Facility for homeless high-risk sex offenders shut

A step-down facility for high-risk sex offenders leaving prison has shut, and there is no national plan in place to deal with sex offenders who become homeless, a senior probation service official has warned.

Concerns about dealing with homeless sex offenders were expressed at a high level inter-agency meeting between Dublin City Council, homeless services and the probation services last year.

According to documents obtained by the Irish Examiner, the chair of a special multi-agency group (MAG), set up to deal with such people said, while many non-governmental groups are working with low- to medium-risk offenders, there is a gap concerning more serious offenders.

The probation services official, who was chair of the MAG at that time, called for a national policy or protocol specifically to deal with the problem.

“In light of the lack of progress to develop a high risk unit for this cohort, there is a deficit in service provision for this small cohort of the homeless population,” the meeting was told.

The MAG was set up in 2004, at the request of the state body that oversees homelessness, to respond to an identified problem of homelessness amongst sex offenders released from custody. There are about 1,100 sex offenders on the register, and about 150 are supervised by probation services.

According to the documents, concerns were also raised about the closure of the New Directions programme for high-risk and high-profile sex offenders on December 8. The community-based organisation provided residential support services and had been successful, with “hardly any re-offending” from services users, the meeting was told.

The Department of Justice said the probation service is currently in the process of negotiating with another community-based organisation to provide similar services.

The chair of the MAG, also acting regional director of probation services, raised further concerns that due to “major restructuring” within the probation services, it could no longer chair the MAG, and it was unclear where the remit of homeless sex offenders would fall. The Department of Justice said “discussions are ongoing” within the forum, regarding the future chair of the group.

Suggestions put forward as to how to deal with high-risk offenders were:

* Pursue development of a high risk facility;

* Take a housing-first approach where a pool of one-bedroom units are used and managed locally with a visiting high support team.

In 2009, a working group on the management of high risk sex offenders said consideration should be given to enhancing the statutory powers of the Garda to monitor offenders. This would mean being able to obtain information, to record fingerprints, DNA photographs and identity changes including those of sex offenders coming from another jurisdiction.

At present, all sex offenders are subject to the requirements of the Sex Offenders Act 2001 and must notify the Garda Síochána that they have been convicted of a sex offence and give their name and address. They must also notify any change in address or name and give notice if they intend to leave the state.