Sex Offender Treatment and Community Protection

About 21 percent of the offenders in Washington prisons currently are serving time for serious sexual crimes, making their management and treatment a major concern for the Department of Corrections and the community.

DOC and its partners have a comprehensive system consisting of confinement, treatment, supervision, notification and civil commitment whose ultimate goal is public safety.

The department operates prison treatment programs for male and female offenders at two prison sites and, with new funding from the Legislature, is expanding them.

DOC and its partners also continue that treatment in community supervision after they have served their prison time. Sex offenders about to leave prison undergo a classification process to assess their risk to the public. DOC and its partners ensure the proper authorities, organizations and potential victims know the whereabouts of sex offenders leaving prison and impose special safeguards on the offenders thought to pose the highest risk to the public.