State-Based Implementation of Evidence-Based Sex Offender Management Practice

• In Event: Policy Panel: Advancing Evidence-Based Sex Offender Management: Policy and Research Perspectives

Abstract

Devising effective state-level sex offender policy requires balancing public safety goals with potentially competing factors such as fiscal and legal constraints, agency operational requirements, and local jurisdictional needs. These considerations may sometimes diverge from those of federal policymakers, who are typically concerned with a more global set of issues, and are often more insulated from fiscal and operational concerns. Given these factors, evaluating the application of research evidence to sex offender policy requires specific attention to how state policymakers utilize evidence to help meet their efficiency, public safety, and citizen accountability goals.

This presentation will discuss the role of research evidence in developing and implementing evidence-informed sex offender management policy at the state level. Specific areas of discussion will include the challenges of instilling a culture of evidence-based practice across various stakeholder groups, the role of research in the policy development process, and state roles in generating new evidence through data-driven policy and practice refinement. The presentation will also offer a state-level perspective on some of the federal initiatives currently underway, including the SOTIPS project focused on dynamic risk assessment and Circles of Support and Accountability.

Author

• Christopher Lobanov-Rostovsky, Colorado Department of Public Safety