Sex Offender Management Board

QUARTERLY MINUTE
August 2019
In this issue:
  • Welcome
  • New Board Member
  • Policy Update
  • Committee Spotlight
  • Practice Corner
  • Research Corner
  • Upcoming Trainings
COMING UP
SOMB meeting!

When: August 16, 2019
Time: 9am
Where : Denver Police Protection Association (PPA) Event Center
RSVP: Click Here 

WELCOME
On behalf of the Sex Offender Management Board, we are pleased to present you with the August newsletter. This newsletter is one of many opportunities to have an open dialogue with professionals and other members of our community. These newsletters will share the latest research, practices, best business practices and updates on SOMB events. We strongly encourage you to provide input, comments, and suggestions. Of course, you are always welcome to attend our monthly board meetings, committee meetings, and reach out to board members. Lastly, the SOMB, in an effort to serve all regions of the State of Colorado, will be conducting our monthly board meeting in Grand Junction in the month of October.  Have a wonderful Summer!!  
 
Board Chair Honorable Marcelo Kopcow
Save the Date!

The Sex Offender Management Board is going on the road. This year, we look forward to going to Grand Junction. Stay tuned for more details and we hope to see you there!
What: SOMB Meeting
When: October 18, 2019
Office of Domestic Violence and Sex Offender Management Host Joint Conference 

The inaugural Domestic Violence and Sex Offender Management Conference was a huge success! Approximately 470 professionals from around the state met at Beaver Run Resort in Breckenridge from July 9 through the 12. The four-day event featured three keynote speakers, two film showings, and 30 educational breakout sessions on a wide variety of topics for professionals at all levels of their careers.

This year’s conference was special for many reasons. Thank you to all of the speakers, vendors and attendees who made the conference something to look forward to next year. Please save the date for the 2020 Conference which will be July 14-17, 2020 at Beaver Run Resort in Breckenridge, Colorado. 
Fingerprinting for Approved Supervisors

With the Colorado Bureau of Investigations’ (CBI) transition to electronic fingerprinting, many local law enforcement jurisdictions have chosen to no longer offer paper and ink fingerprinting services to their constituents. This has left agencies scrambling to determine how to establish compliance with SOMB requirements for FBI background checks for Approved Supervisors. The SOMB has been assured by CBI that if an individual states they need to be fingerprinted for an FBI background check, law enforcement will accommodate because the FBI does not accept electronic fingerprints. If they still refuse to assist, one possible recourse is Itentogo  
Additionally, the intent of the Board is for one initial FBI background check. Subsequent criminal history check requirements are met via CBI’s on-line process. 
Reapplication Reminder


It’s that time of year! For those of you whose listing is through December 31, 2019,  applications are due in our office no later than the close of business on August 31, 2019 .  Application 3 for evaluators and treatment providers is now a fillable PDF form and can be accessed here

Polygraph examiners can access QA forms and fillable PDF applications here

Helpful hints:
  • Make sure to check all of the statuses you are renewing.
  • If renewing juvenile and adult listings, you only need to submit one application.
  • The $125 fee is sent directly to our contractor to complete the background investigation. Colorado Revised Statute requires this be completed every three years.
  • Include all the required attachments so that application processing is not delayed.
Policy Update

Juvenile Standards updates
In May 2019, the Board finalized revisions to the Juvenile Standards in the Introduction section, various Guiding Principles, the Definitions section and areas within Sections 3.0, 4.0, 6.0, and 9.0. Some highlights include:
  • Clarification and expanded direction regarding youth that are mandated under the Standards as well as when the Standards are recommended
  • Guiding principles discussing the limitations to risk assessments, level of risk not based solely on sexual offense of adjudication/deferred adjudication and not all juveniles who have engaged in sexually abusive behavior require extensive or intensive interventions in order to reduce their risk for reoffending
  • Replacing the term sexual deviance with risk related sexual interests and behavior patterns including the purpose behind this change
  • Added an area to Clinical Supervision with the requirement of co-signing all SOMB evaluations
  • Added information to section 6.0, discussing polygraph as a tool to add incremental validity to treatment planning and risk management decisions, the limitations of research, and the limited and rationale for use
Practice Corner

The Sex Offender Management Board (SOMB) approved revisions to the Polygraph
Examination of Juveniles Who Have Committed Sexual Offenses Section 6.000 of the Juvenile
Standards and Guidelines on April 19, 2019. This Section outlines specific requirements prior to
administering a polygraph examination to a juvenile who has committed a sexual offense:
Section 6.050 – Rationale for Use
Section 6.100 – Suitability Criteria/Exclusionary Factors for Polygraph Testing
Section 6.120 – Appropriateness Criteria
The Standards now require approved treatment providers and multidisciplinary teams (MDTs) to
assess whether to use the polygraph, or not, with a juvenile who has committed a sexual offense
based on individual risk and need. If the approved treatment provider and MDT determine that
the polygraph should be used based on risk and need (such as cases with high or difficult to
manage risk), then the rationale for use should be documented.
Once the rationale has been determined to proceed with a polygraph examination of the juvenile
who has committed a sexual offense, then the suitability criteria/exclusionary factors, and
appropriateness criteria shall be reviewed to determine whether the juvenile is suitable and
appropriate to take a polygraph examination.
If the juvenile is determined to be suitable and appropriate to take a polygraph examination, the
juvenile can then be referred to take the polygraph exam. However, the polygraph examiner is
empowered to make the final determination of suitability for the juvenile to take the polygraph
examination.
Following completion of the examination, the approved treatment provider and MDT shall again
consider rationale, suitability, and appropriateness before each subsequent polygraph
examination.
Section 6.000 goes on to highlight specific requirements for polygraph examiners in
administering a polygraph examination to a juvenile who has committed a sexual offense. The
Section also highlights the limitations of the use of polygraph examination results as follows:
Standard 6.171 notes, “Information and results obtained through polygraph examination shall be
considered, but shall not become the sole basis for decisions regarding transition, progress, and
completion of treatment.”
For more information related to the Polygraph Examination of Juveniles Who Have Committed
Sexual Offenses Section 6.000 of the Juvenile Standards and Guidelines, please feel free to
contact the staff of the SOMB.
Research Corner-SOMB Data Collection System

In 2016, the Colorado legislature passed House Bill 16-1345 (6/10/2016), concerning the evaluation of sex offender management programs, which required the SOMB to collect data from evaluators, treatment providers and polygraph examiners. The SOMB drafted a plan in 2016 in response to the Bill. Specifically, the SOMB Best Practices Committee designed a sample data collection tool. In 2018, the Joint Budget Committee allocated funds for the implementation of a system to track statistics on services provided to offenders.
The SOMB is in the process of building an anonymous tracking system to collect administrative data from evaluators, polygraph examiners, and treatment providers at the completion of each service, including treatment discharge. The SOMB plans to use the aggregate level data to monitor how well the Standards are being implemented. The aggregate data will not be used to evaluate individual providers or programs. Once the data collection system is activated, providers will be expected to enter service data, and the SOMB will be responsible for training providers in how to use the system and for reporting results to the Colorado State Legislature. The purpose of the database is for quality improvement of the sex offender treatment and service process, and ultimately to protect victims and the community by reducing future sexual offenses. 
The SOMB data collection system has been developed by the team from the Governor's Office of Information Technology (OIT) and is currently being tested by treatment provider, evaluator and polygraph examiner representatives. The database system is anticipated to roll out this October 2019, and trainings will be announced soon. OIT is also working on a technical manual for all users.
The SOMB is also incorporating a provider tracking process into the data collection system. Thus, the provider information would become part of the new system so that approved providers can update their information online when logging into the database and ultimately be able to submit applications electronically. If you have any questions about the data collection system, please contact Yuanting Zhang via email . Thank you for your cooperation!
Upcoming Training
Our office is working hard to create easy to access webinars on the standards. This will give our treatment providers easier access to the standards and be aware of what changes if any have occurred and how to implement them in the field.
We also want you to know of other important trainings available that are not hosted by the SOMB but we strongly encourage our stakeholders to participate in.

Want to attend another great conference?

2019 CASCI National Sex Crimes Conference being held September 4-6, 2019 in Snowmass Village, CO. Please read more information here

30 th  Annual National Adult Protective Services Association (NAPSA) Conference August 19, 2019 from 8:00 – 11:30am at the Omni Interlocken Hotel, Broomfield, CO Please Jennifer Edwards-Hawkins for more information here

For current listing of what’s available and to see our partner’s listings, please visit our website .