SOMB Quarterly Minute
July 2020
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On behalf of the Sex Offender Management Board we are once again pleased to present you with this newsletter. We hope everyone is safe and healthy in these challenging times as we try to navigate best practices during these unique circumstances. For several months the SOMB has been implementing temporary modifications to the standards and adjusting to the challenges we are all facing. Some of these include the continued authorization of teletherapy and conducting board meetings by Webex. We are thrilled at the level of participation and attendance statewide. While it is unfortunate that our annual conference has been postponed, please understand this was a difficult decision when balancing the educational value of conducting the annual conference with your safety. SOMB staff will continue to explore alternative options.
I want to personally thank you for your commitment, dedication, and flexibility!
Honorable Marcelo Kopcow, Board Chair
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Sex Offender Management Board
New Look
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You may have noticed the new look and feel of the correspondence coming from our Office. Yes, we are still the same Office of Domestic Violence and Sex Offender Management (ODVSOM - get used to this acronym) that supports the work of the Sex Offender Management Board (SOMB) and the Domestic Violence Offender Management Board (DVOMB), however, we have been working on freshening up our appearance.
Here is the story. Our goal was to create a look that makes the ODVSOM and the two Boards (DVOMB and SOMB) stand out, and has a synergistic feel and represents that we are Colorado legislatively-mandated Boards housed within a Colorado State Agency - the Colorado Department of Public Safety. We are incorporating our new branding in digital communication emails, a new DVOMB and SOMB website that will be rolled out in the next few months, professional presentations, and into our annual conference. We hope you like, and easily recognize, the new look that represents our State, our professional fields, and the collaborative effort between the SOMB and DVOMB.
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WHERE: Online
WHEN: August 21, 2020
TIME: 9:300AM
(Tentative as of 7/28)
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Policy Update
On May 15, 2020 the Board ratified revisions to Section 4 (Adult and Juvenile) regarding the qualifications of Treatment Providers and Evaluators. Language was added discussing the administrative and third-party investigations as well as demonstrating compliance with the Standards and attesting to the commitment to comply with these Standards. Revisions to the training requirement, 40 hours of training which includes the SOMB Introductory or the SOMB Booster. Revisions were also made to the reference checks and requesting additional references, adding a Grace Period for Renewal along with an Eligibility for Future Renewal. The Board also revised the Administrative Policies and added language to explain the complaint process, Standards Compliance Reviews and the Variance process.
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Bittersweet
A parting letter from our long-serving Board Member Kandy Moore, MS, LMFT
I have been honored to be one of the Victim Representatives on the SOMB for nearly 12 years and will be completing my term at the end of October 2020. In those 12 years I have seen so many positive changes to the Standards which I believe have improved the quality of services offenders receive, and provided increased protection of victims and community safety in Colorado communities. It has been my privilege to work with all of the dedicated people on this board. The knowledge and expertise members bring to this board is unmatched and the staff are simply amazing.
I have been a trauma victim therapist for 34 years. In 1986 I was one of the founders of ChildSafe in Fort Collins, an out-patient treatment program for children and adolescents who were sexually abused and their non-offending family members. ChildSafe started as an incest treatment program and we treated the entire family; the offender, the child/adolescent victim and the non-offending parent. Last year ChildSafe treated 839 clients. I have always worked at both agencies which I believe has given me a unique perspective on the SOMB. In 2013 I retired from ChildSafe and currently have a small private practice where I primarily see adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse. I continue to work at Counseling Associates as an adult offender therapist. I really enjoy working with the whole family and in addition to victim and offender therapy, I do family therapy, couples therapy, as well as clarification and family reunification. In addition, I do trainings on these topics around the state for various organizations and I testify in District Court as an expert witness on child sexual assault cases. I love my work! It has been so rewarding to see victims recover and feel safe in their world again as well as observing the improvement therapy brings in the lives of offenders by giving them the skills and tools to be safe in the community.
I will greatly miss all my friends on the SOMB but I know great, important, critical work will continue to be done by all of these wonderful and dedicated individuals.
Kandy Moore, MS, LMFT has been a Victim Representative on the Board for over 12 years and has served on multiple committees including the Application Review Committee for 12 years. We are forever grateful to have Kandy represent the voice of survivors in the Board's effort to protect the community and victims and provide an opportunity for those who have committed sex offenses to be rehabilitated. Thank you, Kandy!
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Committee Spotlight
The Sex Offender Management Board (SOMB) Sex Offender Registry Legislative Work Group typically meets on a quarterly basis. The Work Group's focus is on discussing issues related to the registration and community notification for individuals required to register for a sexual offense. The Work Group discusses specific challenges stakeholders (typically law enforcement registry officials) are having with the registration and community notification process.
As part of the Work Group, specific issues related to the Community Notification Technical Assistance Team (CNTAT) are explored. The SOMB is required by statute to form the CNTAT to assist local law enforcement agencies with community notification regarding those who have been designated as sexually violent predators (SVPs). The CNTAT is available to provide technical assistance to law enforcement agencies with the community notification required by statute.
Over the past several years, the Work Group has identified specific challenges related to incapacitated registrants and registration of juveniles, and has made recommendations for modifications to the registration requirements. This has resulted in proposed or enacted legislation related to sex offender registration.
The SOMB appreciates the dedication of the law enforcement personnel who handle registration and community notification with compassion and supportiveness. Please contact Chris Lobanov-Rostovsky or the Chair of the Work Group, Detective Jeff Shay, who represents law enforcement on the SOMB, for further information about the Work Group.
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Research Corner
As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic circumstances around the delivery of evaluation and treatment services, providers have been doing telemental health under variance. The Domestic Violence Offender Management Board (DVOMB) and the Sex Offender Management Board (SOMB) have looked at the research on whether to continue allowing telemental health beyond COVID and are exploring the possibility of potential guidelines for the use of teletherapy or telemental health. The Boards want to hear input from all approved treatment providers and evaluators, and clients, as well as from key stakeholders.
Thus far (by July 22) we have received 115 responses from the Provider Telemental Health survey
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/telemental_Provider
and 46 responses from the Client Telemental Health survey
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/telemental_Client
. We recently modified the process so that multiple parties can take the survey using the same computer (feedback was received that this would be helpful for clients). We can also take electronic or paper surveys. For clients who do not have computer access, you can fill it out on paper, take a picture or scan it and email it to the staff researcher Yuanting Zhang at
yuanting.zhang@state.co.us
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Based on the feedback we have received including at the recent board meeting, we are also rolling out a new survey for other interested stakeholders (non-providers and not clients) and here is the link:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/TM_Stakeholder
. The deadline for answering all these survey questions is
Sept. 15, 2020
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Please help the DVOMB and SOMB identify any gaps. Thank you!
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Training Corner
The Lunch and Learns are web-based one-hour monthly trainings over the lunch hour hosted by the Sex Offender Management Board (SOMB) and the Division of Criminal Justice. They are intended to assist approved treatment providers, evaluators and polygraph examiners who are under the SOMB purview with the implementation of the Standards and provide technical assistance on specific case challenges. Our staff tries to partner with other subject matter experts in the field for these discussions and appreciates the collaboration that takes place.
This is an opportunity for our approved providers to:
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Be updated as to recent events at the Board meeting.
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Obtain the most current information regarding changes to the Standards and Guidelines.
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Discuss implementation of those Standards and Guidelines in your community and within your teams.
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To identify challenges to your work and learn from peers how they are managing similar challenges.
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Obtain technical assistance from staff.
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Approved providers that attend a lunch and learn are able to receive a training credit by participating in a content-based post-training survey. A recording of the lunch and learn can be accessed by other providers to be viewed on their own time, however, they will not be able to receive a training credit.
Some of the topics covered in the lunch and learns have been: Roles of a Victim rep on the CST/MDTs, Continuity of Care, Child Contact, Revisions to Juvenile Standards Updates, Polygraph, New Probation Terms and Conditions, SOMB purview and many others.
If your stakeholder group is interested in a webinar covering any of these topics, please contact us
here
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Polygraph Lunch and Learn Follow-Up
Thank you for all of those who attended Part I and II of the Lunch and Learn regarding Polygraph. As a follow up to this training, the Staff at the SOMB would like to go over the Post Test Questions and clarify any confusion regarding implementation of the Standards.
Part I:
1)
The CSTs/MDT must include the following members? 66% Correct
a.
CST: Supervising Officer, treatment Provider, Polygraph Examiner, Victim Representative
b.
MDT: Supervising Officer, Treatment provider, Polygraph Examiner, DHS Case Worker, Victim Representative, Therapeutic Care provider, Parents, School/School District, GAL or CASA, Juvenile.
2)
When can the SOMB Treatment be modified? 79% Correct
a.
If there is a change to the Court order or Variance approved
3)
Juveniles should never be doing polygraphs as a part of treatment per the new standards revisions. 97% Correct
a.
FALSE – the new juvenile Standards state teams must provide justification on why they are doing polygraphs as a part of treatment.
4)
The polygraph should ________ be used as the sole determining factor to make decisions regarding treatment and supervision. 100% Correct
a.
NEVER!
Part II
1)
Evaluators should be very detailed and prescriptive in their recommendations on how teams should use the polygraph results. 54% Correct
a.
FALSE! Evaluators should make recommendations that are consistent with the Standards and use of polygraph. Please remember that “Evaluations should be the starting point for the treatment plan”. Evaluators should use caution in making their recommendations overly prescriptive, especially regarding what teams should do following the results of the polygraph. Risk is dynamic and things can change, it is up the team to decide how to use disclosures and results of polygraphs throughout supervision and treatment, which includes any instant offense polygraph.
2)
The referral sent to an examiner for a polygraph should include: 88% Correct
3)
The polygraph is used for all the following, EXCEPT: 88% Correct
The SOMB Staff would like to thank the providers who participate in our Lunch and Learn's. These trainings are conducted to assist providers in implementing any revisions to the Standards and reinforcing best practices that already exist within the Standards. Following a training, should you have any questions regarding the Pre or Post test questions, answers or any of the information presented during the Lunch and Learns, please contact us!
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Contact Us
Phone: 303.239.4528
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