Report
Governor
Legislature
to the

and the

Pursuant to Article 10
of New York State Mental Hygiene Law
January 28, 2008

New York State
Eliot Spitzer, Governor

Office of Mental Health
Michael F. Hogan, Ph.D., Commissioner

OMH Commissioner’s Report to the Governor and the Legislature Pursuant to Article 10 of the NYS Mental Hygiene Law

Report to the Governor
and the Legislature
◆ That the system for responding to recidivistic sex offenders with civil measures must be designed for
treatment and protection. It should be based on the
most accurate scientific understanding available, including the use of current, validated risk assessment
instruments. {§10.01(e)}
◆ That the system should offer meaningful forms of
treatment to sex offenders in all phases of criminal
and civil supervision. {§ 10.01(f)}
◆ That sex offenders in need of civil commitment
comprise a different population with different needs
from traditional mental health patients. The civil
commitment of sex offenders should be implemented in ways that do not endanger, stigmatize, or
divert needed treatment resources away from traditional mental health patients. {§ 10.01(g)}

This report is submitted to Governor and the Legislature
by the Commissioner of the New York State Office of Mental Health (OMH) pursuant to Article 10 of the Mental
Hygiene Law (MHL). Specifically, MHL § 10.10(i) requires the commissioner to submit to the Governor and the
Legislature;
“a report on the implementation of this article.
Such report shall include, but not be limited to, the
census of each existing treatment facility, the number of persons reviewed by the case review teams for
proceedings under this article, the number of persons committed pursuant to this article, their crimes
of conviction, and projected future capacity needs.”

Background:
The Sex Offender Management and Treatment Act
(SOMTA) was enacted as Chapter 7 of the Laws of 2007,
and became effective April 13, 2007. The centerpiece of the
legislation was the creation of a new Article 10 of the MHL.

MHL Article 10 establishes an elaborate process for evaluating the mental condition of certain sex offenders who are
scheduled to be released from the custody of “agencies with
jurisdiction” to determine whether the individual is a "sex
offender requiring civil management.” A sex offender requiring civil management can be either (1) a dangerous sex
offender requiring civil confinement (who would be confined to a secure treatment facility operated by OMH), or
(2) a sex offender requiring strict and intensive supervision
and treatment (who would be supervised by a Parole Officer in the community). The statute assigns a number of duties and responsibilities to OMH relative to the identification, assessment and care of individuals found by the court
to be in need of civil management. For example, the statute
requires the Commissioner of OMH to have multidisciplinary staff, Case Review Teams and psychiatric examiners
evaluate all persons with requisite sex offenses who are
scheduled for release by an agency with jurisdiction. The requisite sex offenses include felony sex offenses (pursuant to article 130 of the Penal Law), sexually motivated felonies, certain prostitution and incest offenses, and attempts or
conspiracy to commit any such offenses.

Among the provisions of SOMTA are the following legislative findings:
◆ That recidivistic sex offenders pose a danger to society that should be addressed through comprehensive
and integrated programs of treatment and management. {§ 10.01(a)}
◆ That some offenders with mental abnormalities are
predisposed to engage in repeated sex offenses. These
offenders may require long-term specialized treatment modalities to address their risk to re-offend.
That treatment should continue following incarceration. In extreme cases, confinement will need to be
extended by civil process in order to ensure treatment and protect the public. {§10.01(b)}
◆ That for other sex offenders, it can be effective and
appropriate to provide treatment in a regimen of
strict and intensive outpatient supervision. Civil
commitment should be only one element in a range
of responses. {§ 10.01(c)}

A flow chart depicting the provisions for civil management pursuant to Article 10 is displayed in Figure 1.

New York State Office of Mental Health

January 28, 2008

1

OMH Commissioner’s Report to the Governor and the Legislature Pursuant to Article 10 of the NYS Mental Hygiene Law

Figure 1

Legislation: Sex Offender Management and Treatment Act
Agency with jurisdiction: OMH, OMRDD, DOCS, DOP
YES

Notify Attorney General and Commissioner of OMH at least 120 days prior to release.
Commissioner to request multidisiplinary record review and risk assessment .
YES

Refer to Case Review Team (3 members each, 2 members shall be professionals
with experience in treatment, diagnosis, risk assessment or management of sex offenders).
May arrange a psychiatric exam.
YES

Within 45 days, CRT shall assess if person is sex offender requiring civil management
and make recommendation to Attorney General.
YES

Does person require civil management?

If CRT determines person does
not meet sex offender requiring
management, no petition is filed
by Attorney General.

NO

YES

If CRT determines person is sex offender requiring management, a recommendation shall be forwarded to the
Attorney General along with a report by a psychiatric examiner that respondent has a mental abnormality.
YES

Within 30 days of receipt of the CRT finding the Attorney General may file a petition in court.
YES

If respondent at liberty when petition filed, court orders return to custody
for probable cause hearing, which shall commence within 72 hours from return.
If respondent not at liberty but eligible for release prior to probable cause hearing,
court shall commence probable cause hearing within 72 hours from eligible release date.
YES

Court holds probable cause hearing within 30 days of filing of petition.
YES

Probable cause established?

If court determines probable
cause not established, order
issued dismissing petition,
respondent released in accordance with applicable laws.

NO

YES

Respondent immediately detained in secure OMH facility upon his or her release and a trial date set.

Court must conduct jury trial (unless waived by respondent) within 60 days.
It must be established by clear and convincing evidence standard that respondent is a detained sex offender
who suffers from a mental abnormality. A unanimous verdict is required.
YES

NO

If unanimous verdict not obtained,
a second jury trial is held within 60 days.

If second trial does not result in unanimous
verdict, respondent is discharged.

Second Trial results in
unanimous verdict

Respondent sex offender requiring strict and intensive
supervision and treatment (supervised by DOP with
consultation from OMH/OMRDD).
Court issues an order specifying conditions.

Respondent is dangerous and requires confinement and commitment
to secure treatment facility.
YES

Yearly review by psych examiner to determine need for continued confineNO
ment, 2nd independent psych exam available, OMH
commissioner
determines if person still in need of confinement.
YES
YES

Continued confinement*
YES

Notification to person of right
to petition court for discharge
YES

Person at any time may petition
court for discharge without
Commissioner’s approval.
Court holds evidentiary hearing
or may deny the petition
without a hearing.

At anytime, Commissioner
can petition court for person’s
discharge, Court orders hearing
to determine if:
(1) confinement needs
to be continued;
(2) person in need of strict and
intensive supervision
and treatment; or
(3) discharge.

Commitment
* If the court believes there is substantial issue as to whether respondent remains a dangerous sex offender requiring confinement, an evidentiary hearing may be held within 45 days.

Revocation
Person’s regimen of strict and intensive supervision and
treatment conditions may be revoked if person violates
conditions. Parole officer transports or directs transport
of the person to be housed in a secure treatment facility
or local correction facility for psych examination within
5 days. The psychiatric examination may occur at a
psychiatric center. Attorney General, within 5 days, may
file a petition in the court to conduct probable cause
hearing. If court’s review of the petition determines
respondent is a dangerous sex offender requiring
confinement, respondent may be detained in a local
correctional facility or secure treatment facility.
Within 30 days of petition court shall conduct a hearing
to determine whether respondent is a dangerous sex
offender requiring confinement. Court shall order:
(1) comittment to a secure treatment facility;
(2) modification of strict and intensive supervision
and treatment; or
(3) continue previous order of condition.

Supervision

January 28, 2008

New York State Office of Mental Health

2

OMH Commissioner’s Report to the Governor and the Legislature Pursuant to Article 10 of the NYS Mental Hygiene Law

and notifies the Office of the Attorney General (OAG)
who then exercises discretion in filing petitions for civil
management.

The Civil Management Process
Section 10.05 of the Mental Hygiene Law delineates the
process for OMH’s review of individuals referred by an
agency with jurisdiction for the purpose of evaluating
whether such individuals are appropriate candidates for
civil management. OMH has developed a multi-tiered assessment process which is briefly described below.

The first step in the OMH assessment process involves a
records review by the Multidisciplinary Review (MDR)
team. The MDR team reviews case records to ensure that
the respondent is eligible for civil management and completes actuarial risk assessments (research based validated
assessment instruments) to determine whether the case
should be forwarded for review by a Case Review Team
(CRT). Sex offenders who meet the screening criteria established for the MDR teams are statutorily designated to
enter a second level of review conducted by the CRT. The
CRT conducts second step reviews
and appoints psychiatric examiners
to evaluate respondents. Based on
the CRT’s assessment and the findings of the examiners, the CRT
has statutory authority for making
the determination as to which respondents are referred to the OAG
for petitioning for civil management. Figure 2 depicts OMH’s
Civil Management Process.3

The OMH review process commences with a referral of
a detained sex offender by an “agency with jurisdiction.”1
If OMH determines that the referred sex offender suffers
from a mental abnormality2 which predisposes him or her
to sexual offending, OMH provides a psychiatric report
Figure 2

NOTES
1. Agencies with jurisdiction include the Department of Correctional Services (DOCS),
the Division of Parole, the Office of Mental
Health, and the Office of Mental Retardation
and Developmental Disabilities.
2 The construct of “mental abnormality” is defined in MHL § Article 10 as a “congenital or
acquired condition, disease or disorder that
affects the emotional, cognitive, or volitional
capacity of a person in a manner that predisposes him or her to the commission of
conduct constituting a sex offense and that
results in that person having serious difficulty
in controlling such conduct”. A condition, disease or disorder that affects the emotional,
cognitive, or volitional capacity includes mental disorders that specifically drive the individual in a manner that causes him or her to
commit sex offenses. A predisposition to
commit sex offenses is often supported by
the presence of multiple victimizations.
3 OMH developed this process in consultation
with nationally recognized experts in the assessment and treatment of sex offenders.
Staff from OMH have also visited sex offender commitment programs in operation
in the states of New Jersey and Wisconsin.

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January 28, 2008

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OMH Commissioner’s Report to the Governor and the Legislature Pursuant to Article 10 of the NYS Mental Hygiene Law

Characteristics of cases referred
to OMH for Civil Management Screening

Characteristics of cases
who received a MDR review

Between April 13, 2007 (the date SOMTA was enacted)
and January 3, 2008, 1,299 detained sex offenders with
release dates within the statutory time frames were referred
to OMH for civil management screening and assessment. The majority of referrals originated from the Department of Correctional Services (82.9%, n = 1,077
See Figure 3).

Of the 1,299 referrals with release dates between April 13,
2007 and January 3, 2008, 1,142 (87.9%) were reviewed
for civil management by the Multidisciplinary Review
(MDR) team.7 Similar to the overall sample of referrals, the
majority of referrals reviewed by the MDR were from
DOCS (81.0%). The average age of persons who were reviewed by the MDR team for possible civil management
was 39.5 years. The majority of referrals were Caucasian
(51.1%) followed by African American (35.8%). Of those
reviewed, 36.8% were serving sentences for rape, 26.7% for
sexual abuse and 16.7% for criminal sexual act/sodomy.

Figure 3.

Source of Referrals by Agency with Jurisdiction4
DOCS 82.9%

Of the cases reviewed by the MDR, 281 (24.6%) were recommended to the CRT for further review. Cases that the
MDR recommended for further evaluation were an older
age than the average age of all referrals at the time of their
release date (42.5 years old vs. 38.6 years old, respectively), and scored significantly higher on both the Static99 (5.28 vs. 2.46, respectively) and the MnSOST-R (9.95
vs. 4.23, respectively). The scores on the actuarial assessments are displayed in Figure 5 below. Persons recommended to the CRT for further review were less likely than
those not recommended to currently be serving a prison
sentence for a rape conviction.

OMH-Harkavy 9.5%
Parole 6.8%
OMRDD 0.5%
OMH-CPL 0.3%

A month by month breakdown of the 1,299 referrals for
civil management review is displayed in Figure 4.
Figure 4.

Number of Referrals per Month5

Figure 5.

April 13, 2007 through January 3, 2008
160

148

140
120

131

126

Actuarial Risk Scores by MDR Decisions8

160

153
134

129
10

106

100

9

80
60

8
7

69

6

40

5.28

4

4.23

3

Apr May Jun

Jly

Aug Sep Oct

Nov Dec Jan

2

9.95

MDR recommended case
to CRT for further review

5

13

20
0

MDR did not recommend case
to CRT for further review

2.46

1
0

For all referrals for civil management, the mean age was
39.1 years. The majority of referrals were Caucasian
(49.0%) followed by African American (37.2%). Of the
referrals for civil management screening, 36.2% were
serving sentences for rape, 24.7% for sexual abuse and
16.1% for criminal sexual act/sodomy.6

January 28, 2008

Mean Static-99 score

Mean MnSOST-R score

New York State Office of Mental Health

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OMH Commissioner’s Report to the Governor and the Legislature Pursuant to Article 10 of the NYS Mental Hygiene Law

Figure 6.

Characteristics of cases
who received a CRT review

Actuarial Risk Scores by CRT Decisions

From the 281 cases that the CRT reviewed, 203 (72.2%)
were referred for a psychiatric evaluation. A mental abnormality was found in 177 (87.2%) of the cases and the
CRT ultimately recommended 163 (80.3%) of those
cases for civil management. All referrals for civil management were males, and on average were 42.5 years old.
The majority of detained sex offenders who were reviewed for civil management consideration by the CRT
were either Caucasian (47.7%) or African American
(38.8%). Persons recommended to the CRT for further
review were less likely than those not recommended to
currently be serving a prison sentence for conviction of
sexual abuse, and slightly less likely to be serving a prison
sentence for a rape conviction.

12
10
8
6

CRT did not recommend case
for civil management
9.28
CRT recommended case
for civil management
5.52
4.91

10.42

4
2
0

Mean Static-99 score

Mean MnSOST-R score

Clinical evaluations for all cases recommended for civil
management included a psychological examination by a licensed psychologist to diagnose the presence of a mental
abnormality that predisposed the respondent to sexually offend. The majority of cases recommended for civil management were diagnosed with Paraphilia/Sexual Disorder
NOS, Pedophilia, or Antisocial Personality Disorder.

Cases for whom the CRT recommended civil management were slightly older than those cases not referred at
the time of their release date (43.9 years old vs. 40.8 years
old, respectively), and scored higher on both the Static99 (5.52 vs. 4.91, respectively) and the MnSOST-R
(10.42 vs. 9.28, respectively). The scores on the actuarial
assessments for cases reviewed by the CRT are displayed
in Figure 6. Persons for whom the CRT recommended
civil management were more likely than those not recommended to currently be serving a prison sentence for
a conviction of sexual abuse, and slightly less likely to be
serving a prison sentence for a rape conviction.

A complete summary of the case processing of referrals to
OMH appears on the next page in Figure 7.

NOTES
4

5
6

OMH-Harkavy referrals pertain to individuals committed to OMH secure treatment facilities under Executive Directive prior to enactment of MHL Article 10.
Following the Court of Appeals Decision in “Harkavy II”, OMH was required to
re-evaluate prior commitments pursuant to the provisions of Article 10.
This table excludes Harkavy cases as well as six referrals to OMH with unspecified release dates.
The numbers and percentages above do not include those cases referred to
OMH, but who were not reviewed due to administrative reasons (e.g., PreSOMTA referrals, or those referrals of persons who, after an initial referral, were
determined by DOCS to not have a qualifying offense).

7

8

New York State Office of Mental Health

The remaining 157 cases referred to OMH were not reviewed by the multidisciplinary staff due to the absence of a qualifying offense or a change in their
anticipated release status.
The Static-99 and MnSOST-R are actuarial assessment instruments that have
undergone extensive research validation studies and are accepted measures of
risk for recidivism. They are part of OMH’s overall risk assessment process that
also includes detailed records review and structured clinical reviews. In select
cases, psychiatric examiners and CRT members complete the Psychopathy
Checklist-R (PCL-R), which also has strong predictive validity. This assessment
process is similar in nature to procedures in other states with civil management
statutes.

January 28, 2008

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OMH Commissioner’s Report to the Governor and the Legislature Pursuant to Article 10 of the NYS Mental Hygiene Law

Figure 7.

Case Processing of Referrals to OMH

January 28, 2008

New York State Office of Mental Health

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OMH Commissioner’s Report to the Governor and the Legislature Pursuant to Article 10 of the NYS Mental Hygiene Law

acceptance of personal responsibility for behavior and relapse prevention.

Sex Offender Treatment Program
Sex offender treatment under Article 10 may occur within
a secure treatment facility or in the community under
Strict and Intensive Supervision and Treatment, (SIST).
If a jury, or the court if a jury trial is waived, finds that a
sex offender suffers from a mental abnormality, the court
then determines whether the sex offender is dangerous
and requires confinement or whether he or she can be
managed in the community under strict and intensive supervision. Sex offenders who are deemed to be dangerous
and to require confinement are committed to a secure
treatment facility. Secure treatment facilities are located at
Central New York Psychiatric Center, Manhattan Psychiatric Center and St. Lawrence Psychiatric Center. Sex
offenders with a mental abnormality who are not found
by the court to be dangerous are placed in the community under strict and intensive supervision and treatment.
Similarly, offenders committed to a secure treatment facility eventually may be transitioned back into the community through the SIST program. Conversely, sex offenders committed to SIST may be elevated to a secure
treatment program if they fail to abide by their conditions
of supervision and treatment. Treatment within the secure
facilities and treatment within the SIST program has
been carefully developed by OMH in close consultation
with national experts.

OMH is currently developing the capacity to provide
pharmacologic interventions to augment cognitive-behavioral therapies. The use of pharmacologic agents to
deal with deviant arousal interests has demonstrated success. Pharmacologic agents in the treatment of sex offenders are an accepted intervention in Canada and Europe. In March 2008, via contract with the Royal Ottawa
Healthcare Group, OMH will be sending seven physicians to participate in a week long training seminar in the
prescribing of androgen reduction agents and Selective
Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors.
The program engages clients in a phased-treatment
process where they are expected to master particular skills
before moving on to the next phase of treatment. SOTP
is built around educational, therapeutic, and skill mastery
modules. Each phase of treatment has specific goals and
measurable outcomes. Progression through the phases of
treatment is reviewed by the clinical and administrative
staff within each facility. Broad areas of treatment programming include the identification and treatment of sexual offending behaviors, psychosocial deficits, general behavioral problems, interpersonal difficulties, issues related
to irresponsible lifestyles, chemical dependency, and/or
psychiatric disorders. During each phase, various types of
assessments may be required. Some of these assessments
are designed to evaluate how much clients are learning
from the educational groups, while others are designed to
measure attitude change, symptom patterns, sexual
arousal, and other areas of treatment focus. Standard psychological assessments, polygraph, and penile plethysmograph may be used.

Secure Treatment Facility Programming
The Sex Offender Treatment Programs (SOTP) delivered
in the secure treatment facilities seek to protect the public by providing evidence-based programming to effectively
assess and treat sexual deviance and personality disorders.
The primary treatment modality is cognitive-behavioral
therapy augmented by relapse prevention strategies provided through therapy groups, psychosocial groups, and individual sessions. The guiding principle of treatment is relapse prevention with a focus on identifying and addressing
relapse risk factors in an effort to reduce the risk of future
sexual violence. Treatment also focuses on assisting clients
to improve their overall social functioning through structured educational, vocational and recreational activities.
The programs are embedded within therapeutic communities that support personal growth, healthy lifestyles and

SOTP phases of treatment
I: Treatment readiness
Phase I requires clients to demonstrate a basic understanding of the commitment and treatment process, acknowledge that they have committed a sex offense, express
desire to avoid reoffending, and agree to participate fully
in treatment.

New York State Office of Mental Health

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OMH Commissioner’s Report to the Governor and the Legislature Pursuant to Article 10 of the NYS Mental Hygiene Law

clients originally committed under Article 9, but who did
not meet the criteria for civil commitment under Article
10 and, thus, are awaiting return to the community. As
of January 4, 2008, 114 clients resided within the three
secure treatment facilities. It should be noted that some
fifty respondents deemed eligible for civil management
through the evaluation process noted above remain in
DOCS' custody and could be confined to OMH secure
treatment facilities pending the outcome of civil management proceedings. These respondents have not reached
their mandatory release dates or have decided to voluntarily remain in DOCS' custody pending civil management proceedings.

II: Skills Application A
Phase II includes an introduction to process-oriented therapy groups. Clients begin to explore their offense history,
impact on victims, personal values, sexuality issues, arousal
patterns, risk factors, and strategies to prevent relapse.

III: Skills Application B
Phase III includes a continuation of Phase II programming, and also requires a more in-depth understanding of
the impact of sex crimes on victims and a demonstrated
ability to challenge and replace cognitive distortions that
interfere with the assumption of responsibility for sex offending and to utilize behavioral techniques to address disordered arousal.

Current sex offender treatment bed capacity at the secure
treatment facilities is 181, and is distributed across the
three facilities as follows: Central New York Psychiatric
Center (n = 125), St. Lawrence Psychiatric Center (n = 36)
and Manhattan Psychiatric Center (n = 20). Central New
York has the physical capacity to serve 150 clients (one
25 bed ward has not yet been staffed), while St. Lawrence
has a total physical capacity to serve 80 clients (two 22 bed
wards have yet to be staffed.) Figure 8, on page 9, displays
the census between May 3, 2007 and January 3, 2008. In
addition, 150 new beds are scheduled to become available
in the Annex Building adjacent to Central New York in
July, 2008. A staffing plan to support that program has
been submitted to the Department of Civil Service.

IV: Discharge Readiness/Release Planning
In Phase IV, clients begin to develop pre-discharge plans
(relapse prevention plans). Clients must demonstrate realistic short-term and long-term goals, thorough planning
for transition, and the identification of and contact with
a community support system including community service providers and, if appropriate, family and other community members who may assist in the transition process.

V: Outpatient (Discharge)
Clients are recommended for discharge to the community
only after clinical staff has reviewed the progress, and determined that all treatment goals have been achieved and
comprehensive discharge plans are in place. OMH will
then recommend discharge, which must be approved by
the court. As part of the judicial process under SOMTA,
the courts will consider clients for SIST under the Division of Parole upon discharge from civil confinement. It
is anticipated that many, if not all, discharged individuals will be appropriate for monitoring under SIST.

While development of the 150 new beds will assure sufficient capacity in the short-term, long-term projections remain a work in progress. As with most newly established
court-related initiatives, the pattern of civil commitment
litigation continues to develop and change. OMH is consistently referring approximately 10% of reviewed cases to
the OAG for consideration for civil management. This rate
of referral is comparable to rates in many other states.
However, it is difficult to predict, at this early point in the
process, future patterns of jury dispositions and court
placements. OMH will continue to monitor case processing to insure the availability of adequate treatment slots.

Secure Treatment Facility Census
Three distinct populations currently reside in OMH’s
three secure treatment facilities. They include (1) respondents who are in the “pre-trial” phases of civil commitment and have been determined to meet “probable
cause” for civil management, (2) clients committed under Article 10 (subsequent to their consent or a trial verdict and judicial determination of dangerousness) and (3)

January 28, 2008

New York State Office of Mental Health

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OMH Commissioner’s Report to the Governor and the Legislature Pursuant to Article 10 of the NYS Mental Hygiene Law

Figure 8.

Secure Treatment Facility Census by Month
100
90
80
70
60
CNYPC

50

SLPC

MPC

Kirby

Confinement Patients

40
30
20
10
0
5/3/2007

6/7/2007

7/5/2007

8/2/2007

9/6/2007

10/4/2007

11/1/2007

12/6/2007

1/3/2008

treatment and well-planned reintegration back into the
community. Signed releases of information from the individual are obtained for all designated service providers
and all issues relating to the delivery of and payment for
treatment services are addressed.

Strict and Intensive Supervision
and Treatment
OMH works collaboratively with the Division of Parole,
OAG, and treatment providers in state correctional facilities,
forensic facilities and in the community to develop plans for
SIST. These efforts begin with contact from the OAG that
a SIST disposition is being considered. The viability of a
SIST disposition may be, and often is, explored prior to a
case proceeding to jury trial. A preliminary review of the case
for a possible SIST disposition is initiated by the OAG and
involves OMH, Parole and treatment staff from the referring agency. If the OAG determines that a SIST disposition
may be appropriate, the respondent may agree to a finding
of mental abnormality without a trial and the court may order a SIST investigation. A SIST investigation also may be
ordered by the court subsequent to a trial verdict finding of
mental abnormality.

When the investigation is complete and the information
and recommendation is returned to the court, the court
may order an individual to be released into the community under a SIST order, which includes a specific regimen
of supervision and treatment. The Division of Parole has
the responsibility to implement the supervision plan and
assure compliance with the conditions of the court ordered regimen of supervision and treatment. OMH oversees the delivery of treatment services. Some offenders may
require multiple treatment programs, including treatment for sexual deviance, substance abuse treatment and
mental health treatment.
OMH and the qualified sex offender treatment providers
work closely with the assigned parole officer in helping to
successfully manage and treat the individual under the SIST
conditions. In order to manage and supervise sex offenders
in the community, it is clear that SIST individuals require
a team of professionals, and that the supervision/treatment
team must communicate frequently, examine the progress
of the individual on a regular basis, and ensure that any necessary revisions in the supervision/ treatment plan be identified and instituted in a timely manner.

When a SIST investigation is requested by the court,
OMH works closely with the Division of Parole, institutional and community treatment providers and other
pertinent parties to determine whether the sex offender
can be adequately managed in the community. The SIST
team must find an appropriate residence for the individual, identify treatment providers, and propose a treatment
and supervision plan. If the sex offender is a confined sex
offender, the SIST team works closely with the institutional transitional service program to ensure continuity of

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OMH Commissioner’s Report to the Governor and the Legislature Pursuant to Article 10 of the NYS Mental Hygiene Law

an arrest in the NYC subway system for a hands-on
touching incident. The matter is being pursued in criminal court. The three other violations were for technical violations of the terms of supervision. Six active SIST cases
are under supervision in Onondaga (three cases), Westchester and Rockland Counties and the City of New York.

SIST Census
As of December 31, 2007, 10 sex offenders had been
placed, by the courts, into SIST supervision. Another
eight cases were under investigation for possible SIST
placement. Four of the 10 SIST placements were later revoked due to parole violations. One of the four involved

January 28, 2008

New York State Office of Mental Health

10