Hello and welcome to Spring everyone! I trust we are all looking forward to some warmer weather and outdoor activities. We here at the SOMB are also gearing up and looking forward to another great conference in July. Be on the lookout for registration coming soon. Last year was a big success and I am certain you won't want to miss it this year with the new addition of intensive pre-conference workshops. I'd like to take the opportunity to thank everyone that took time out of their busy schedules to participate with the Legislative hearings for the SOMB Sunset Bill. We will look for that to finalize soon. 

The Board and various committees have also been busy this quarter with multiple Standards revisions related to the qualifications of providers, licensing and clinical supervision, evaluations in the Adult Standards and a number of Juvenile Standards related to victim clarification, appeals and accountability. Be sure you take some time to review those changes to stay up to speed. And as always, I'd like to invite anyone interested to participate in any one of our numerous committees that meet monthly. This is the best way to ensure stakeholder voices are heard and feedback accounted for most efficiently.

Thank you for all you do - our community needs each and every one of us. It truly takes a village! 



Thank you,

Kimberly Kline, MA, LPC, ACS

SOMB Chair

Policy Update - Children with Problem Sexual Behavior

The SOMB approved the resource document for children with problem sexual behavior (PSB) on February 17, 2023 (to see the full document, link). The SOMB began working on this paper a year ago to address the treatment needs of this population. Children with PSB are a diverse population with some needing more short-term psychoeducational interventions, and others needing more extensive trauma- and family-based treatment. The resource document outlines how best to assess the individualized needs of this population and make appropriate treatment recommendations. The document also addresses the role that the child-serving system and agencies must play in working with this population.

The SOMB would also like to bring to your attention the fact that there may be proposed legislation in the 2023 Legislative session similar to bill that was not passed last year to raise the minimum age for adjudication to age 13 (prior bill was HB 22-1131 - https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/hb22-1131). This proposed bill, if introduced, should have a significant impact on meeting the needs of children with PSB. For more information on the children with PSB resource document, please feel free to contact a staff member at the SOMB. 

Next SOMB Meeting

Please join us for our monthly SOMB meeting In-Person or Virtually.

When: April 21, 2023

Time: 9:00am-4:00pm

Where: Denver Police Protective Association Event Center

2105 Decatur St., Denver, Colorado 80211

Agenda Coming Soon!

Traveling Sex Offender Management Board Meetings

This form is a solicitation for traveling SOMB Meetings across the State of Colorado. This allows for other stakeholders to be a part of our meetings in person. Our meetings are the Third Friday of every month. If you are interested in having a SOMB Meeting in your city, please fill out the form below.

Please view our Training Updates below!

SOMB Provider HUB

The SOMB is excited to announce the new SOMB Provider HUB!! This is a website where Providers can find Lunch & Learn and standard training recordings. This Hub is for SOMB Providers ONLY. In this Hub, all of the previous and future SOMB Lunch & Learn recordings will be posted, as well as Standards Training recordings. You will need to Register for the Provider Hub ONCE and then you will be able to log in throughout the year to view trainings (it is set up similarly to the conference recordings). You will have to manually be Approved before you are able to log into the Provider Hub.

**Note: There is not a set time or date for these online trainings, they will be available at any time after you register throughout the year. This is where Providers can get their training hours.

Committee Updates

The Juvenile Revisions Committee has been busy over the past year. The main focus has been on providing clarifying language in several sections to provide additional guidance. Some highlights of this include:

• Adding discussion points related to the Family First Prevention Services Act to areas of section 2.000, 5.000, and 9.000 that offer guidance on how to address inconsistencies. 
• Adding additional language to enhance inclusivity and remove potentially dismissive or inaccessible language. 
• Adding additional information about formulating a recommendation regarding the sex offender registry and where to find resources on the topic. 
• Adding information about providing clients with treatment plans and discharge summaries. 
• Adding information to provide guidance about working with multiple victim representatives and how to clarify roles.
• Adding information about providing victims clarification letters and how to address concerns that arise. 

In the coming year the committee will focus on making revisions to section 2.000 based on review of the Association for the Treatment and Prevention of Sexual Abuse (ATSA) practice guidelines. The committee will be reviewing the standards to consider areas of further enhancement, clarification, or changes based on the ATSA practice guidelines. The committee is not blanketly accepting the ATSA practice guidelines as we need to ensure applicability to the system in Colorado and consider statute and existing standards.  As a larger project the committee is working on establishing a more uniform revisions and implementation process to minimize impact to providers. Standards revisions discussions will occur between July and December of each year. These draft revisions will then move through the Board process between January and March with a target final approval from the Board at the March or April meeting. Once ratified by the Board the approved revisions will have an implementation period from April to June 30th with a final implementation effective date of July 1 of each year. This will allow providers increased understanding of the process and be able to better plan for new standard implementation. Standards will still be revised outside of this time schedule due to statutory changes or significant changes in research that necessitate a more timely revision and implementation. This timeframe will also allow for enhanced stakeholder participation as various groups will have more awareness of the revisions schedule and the next steps. Implementation in July will allow for alignment with the fiscal year and the annual SOMB conference where new can be announced as a kick off to revision implementation. The committee meets the first Monday of the month virtually from 10am - 12pm for anyone interested. 

Thank you, 

Dr. Carl Blake

Practice Corner - Use of Interpreters

The Sex Offender Management Board is committed to ensuring that all Standards and Policies are inclusive of all diverse populations, and provide guidance in an equitable way to all stakeholders. Throughout the revisions to the Adult Standards, the Revisions Committee remains committed to increasing cultural awareness and competency in the work of all approved providers. In October 2021, the Board approved revisions to Section 2: Standards of Sex-Offense Specific Evaluations which provides guidance regarding the use of interpreters during evaluations.

Standard 2.160: Language, Cultural, and Ethnic Considerations were drafted in the Adult Standards Revisions Committee following a review of literature and research when evaluating individuals whose primary or native language is not English and populations outside those in which our assessments are currently validated or normed. Not only did the Revisions Committee emphasize the important information and guidance when using an interpreter, but understanding the cultural and ethnic characteristics that impact an individual during an evaluation. The Standard recognizes that it is best practice to conduct an evaluation in someone’s preferred language, as well as the benefits of having someone who understands the cultural and ethnic characteristics of the client. Included in the main heading, 2.165 – Use of Interpreters: Part A discuss information evaluators should share and discuss before their evaluations. Part B lists all information required to be documented by evaluators when an interpreter is needed and used within an evaluation. This is followed by a discussion recognizing the inherent difficulties of using an interpreter when discussing such personal and sensitive information.

All Approved Evaluators and Treatment Providers are encouraged to review these changes and contact the SOMB with any questions or concerns.

2023 Annual Domestic Violence & Sex Offender Management Conference



"Activating Intersectionality while Building Healthy Lives & Trusting Partnerships"

July 11 - 14, 2023

Breckenridge, CO

Registration Coming April 24th

Conference Awards

Denise Fransua Domestic Violence Offender Management Leadership Award

This award will honor a person who exhibits the attributes of effective leadership in domestic violence offender management. This person should exhibit charisma, demonstrate exceptional compassion, dedication, be influential and driven to make a difference in either reducing the occurrence of domestic violence or making a difference in the lives of victims of domestic violence. His/her/their efforts should have resulted in positive change and significant contributions to their community or the state in domestic violence offender management. This award is appropriate for treatment providers, supervision officers, victim advocates, law enforcement, caseworkers, and other professionals responsible for domestic violence offender management.

Gary Burgin Sex Offender Management or Treatment Leadership Award 

This award will honor a person who exhibits the attributes of effective leadership in sex offender management or treatment. This person should have respect among peers, and a high level of integrity. This person should promote collaboration, and his/her/their efforts should have resulted in positive change and significant contributions to their community or the state in sex offender management or treatment. This award is appropriate for treatment providers, supervision officers, caseworkers, researchers, and other professionals responsible for sex offender management/treatment.

Senator Norma Anderson Excellence in Victim Advocacy Award 

This award will honor a person who exhibits excellence, innovation, or creativity in victim representation. This person should demonstrate exceptional compassion, dedication, and commitment to victims. This award is appropriate for victim advocates and representatives, victim therapists, law enforcement, and other professionals who work with or for victims. 

Nominations due May 19th, 2023

Research Corner



Research Corner by Dr. Rachael Collie, Staff Researcher ODVSOM, DCJ, CDPS

In this quarter, I focus on emerging research on juveniles with sex offenses. The first article describes the Youth Needs and Progress Scale, which focuses on assessing and tracking a range of dynamic intervention needs across time intended to mitigate risk (rather than predict risk). The second article describes the life course outcomes for a group of adults who were seen for treatment of problematic or harmful sexual behavior as a youth. Both articles focus on the broad treatment needs of youth with sexual offenses.

Kang, T., Lee, A., Beltrani, A., & Prentky, R. A. (2022, December 15). Tracking Dynamic Intervention Needs as a Vehicle for Mitigating Risk Among Juveniles With Sex Offenses. Psychology, Public Policy, & Law. Advanced online publication. https://dx.doi.org/10.1037/law0000375 

Kang et al. report on the development of the Youth Needs and Progress Scale (YNPS) for assessment of youth with sex offenses. The YNPS is designed to assess dynamic intervention needs that are risk-relevant, desistance-related, potentially protective, and necessary for treatment responsiveness. Kang et al. discuss their rationale for emphasizing intervention needs and progress, over risk per se, as a response to the dynamic nature of adolescent development, the heterogeneity among youth with sex offenses, and the low base rates of sexual reoffenses. The YNPS development process started with a broad range of potential items that was refined through expert consensus to a pilot version that was tested with a large group of youth across 5 states. The final version of the scale includes 22 items on four subscales: General Behavior (e.g., nonsexual behavior management, school/work), Sexual Behavior (e.g., understanding appropriate sexual behavior, sexual attitudes and beliefs), Socioecological Needs (e.g., relationship with the primary caregiver, stability in the living situation), and Specific Responsivity Needs (e.g., mental health management). Preliminary validation showed that higher-risk youth (on the JSOAP-II) had higher average treatment needs than lower-risk youth as expected. The YNPS was also sensitive to a change in needs across a 1-year period (due to either intervention or maturation effects). The YNPS final scale and user manual can be accessed at no cost at this website: https://osf.io/ptbw9/?view_only=885c7d84db544a44bf1570597a88ee9d. The manual indicates that the YPNS is suitable for male and female youth aged 12-25 years, and notes that it may be suitable for use with youth across the full spectrum of gender identities. 

Hackett, S., Darling, A. J., Balfe, M., Masson, H., & Phillips, J. (2022). Life course outcomes and developmental pathways for children and young people with harmful sexual behavior. Journal of Sexual Aggression, doi.org/10.1080/13552600.2022.2124323. 

Hackett et al. describe and analyze the life course outcomes for youth (n=69; 64 males, 5 females) who participated in treatment for problematic or harmful sexual behaviors (offenses) and who were followed up in person 10-20 years later. The youth were aged between 8-18 years old at the time of referral (average age 14 years) and were in their twenties and thirties at the time of follow-up. At the time of referral, approximately 80% of the youth had contact-related harmful sexual behavior. At the time of follow-up, 6% (4/69) had committed a further sexual offense while 9% (6/69) had other adjudicated non-sexual offenses. Despite these relatively low negative outcomes, there was greater diversity in the overall life course outcomes with 26% classified as successful, 31% mixed, and 43% unsuccessful based on a qualitative review of their life narratives. In the most successful outcomes, the participants described very stable and happy lives. Many continued to express shame and distress about the harm they had caused but seemed to have married this with a new positive identity also. Conversely, in the least successful outcomes, participants described highly negative and unhappy lives characterized by continuous personal problems and challenges. A small proportion of these participants had presented with significant non-sexual violence and general offending in their youth. Hackett et al. discuss the themes evident in better and poorer outcomes including individual agency, problem-solving and self-management abilities, success in school and work, stability of partner relationships, and the influence of wider peers and support systems. The findings highlight the importance of broad-based, developmental processes in longer-term outcomes and are consistent with strengths-based holistic approaches that focus on youths’ social and emotional capabilities and wider social environments. The Hackett et al. article is an open-access publication available at no cost from this link: https://doi.org/10.1080/13552600.2022.2124323 

Conclusions

The two research reports both emphasize the problems of exclusively focusing on risk when evaluating and working with youth and propose that the better emphasis is on treatment and developmental needs. Both provide structured guidance across individual, relational, and social-environmental domains. I am also pleased to highlight that this research is readily accessible through no-cost open-access options with links provided under each review.