Requirements for SAFER Program Clients

SAFER Program clients must complete ALL of the core treatment requirements specified below.

- Completion of nine (9) consecutive 16-week cycles (three years) of sex offender group therapy. Attendance at all sessions is mandatory.

- Completion of 52 weeks (one year) of adjunctive individual psychotherapy with a therapist who is approved by the SAFER Program Director and has demonstrated expertise in the treatment of sex offenders.

- Completion of all written homework and reading assignments (e.g. completion of the Safer Society's Workbook I, II, III).

- Completion of an Autobiographical Sexual History, Sex Offender Relapse Prevention Plan, Victim Clarification Statement, Victim Empathy Protocol, Sex Offender Peer Review, and SAFER Program Progress Reports.

- Completion of psychophysical protocols to determine sexual arousal patterns, specifically, the BTI (Behavioral Technology, INC.) MONARCH 21 penile plethysmography / phallometric assessment (PPG) and a Clinical Autobiographical Sexual History Polygraph Examination.

- Completion of all SAFER Program Intake Application Forms, evaluation by a Board Certified Psychiatrist or a Clinical Psychologist and the completion of any psychological tests or protocols related to the offender’s specific treatment needs.

- Complete abstinence from any psychoactive controlled substances, including alcohol, regardless if alcohol was used in the “instant offense” or any prior sexual offenses, any street drugs and all addictive pharmacological medications. Prior to usage, all potentially addictive prescription medication need to be approved by the SAFER Program Director. In addition, clients shall also notify respective probation officers, parole officers, or social workers before using any potentially addictive prescription drugs.

- Attendance of ancillary SAFER Program therapy groups may also be required depending upon specific individual needs. Such groups include Anger Management, Parenting Groups, Stress Reduction, Human Sexuality for Offenders, Survivors of Sexual Abuse, Empathy Training, and Chemical Dependency.

- Successful completion of any group cycle requires that all assigned homework be completed on time. All offenders must actively participate in group therapy. Offenders also need to understand and put into practice the principals and concepts acquired in sex offender treatment.

- All offenders must maintain all other agreements with probation or parole and social workers involved with the case, have no contact with the victim or victim’s family unless expressly indicated by law, and encourage former or present spouses / partners to enter therapy in order to gain a more complete understanding of all aspects of the sexual abuse cycle.

- Completion of all confidentiality release consent forms as requested by the Program Director and SAFER Program staff.

- SAFER Program clients shall not date, reside with, or be sexually intimate with anyone who has minor-aged children, (under the age of 18 years old) regardless of the prospective partner’s actual physical custody dispositions.

We hope this gives you a general idea of the requirements of the SAFER Program.

These are minimum requirements and we would hope that all offenders would offer maximum effort to understand their behavior and change any behavioral patterns that may lead to re-offending. It should be noted that an offender who has completed the core treatment program requirements may voluntarily continue in treatment at SAFER Program, at no cost (pro bono), beyond the mandatory requirements of probation, parole, or social services in after-care treatment. Several SAFER Program “graduates” have continued voluntarily in aftercare--at no personal expense--to ensure complete recovery and to fortify their individualized relapse-prevention strategies.