The state auditor released a report Thursday criticizing the Department of State Hospitals’ evaluation system for determining whether prisoners due for parole or psychiatric patients being held at Coalinga State Hospital are sexually violent predators.
The audit found that evaluations of current and potential “SVPs” are inconsistent, and that there is no standard protocol used to determine whether those being assessed meet the criteria for confinement. The audit also found that evaluators lack clinical supervision and training, and that Coalinga has a “significant backlog” of annual evaluations that violates the rights of patients. Full Article
Article in LA Times today (page B4) about state audit highly critical of the Department of State Hospitals’ evaluation system for committing sex offenders to a psychiatric hospital when they are released from prison:
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-state-audit-svp-evaluations-20150312-story.html
It basically says there are no standards, no supervision of the decisions, inadequate training for decision makers and workers, and a huge backlog of annual evaluations that means even if you were ready for release, it could be years before you even get your evaluation.
This is INTENTIONAL! Every last bit of this keeps these people locked up even longer. If it were not intentional, the results would go both ways.
On a tangent, I must point out, this is exactly the issue I have been taking about related to the proposal for tiers. The tiers should NOT be linked to an evaluation – that is going to be used down the line to create all kinds of trouble and will be taken over by the hate-mongers. I can’t even imagine all the angles the hate-mongers who take over the tier system will come up with, but I guarantee you they will come up with things, plenty of things, to thwart us. Stop giving them the ammunition to do so. If you give them an inch, they absolutely will be taking a mile (or 100 miles!). If you leave a little hole, they will drive a damn truck through it (or sale a battleship through!). The tiers should be set by the offense, a certain time frame for a certain offense. The only time an evaluation should come into play is when a registrant wants to apply to be put in a lower tier.
The tiers should be linked only to the number of years since conviction not even to the number of years of actual registration as that, too, is another minefield of trouble. Link the tiers only to how long since conviction.
And again, do not include any need to apply to the state once you reach your tier level – again, that is another minefield. I guarantee you, the courts eventually are going to say that it is implicit in the requirement for application that it can be denied, as the courts will say there would be no point of an application if it can’t be denied and that there must be a point to it if it is the law.
The tier proposal CA RSOL has been proposing is one that will only be pulling the wool over our own eyes!
*** moved from General Comments March 2015 *** Moderator
You have a point…even CASOMB says “a high risk offender after 17 years offense free is as likely to commit a sex offense as anyone”
Good, valid remarks on Tiered Registry, “Anonymous Nobody”.
My experience is that these psychologists specializing in sexual offender therapy are practicing a very imprecise art-science and: 1. they’ll make decisions to the benefit of whoever is paying for their services, and; 2. as government employees, their primary concern is always “CYA”, so they’re likely to keep people locked up much longer than necessary.
Somehow this article doesn’t surprise me. When my loved one was required to attend his sex rehabilitation classes, he would come home with the assignment of completing a task. Often times, the task presented was so deviant to think about doing, that he could not complete it. The therapist put all registered citizens in the same category no matter their offense. It was almost like she was instructing them how to reoffend and earn the label sexually violent predator. She was constantly ridiculing the members of the class by reminding them that they were sex offenders. Never once did she treat them like human beings. If the members of the class admitted to anything about their feelings, they lived in fear of it being reported to their probation/parole officer. Because this is a requirement to complete this class to get off of probation, my loved one trudged through it. Of course, none of the required “therapy” is covered by insurance, our family bore the cost of this mental abuse. What makes you think the state system of determining a sexual violent predator is any different? The powers that be who determine this category and many others are only interested in saving their jobs and the money their employer pays them. Think about how many people would become unemployed if the justice system treated a registered citizen like an actual redeemable individual?? It’s all about the money.
“hannah grace”, I agree – the SO therapy I had to attend was “psychological abuse”. The therapist refused to answer my questions if they stumped him or pointed out an inconsistency in law or treatment. He would simply stonewall.
It’s disturbing that our courts put any faith in these snake oil salesmen!
I guess I’m pretty fortunate then, because the therapists that we’ve been appointed, here in Solano County, are helpful & resourceful (though we’ve been told of how inadequate some of the Ph.D’s are in some places). The head therapist, which covers my group, has been experienced in this field for over 30 years & has started by working through the prison system.
Anyhow, they encouraged all participants to think & understand that they are “former sex offenders” rather than sex offenders. There is quite a bit to express of how actually helpful it has been compared to the parole’s P.O.C. shenanigans, with the exception of that they coerced us (the threat of a violation if we were to refuse) into signing a form stating that we must willing surrender our patient to doctor confidentiality privilege.
Like the polygraphs that we are forced to take, there are some unnecessary flaming hoops that we have to jump through. I failed one & was told I’d be violated if I had failed another. I passed the next one, then my P.O. interrogated me for what I openly honest of. Just like religion: They want to convict you of thought crime if they can, and don’t think from a second that they aren’t working methods to do so (like M.R.I. brain scans).
Sorry about getting off topic, but I agree with opinions here; I don’t trust the system or what the governing bodies are trying to do with it either.