Bridging the Gap: Creating Effective partnerships to reduce sexual victimization The 10 th Interfaith Symposium on the Sex Offender in Your Faith Community

THE PHILOSOPHY AND METHOD BEHIND THESE WORDS “Safety Starts Here”

Safety centered: As a Philosophy Includes victims & victim advocates Recognize ongoing risk to victims and community Faith communities work with service providers to inform policies & strategies Transparency and information sharing is vital

safety– Centered: As a Method Three Dimensions REFRAME SEEK INPUT BROADEN

Creating Partnerships to reduce sexual victimization Requires multi-disciplinary collaboration. Victim and community safety are paramount and should be placed at the forefront of sex offender management strategies. “ The most comprehensive and responsible approaches to community management of sex offenders are those which place paramount importance on addressing the needs and safety of past and potential victims of sexual assault.” Center for Sex Offender Management: The Comprehensive Assessment Protocol

Multidisciplinary Teams or Effective partnership “A group of community members from various specialties and backgrounds, working together toward a common goal.” CSOM identifies nine disciplines: Law enforcement * community corrections * institutional corrections * parole * defense * prosecution * courts * sex offender treatment providers * and victim advocacy

Multidisciplinary Teams or Effective partnership The Interfaith Group in King County identifies eight disciplines: *Law enforcement *Community corrections *Institutional Corrections *Prison Ministry *Faith Communities *Victim Advocacy *JRA Probation or Parole and *Sex Offender Treatment providers

Effective partnerships “Collaboration requires agencies and individuals to recognize the importance of diverse perspectives, share resources, and make a commitment to work together to enhance capacity toward attainment of a common goal.” Center for Sex Offender Management: The Comprehensive Assessment Protocol You are a key partner in this effort.

Let’s look at an example: a typical Faith community and community of service Providers Law Enforcement Prison Ministry Faith Community Community Corrections Victim Advocacy Sex Offender Treatment Providers JRA Probation or Parole Law Enforcement Institutional Corrections

An Effective Partnership or Multidisciplinary Model Faith Community Institutional Corrections Community corrections JRA Probation or Parole Prison MinistryLaw Enforcement Sex Offender Treatment Providers Victim Advocacy

Safety – Centered: Summary A philosophy that places the safety of victim and potential victims at the forefront of how we manage sex offenders; and A method that requires us to incorporate a new openness to a multidisciplinary partnership by examining each policy or case management decision through a lens that asks about potential impact of policies and decisions on victims and/or potential victims.

Scenario: During a Sunday school discussion about good touch/bad touch an 8 year old female made a concerning statement about one of the Youth Ministries Leaders to the Sunday School Teacher. The girl shared that on three different occasions the Youth Leader touched her privates when he had given her a ride home after the practices for the Christmas Service.

Special thanks to: Shawn McMahon and the Archdiocese of Seattle The staff at the Palisades Our Panel Members The 2012 Interfaith Symposium Planning Committee Mike North for the flyer Each of you!

A word about our evaluation Short form in your packet Longer online survey monkey that will be ed to you following today’s symposium and then a 6 month follow up Your input helps us provide the most useful and effective information for faith communities and service providers