know the literature. And you have to like adolescents," says Barbara Bonner, the child psychologist and professor of pediatrics who founded the program and still runs it today. Other than that, Bonner says, it’s not the highly specialized, extremely difficult intervention that is often necessary for adult sex offenders – and that most state systems assume is necessary for kids. "We’re not mixing chlorine and hydrogen. We’re just saying, 'Stop it.'"
From the time he was little, Tyler had a classic case of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. He couldn’t sit still. He had no impulse control. He constantly got in trouble at school. Nothing serious, but "a pileup of littles," says Amanda, like leaning back in his chair, pushing in line. "He didn’t have any friends, because kids didn’t want to get in trouble with him." When Tyler was 7, his older sister – 11 at the time – abused him. The children gave each other oral sex, which workers from the state’s Department of Human Services characterized as "an extreme case of 'I’ll show you mine, you show me yours,'" Amanda recalls. She felt guilty about not being aware of the abuse sooner, but DHS set both kids up with counseling, and Amanda hoped the family could put it behind them. Criminal charges were never filed. "We treated it, I thought," she says. "But adolescence started kicking in."
When he was 14, Tyler began doing to his younger siblings what his older sister had done to him: He asked his younger sister to touch him and his little brother for oral sex. She was 7; he was 5. Amanda again called DHS, which investigated and then referred the case to the police. Last year he was adjudicated delinquent – the juvenile-court equivalent of "found guilty" – of lewd acts with a child under 16. ..Continued.. by Beth Schwartzapfel
August 21, 2014
An Oklahoma program treats juvenile sex offenders as kids, not criminals
October 11, 2010
Bill Wilson Center opens new program for youngest sex offenders
10-11-2010 California:
When three foster children spent five days in juvenile hall in 2009 on suspicion of molesting their younger sibling, the jailing sparked an outcry from public leaders and cast a spotlight on the lack of court-approved options for very young offenders in Santa Clara County.
Looking to bridge the gap in services, the nonprofit Bill Wilson Center in San Jose developed a community-based program to treat young sex offenders, considered the most difficult to house given the nature of their crimes and their need for intensive treatment.
Officials at the Bill Wilson Center hope the program will eliminate the need for youths 14 and younger suspected of committing certain offenses from being locked up in juvenile hall or sent to facilities outside of Santa Clara County.
The center launched the Services for Children with Sexual Behavior Problems program in September with three 13-year-old boys.
Santa Clara County's philosophy is "that most kids of that age who are charged with that kind of behavior are in need of therapy, counseling, redirection in their lives. They're not in need of "... incarceration," Supervisor Dave Cortese said. He said any alternative placement program was "desperately needed."
Cortese held public hearings following last year's jailing of three foster children, ages 10, 11 and 12. The hearings, and a subsequent report from the Superior Court's Juvenile Justice Commission, led to an unprecedented local policy that limits juvenile hall admission to children 13 years and older.
The new program targets children between the ages of 10 and 14 whose sex crimes are considered behavioral problems as opposed to violent, aggressive acts.
"There is a lot of fear around a youth who commits a sex offense," said Robert DeJesus, a probation manager for the Santa Clara County Probation Department.
He added that young offenders are not the "monsters that everyone has been fearing."
Lorraine Flores, associate director of the Bill Wilson Center, said the young children eligible for the program may have participated in some form of incest or may have been sexually abused themselves and are now acting it out on with a sibling or neighbor.
"We want to target the younger sexual offender who has the ability to develop some kind of insight and skill set to hopefully turn around any continued sexual offenses," Flores said.
Previously, some young sex offenders were removed from their homes and sent to Stanislaus, Sacramento and Riverside counties for treatment, according to the probation department. Often, young offenders who commit the acts on a sibling or neighbor can't return home until receiving therapy and treatment. Some of the out-of-county residential programs can last up to 18 months.
"This is the population where the offender can't go back home because the victim is nearby," DeJesus said. "During the treatment phase, the utmost concern is the safety of the victim."
The county also relies on a number of psychologists and psychiatrists to provide treatment on an outpatient basis for juvenile sex offenders who are allowed to remain at home.
The probation department could not provide recent annual statistics regarding the number of juveniles who commit sex offenses, or the number of offenders sent out of county for treatment. (Teens who have consensual sex and are cited would not go through juvenile probation.) However, the entire load of about 25 to 30 cases is handled by one probation officer, DeJesus said.
He cites studies that indicate a recidivism rate of less than 7 percent among juveniles who receive treatment for sex offenses.
To get the program started, the Bill Wilson Center hired a full-time therapist who specializes in sexual trauma and sexual behavior in adolescence.
The therapist assesses children and determines a treatment and safety plan with the family, school and other support systems, Flores said. The treatment plan would likely include individual, family and group therapy.
The goal is to help the youth make better choices, develop concepts of empathy, address anger management and deal with what the harmful behavior has done to the victim and to the community.
Although the sexual behavior program at Bill Wilson is an outpatient service, the center will have the option to place children into one of their other services such as the Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care program, which involves specially trained foster families.
During the nine- to 12-month program, staff members will have daily contact with the young offender, foster family and biological family, Flores said.
"It's pretty intense," he said. "Research shows that it really makes an impact in regaining that healthy family. The goal is to work with the youth so they safely reintegrate back into the family." ..Source.. Mark Gomez
