On Good Authority

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Supervising sex offenders
in DuPage, Lake, and
Winnebago counties
On Good Authority
Vol. 4, No. 4
October 2000
On Good Authority is a periodic
briefing on trends and issues in
criminal justice program evaluation.
This report was written by staff
Research Analyst Sharyn Adams. It is a
summary of a program evaluation of
the Specialized Sex Offender Probation
Project implemented in DuPage, Lake,
and Winnebago counties. The
evaluation was conducted by Magnus
Seng, Ph.D., and Loretta Stalans, Ph.D.,
of Loyola University Chicago. Copies of
the evaluation are available from the
Authority’s Research and Analysis Unit.
The Illinois Criminal Justice
Information Authority is a state
agency dedicated to improving the
administration of criminal justice in
Illinois. The basic functions of the
Authority are criminal justice research,
federal and state grants administration,
and information systems development
and support.
For more information, or for copies of
this or other publications, contact the
Authority at (312) 793-8550, or visit
our Web site at www.icjia.state.il.us.
The evaluation was supported by grant
#97-DB-MU-0017 and #98-DB-MU-0017,
awarded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance,
Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of
Justice. Points of view in this document do not
necessarily represent the official position or
policies of the U.S. Department of Justice.
Printed by authority of the State of Illinois,
October 2000. Printing order #01-058; 3,000
copies.
George H. Ryan
Governor
Peter B. Bensinger
Chairman
Candice M. Kane
Executive Director
ILLINOIS
CRIMINAL JUSTICE
INFORMATION AUTHORITY
Recent research indicates that sex
offending is a lifelong problem
for many sex offenders. Inad-equate
supervision of high-risk offenders
can lead to re-offending behavior, and
may contribute to high rates of recidivism
among sex offenders. Specialized
probation projects involving intensive
supervision were developed in several
counties to address the unique supervi-sion
needs of sex offenders.
In July 1997, the Illinois Criminal
Justice Information Authority, through the
federal Anti-Drug Abuse Act, awarded
grant funding to develop specialized sex
offender probation projects in DuPage,
Lake, and Winnebago counties. These
probation initiatives serve adult offenders
and are modeled on the containment
approach, which incorporates:
• Intensive supervision of offenders
including frequent field searches of the
their residences and the verification of
information verbally obtained from them.
• Group therapy, supplemented with
individual counseling.
• A partnership between probation
officers and treatment providers that
includes frequent communication and
information sharing on each offender.
Probation standards
The three probation projects were created
to provide a higher level of sex offender
supervision, and provide a more compre-hensive,
structured, and intensive strategy
to address the supervision and treatment
issues of sex offenders.
The target populations for the
DuPage County and Lake County
projects are adult felony and misde-meanor
offenders convicted of an
identified sex offense, or any offense that
is sexual in nature, and sentenced to
probation. The Winnebago County
project restricts its target population to
adult felony offenders convicted of any
offense that subsequently requires sex
offender registration. Victims of the
offenders in all three programs consisted
of both adults and children.
Each DuPage County probation
officer handled a monthly average of 27
cases; Lake County officers had an
average monthly caseload of 37 each; and
Winnebago County officers had an
average monthly caseload of 24 each.
While the three projects have
common goals, each one addresses the
supervision component in a different
manner.
The DuPage County sex offender
project encompasses three levels. Level I
consists of:
• Four face-to-face contacts per
month.
• A written agreement by the offender
within seven days of sentencing to
comply with 15 special conditions of
probation.
• Urinalysis and breathalyzer test
taken at each probation office visit.
• A daily activity log reviewed at each
office visit.
• Ongoing treatment.