Tom Tobin, CEO of Sharper Future, has resigned from the California Sex Offender Management Board (CASOMB) where he served as Vice Chairman for more than two years. Although no reason was given for his resignation, a growing number of complaints had been made that his participation on the board was at least an appearance of a conflict of interest because the company he leads provides counseling services to registrants.
Sharper Future is a subdivision of Pacific Forensic Psychology Associates, a California corporation, which Tobin also leads. Both organizations have been awarded multiple contracts by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation which is also represented on CASOMB.
Sharper Future has offices in five different California locations near Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco.
After Tobin’s resignation, there are a total of five vacancies on CASOMB including a representative from the Criminal Defense Attorneys Association. That vacancy has existed for more than a year and has resulted in an absence of a criminal defense perspective on that board.
I have mixed feelings about this. He has pretty much been out of the loop for almost a year now so I don’t think this is a surprise to any of us. I will say that we often attack Tobin but forget that there are also other much larger sex offender providers in the state doing the exact same things sharper Future is doing. For example, HOPE has the contract in San Diego and the bay area and many other cities, CPC has contracts in the central valley, and that’s not forget about ANEW program in Southern California that services a ton of sex offenders. Sadly, I have been in treatment with almost all of these providers and can tell you they all are the same. Sharper future, CPC, Hope, ANEW…they all did the same thing. They all do a polygraph. They all take taxpayer money. They all use new and unlicensed staff. If we are going to attack Sharper Future we better attack the other big three as well. In my humble opinion, some of the other programs I went to I mentioned above were actually worse than sharper future. But that’s just my two cents. I would be curious to hear what other people say.
So farewell Tobin, But I’m not holding my breath that there isn’t another just like him and a program just like his already doing the same work and about to take his chair on the board.
The position available could be filled by Chance, Janice or another of our attorney colleagues….
Though Tom Tobin is gone, Tobin infected CASOMB and California’s laws for many years to come.
Tom Tobin peddled the Static-99 and 99R progeny, presumably to increase “treatment” duration and frequency for “High” Risk Sex Offenders, resulting in more tax funding for his Sharper Future program. CDCR sex offender reports only cite the High Risk Sex Offender (HRSO) label for one year after a person’s release, resulting in the false and misleading illusion that an HRSO has a “high” lifetime risk.
CASOMB’s Static-99R “studies,” which rely on Karl Hanson’s non-transparent “trade secret” (no joke) sample, only examine the Static-99R for a five-year period after release. And virtually all of CASOMB’s “studies” that give raving reviews of the Static-99R are either authored or co-authored by Karl Hanson himself. Yet another conflict-of-interest in plain sight!
All of Tom Tobin’s Static-99R claims are in direct contrast to the fact that after five-years that an offender has remained in the community offense-free, “risk” is halved. This is per the Static-99R’s very own Coding Rules! So virtually no offender, at least the ones who remain offense-free for at least five years, deserves lifetime registration and/or to be labeled “Tier 3.” Even the 20 year requirement is a complete joke, considering risk drops to half after five years!
With the tiered registry law, under the misleading pseudonym “SARATSO tool,” Tobin’s Static-99R will further infect WHO will be required to register for LIFE. Many of those who are deemed “high” risk by the Static-99R sham are non-violent offenders who committed their offense at a young age — since non-violence and young age are given higher scores. A disproportionate figure of those deemed “high” by Tobin’s Static are gay — since those with a male victim are also given higher scores.
As CASOMB co-chair for over a decade, we have Tom Tobin to thank for the SARATSO/Static-99R/”tool”/”instrument”/Minority Report sham. If, as Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice,” then let Tobin be judged for the junk “science” and practices (i.e. ABEL, polygraph, Static, unlicensed clinicians, dubious “client” contracts, etc.) that Tobin sells in his so-called treatment program.
Keep in mind that even though Tom Tobin has stepped down, Tobin is still CEO of Sharper Future — the largest CDCR contracted “treatment” program. Not doubt that Tobin still has the connections to influence law, policy, and grow/retain CDCR contracts. I suspect that “doctor” Tobin will now work behind the scenes and out of government transparency. Given my familiarity with Tobin and Tobin’s practices, this is a particularly troubling thought.
As much money these programs are racking in you can bet no matter who sits on that board stand to get many pay offs in our blunt future .
They are just avoiding the fact that its all punitive and they are going to have to give a person due process in order to prove a person is such a threat to the public they can impose more punitive restriction on a person This is what has to happen. Anything else the glove don’t fit and you must acquit.
I would nominate Dylan Ford to take the Defense Attorney seat on CASOMB. He’s based out of LA and has been terrific in helping registrants, including winning a lawsuit that ended outrageous residency restrictions for most parolees.
Chance, Janice or their selected attorney would be FANTASTIC!