SOMT Training Academy Initiative

The Comprehensive Approaches to Sex Offender Management (CASOM) Grant Program is authorized under Title IV of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, Pub. L. No. 103-322, 42 U.S.C. 13941. The CASOM grants are awarded to state, local, and tribal jurisdictions to develop or enhance sex offender management practices for offenders under community supervision. The Office of Justice Programs awards implementation and enhancement grants. Implementation and enhancement grants are intended to assist jurisdictions either to implement strategic plans already developed or to enhance existing sex offender management strategies.

The State of Hawaii has unique geography and cultural diversity. Both geography and ethnicity have created unique problems and challenges for Hawaii's management of sex offenders. The State of Hawaii will use the funds to promote public safety by developing a training academy that will provide ongoing and consistent training to all stakeholders across jurisdictions and over time. This will overcome Hawaii's current inability to sustain specialized knowledge in the field of sex offender management. The University of Hawaii School of Social Work's Center for Training, Evaluation, and Research of the Pacific (CTERP) has established a collaborative with DHS to provide training to staff in the areas of supervision, adoption and foster care.

Hawaii's Sex Offender Management Team will work collaborative to develop a partnership with CTERP in order to establish a training academy for sex offender management. It is envisioned that CTERP will provide the administration support, training faculty, training evaluation, data collection and research resources needed to develop a sustainable training academy. Preliminary discussions outline a plan involving CTERP based faculty specialized in the area of sex offender management who can provide ongoing training to stakeholders. The plan also outlines the need to draw from local experts to provide additional training opportunities. It is envisioned that these local experts will be contracted through CTERP.

CA/NCF