Bill to study transitional housing for sexually violent predators advances

Deputies went door to door in Jacumba Hot Springs to notify the society about a sexually violent predator living in the neighborhood in File photo courtesy of the San Diego County Sheriff s Department Senate Minority Leader Brian W Jones on Wednesday declared the passage of Senate Bill which would force a investigation of housing for those who are deemed sexually violent predators It will now head to Gov Gavin Newsom s office for approval The bill directs the Department of State Hospitals DSH to inquiry the feasibility of placing SVPs in state-run transitional housing facilities upon conditional release I m confident it will earn his signature reported Jones R-San Diego Under current law SVPs can be conditionally disclosed directly into a region where they could pose a safety menace Results of an audit in October identified that DSH spends an average of million per predator on conditional release Sexually violent predators are individuals who have been convicted of violent sexual crimes and also have a notable mental wellness condition Once they have served their sentence a judge can either send them to a state hospital release them unconditionally or direct them into the conditional release effort The project has been run by the external contractor Liberty Healthcare Corp since The audit recommended that DHS conduct a feasibility analysis to explore whether California should implement a state-run transitional housing model for SVPs The department elected not to carry out the recommendation which is not mandatory SB passed the Assembly on Monday and the Senate in June If signed the law will require DHS to carry out the examination State hospital administrators have repeatedly shirked their responsibility to the populace by digging in and resisting recommendations from the auditor disclosed Jones The passage of SB will ensure we explore every doable alternative to a status quo that puts children and families at exposure Jones has advocated on the issue of SVPs since being elected as a member of the Santee City Council in The bill was supported by a coalition of local governments the District Attorney s Association law enforcement and casualties advocacy groups such as Crime Casualties United DSH authorities had expressed disagreement with the auditor s recommendation for a survey saying that transitional housing would not address the challenge of placing SVPs in the society Difficulties include finding locations for transitional state-run facilities especially given that the law mandates SVPs be conditionally disclosed to housing in the county where they lived before their arrest The cost of creating such state-run facilities could place an additional burden on taxpayers and SVPs would still need to be circulated into the locality once deemed safe to do so by the transitional facility A survey is a good first step but it s just that commented Jones Once we develop a strong encounter plan for a transitional housing initiative then we execute