Human Services

Minnesota Sex Offender Program

Statewide Outcome(s):

The Minnesota Sex Offender Program (MSOP) supports the following statewide outcome(s).

People in Minnesota are safe.

Minnesotans are healthy.

Context:

The Minnesota Sex Offender Program (MSOP) provides services to individuals who have been court-ordered to receive sex offender treatment. Minnesota is one of 20 states that has civil commitment laws to indeterminately detain individuals for treatment to address their sexual dangerousness and as part of a broader strategy to manage the risks to public safety presented by sexual offenders. The statutory mission of MSOP is to promote public safety by providing sex offender treatment to individuals determined by the court as high-risk for reoffending and civilly committed to the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) for treatment.

Most of MSOP clients, but not all, come from the state Department of Corrections (DOC). Toward the end of their sentences, all individuals convicted of sexual offenses are reviewed by the Risk Assessment Community Notification Unit within DOC. Through this process, the DOC determines which cases to refer for consideration of civil commitment as a sexually dangerous person (SDP) or sexual psychopathic personality (SPP). It is then up to respective counties to determine if they wish to pursue civil commitment for these individuals after their period of incarceration is complete.

If a civil court determines an individual meets the statutory criteria for civil commitment, the person is committed to MSOP for court-ordered sex offender treatment for an indeterminate period of time. Transfer, provisional discharge or discharge from MSOP must also be ordered by the court. In 2012, the courts ordered the first provisional discharge from the program in many years.

MSOP is funded through general fund appropriations and county payments. Committing counties are responsible for 25% of the cost of care.

Strategies:

Civil commitment is only one tool on the statewide continuum of comprehensive sex offender management and supervision. MSOP accomplishes its mission through the following strategies:

·         Creating a therapeutic environment that is safe for clients and staff. The treatment model is client-centered and has a clear progression across the continuum of care.

·         Maximizing public safety by using state-of-the art technology to monitor client movement both inside the facility perimeter and for those with community privileges.

·         Prioritizing our responsibility to Minnesotans through efficient use of state resources to effectively enhance, develop, and manage a comprehensive and individualized treatment program.

·         Working together with community stakeholders, policy makers, and other state agencies to prevent sexual violence.

·         Developing resources for MSOP clients court-ordered for provisional discharge while maintaining public safety via community-based clinical services, integrated supervision and risk management, stable housing, and meaningful employment.

Results:

The number of clients served in MSOP has grown from 483 at the end of state fiscal year 2008 to 653 at the end of state fiscal year 2012. Despite its continued growth trend, MSOP has demonstrated numerous clinical advances, operational efficiencies, and security enhancements over the last few years.

Because individuals committed to MSOP can chose whether to participate in treatment, MSOP tracks the rate of participation in sex-offender specific treatment. MSOP also measures and reports the program’s operational per diem on an annual basis. The operational per diem measures the average program-wide daily costs for treating and housing MSOP clients. A downward trend indicates efficiency improvements in operating the program.

·         We have begun collecting information on a new performance measure that tracks the average of weekly clinical service hours per participant. We have also begun collecting information on the number of reportable injuries and claims for worker’s compensation. In the future, we will also be able to report on these new performance measures.

Performance Measures	Previous	Current	Trend
Rate of participation in sex-offender specific treatment (quarterly measure)1	85%	86%	Stable
Operational Per Diem2	$302	$290	Improving

Performance Measures Notes:

1    Compares March 31, 2012 (Previous) to June 30, 2012 (Current). Source: DHS Dashboard.

2    Compares FY 2011 (Previous) to FY 2013 (Current). Source: DHS Dashboard. The Operational Per Diem measures DHS’ average program-wide daily costs for treating and housing MSOP clients.