Comprehensive Approaches to Sex Offender Management Grant Program

Administered by the Office of Justice Programs since 1998, the Comprehensive Approaches to Sex Offender Management (CASOM) Grant Program assists state, local, and tribal jurisdictions in improving their adult and juvenile sex offender management policies and practices by—

• Critically examining existing approaches to monitoring and managing this population.

• Identifying significant gaps and needs in these policies and practices.

• Developing strategies to address those needs.

CASOM Grantee Projects

In 2008, the SMART Office began managing the CASOM program and highlighted this method of sex offender management at the 2010 National Symposium on Sex Offender Management and Accountability. Since 2008, SMART has awarded 23 CASOM grants to 16 states, 3 tribes, 2 localities, and 2 technical assistance organizations to support communities in building capacity across disciplines to further this innovative approach. Some projects target underserved and under-resourced areas (e.g., rural law enforcement, community corrections agencies), others focus on a particular subgroup of offenders (e.g., juveniles who commit sex offenses), and still others provide training on the use of assessment tools. Tribal projects focus on multidisciplinary team development and systems planning. Many projects have addressed training needs for professionals who manage sex offenders at state and local levels, whether it be introductory training for newly hired law enforcement or community corrections personnel or advanced training for those professionals working with specialized sex offender caseloads.

CASOM Training Opportunities

The SMART Office funded a national training and technical assistance program to increase knowledge in the field about CASOM. The training is designed for all those involved in managing adult sex offenders and juveniles who commit sexual offenses. This 2-day, basic training emphasizes the importance of collaboration and systemwide planning that promotes community safety. Training topics include an overview of the comprehensive approach, what we know about sex offenders and their victims, and how to manage the risks and needs of offenders. Sex offender assessment, registration, treatment, and monitoring and public education and collaboration are covered in the training.

In addition to this basic training, a tribal-specific training curriculum—Enhancing Community Safety in Indian Country Through Comprehensive Approaches to Sex Offender Management—was developed to address sex offender management in Indian County with a specific focus on those tribes that have elected to become sex offender registration and notification jurisdictions pursuant to Section 126 of the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act. The tribal-specific training sessions have been provided to tribal government, law enforcement, courts, probation, and victim services and non-tribal law enforcement representatives.

State and local training sessions provided under this grant began in April 2010 and will continue through 2011. To learn more about upcoming events, please visit the CASOM Grant Program website.