Liberty Healthcare: Sex offenders in Indiana less likely to be re-incarcerated

Liberty Healthcare Corporation: “Indiana had the foresight to implement and maintain a program that manages a very difficult population”

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WHO: Dr. Adam Deming, Executive Director, Indiana Sex Offender Management and Monitoring Program managed by Liberty Behavioral Health Corporation for Indiana Department of Correction.

SUBJECT: How the State of Indiana treated over 7,000 sex offenders and reduced recidivism and costs of incarceration.

WHEN: January 31, 2011.

WHERE: American Correctional Association Winter Conference, San Antonio, Texas. Dr. Deming is available via telephone (317) 508-9178 during the conference.

BACKGROUND: According to state data, sex offenders in Indiana are significantly less likely to be re-incarcerated compared to national figures.

Only 17, or 1.7 percent, of 997 sex offenders released from prison in 2006 were convicted for a new sex crime within three years, a state recidivism analysis conducted in 2010 showed.

By comparison, a 2003 Department of Justice study found that 3.5 percent of the over 9,700 released sex offenders surveyed in 15 states had been convicted for a new sex crime within three years.

Credit for the success in keeping sex offender recidivism low is being given to the public/private partnership between the State of Indiana and Liberty Behavioral Health Corporation, which oversees the Indiana Sex Offender Management and Monitoring Program (INSOMM).

The program and the partnership will be discussed during a presentation being given by Liberty's Dr. Adam Deming, Executive Director of the INSOMM Program, and by Edwin Buss, former Commissioner of the Indiana Department of Correction, during the American Correctional Association's Winter Conference in San Antonio, Texas, on Monday, January 31.

"Since 1999, Liberty has been a true partner with the Indiana Department of Correction in our efforts to assess, treat, and manage our sex offender population," said Buss, who has been newly appointed to oversee Florida's correctional system. "The Liberty staff work collaboratively with our facility staff and our parole agents in the community to help keep Indiana communities safe. That collaboration has enabled us to reduce sex offender recidivism rates, and deliver fantastic programming outcomes."

Working with the state, Liberty provides sex-offender treatment and management services with the primary goal being making communities safer by reducing sex offender recidivism. After an assessment is made, clinicians provide treatment that targets specific risk-factors and needs of each offender in the program. By providing the right amount of treatment based on risk levels, the program is able to keep costs contained and avoid the additional high costs associated with re-incarceration.

"Indiana had the foresight to implement and maintain a program that manages a very difficult population," said Deming. "As a result the state has benefited greatly in fewer victims of sexual violence."

In addition to participating in treatment specific to sex offenders, inmates are required to attend sex offender re-entry programs including classes on sex offender registration and parole requirements. They also receive guidance on dealing with housing and employment issues. Liberty has provided these services to more than 3,000 Indiana parolees in the last three years.