The Role of Judges in Managing Juvenile Sex Offense Cases: Keys to Informed Decisionmaking

In partnership with the State Justice Institute and the Center for Effective Public Policy, NCJFCJ has developed a training curriculum tailored to address the specific needs and questions of juvenile and family court judges in dealing with juvenile sex offenders. An abbreviated version of this curriculum will be presented during NCJFCJ’s Annual Conference in Pittsburgh, July 17-20. Ultimately the curriculum will be produced for distribution to support state and local judicial education programs throughout the country. For more information and details, click on the link above and go to the CEPP website.

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uveniles Who Have Sexually Offended: A Review of the Professional Literature

Published in 2001 by OJJDP, this report examines the characteristics of juveniles who have committed sex offenses and the types of offenses they have committed. It also describes assessment methods and treatment approaches and discusses program evaluation.70 page pdf file.

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Judicial Education Opportunity: Juveniles Who Commit Sex Offenses

 The State Justice Institute, the Center for Effective Public Policy, and the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges will present a full-day model judicial education training curriculum to a limited number of states on a competitive basis.

The program will be previewed in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in July during our Annual Conference.

Key topics for the training:

	Making sense of specialized assessment, treatment, and supervision approaches from the perspective of the bench;
	Tailoring court dispositions to match each juvenile’s unique needs, level of risk, and to build upon their internal and external strengths and assets;
	Reviewing trends and challenges associated with JSO registration;
	Understanding the different risk factors associated with general juvenile delinquency versus juvenile sex offending.
	Managing the challenges of family reunification and preservation when victims and perpetrators are in the same home; and
	Exploring the multiple, critical roles of the judiciary in ongoing juvenile sex offender management efforts.

For more information on the curriculum and/or questions about the application process for the state-based training opportunities contact Kurt Bumby at kbumby@cepp.com or Tom Talbot at ttalbot@cepp.com

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California Coalition on Sexual Offending Web Site

The CCOSO web site contains resources, articles, guidelines and positions of interest for professionals working with sexual offenders. Formal CCOSO positions have been established for Internet Sex Offender Information Posting, Treatment Guidelines for Adult Male Sex Offenders, Community Containment, Family Resolution, and Polygraph.

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ATSA Statement on the Effective Legal Management of Juvenile Sexual Offenders

The Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers (ATSA) has this statement and recommendations about juvenile sexual offenders posted on its web site. It notes the differences between adult and juvenile sex offenders and the need for different treatment approaches. The recommendations include one that encourages the prosecution and adjudication of juvenile sex offenders in the juvenile courts.

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Juvenile Sex Offender Assessment Protocol-II (J-SOAP-II)

Downloadable online manual. 

Juvenile Sex Offenders Recidivism Rates Are Between 5 and 18%

A September article in the Connecticut Journal Inquirer reports that, contrary to common beliefs, when juvenile sex offenders receive appropriate treatment they commonly cease to re-offend. Therapies for young offenders have moved away from the one-size-fits-all approach in which treatment was based on adult sex-offender rehabilitation.  The article includes interviews with therapists and a discussion about the many reasons why children become sex-offenders. 

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Anyone who deals with juvenile sex offenders will want to bookmark this site. It is intended to improve the accuracy, accessibility, and strategic use of information about the nature, incidence, prevalence, treatment, re-entry, and management of children with sexual behavior problems and adolescent sex offenders. The site is still pretty new. At this date take a look at the Publications Page with its excellent fact sheets and the Treatment Provider Referral Page. 

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CSOM – Center for Sex Offender Management

CSOM’s goal is to enhance public safety by preventing further victimization through improving the management of adult and juvenile sex offenders who are in the community. Here’s a look at a couple of the services they offer:

	Training Curricula for probation and parole, treatment providers, victim advocacy groups and others.
	Myths and Facts About Sex Offenders – A document about the common assumptions and the real facts about sex offenders.

Juveniles Who Have Sexually Offended: A Review of the Professional Literature. 

The executive summary section of this new publication notes that "programs designed to meet the perceived needs of these young offenders frequently apply knowledge and interventions designed for adult offenders without considering developmental issues and needs unique to juveniles." To which it is tempting to reply, "So what else is new?" Applying adult remedies to the problems of children is something we’ve seen over and over again in the juvenile justice field.  This report, however, does fill a gap in a very small bookshelf of reliable knowledge and information about juvenile sex offenders. The report’s authors, Sue Righthand and Carlann Welch, conducted a very thorough examination of the available research on nature of juvenile sex offenders and brought that information together within the covers of this manual.

Juveniles Who Have Sexually Offended is downloadable and can also be obtained in hard copy from OJJDP. It appears to be long enough that it would probably be a good idea to order the hard copy version from OJ. See ordering information at the bottom of this page. I’ve provided a link here to the executive summary of the manual which is 15 pages long and easily downloaded.