Re: Reunification of paroled abusers

["Prescott y Keeler" <bc766@xxxxxxxx>]

Dear Bill,
I work for the Los Angeles County, Department of Children and Family
Services, in a specialized counseling program known as the Central Los
Angeles Sexual Abuse Unit.  We provide counseling to families impacted by
child sexual abuse.  I am the Supervisor of that program.

At any one time 20 to 80 percent of our child sex offenders will have a
conviction.   Not all have spent time in jail.  There is also a population
who do not come into treatment with us when the family is referred because
they are in jail.

Typically, probation and parole Court orders stipulate that the offender is
to stay away from the victims.  It is typical for our program as well as the
CSWs to be uninformed officially regarding the offender's release from
prison.  We usually hear about a child sex offender's prison release from
the family.  Non-molesting parents will sometimes disclose.  Victims
frequently disclose as they often are living in fear that the child sex
offender will take revenge on them.

As an adjunct to my work, I am also the Chair of the Los Angeles Sex
Offender Roundtable and the Secretary to the (parent group) California
Coalition on Sexual Offending.  These groups represent a coalition of
professionals who work with sex offenders.  They represent such fields as
parole, mental health, probation, corrections, child protective services,
CYA and community agencies.

I would be willing to forward a copy of the Los Angeles Sex Offender
Roundtable's mailing list (about 200 people in Southern California) if you
wanted to conduct your own little survey.  I could also present a request to
do the same to the California Coalition on Sexual Offending (CCOSO) at the
September meeting.  The CCOSO membership mail list is about 145.

You could also visit our site at http://www.ccoso.org/

Bill Schouwieler, Ph.D. is the CCOSO Chair.  I believe in the past one of
your LAO office members interviewed Gerry Blasingame, MFCC, about his
program in Redding, California.  Gerry is the CCOSO Vice Chair now.

I hope we can be of help.

Ken Prescott, MSW, LCSW
(213) 639-4053