Using the SSOTR

A few weeks ago someone posted a question about the SSOTR on the ATSA list serve.  Chris Lobanov-Rostovsky, the Manager of the Sex Offender Management Unit of the Colorado Division of Criminal Justice, responded after consulting with Greg Brown, the Chief Probation Officer in the 20th Judicial District of CO.  Since Chris' posting, the SSOTR has been flying off both our web site and Steve Brake's site (www.stephenbrakeassociates.com).  I'm getting a bevy of emails asking "...how do we use this?".

We are in the throws of adding to the SSOTR to clarify a couple of things:

1.  Some ways it can be used.
2.  How it relates to the GLM approach to Sex Offender Treatment.

We should have an updated version of the SSOTR on both of our websites by the 18th of January.

However, in the interim, here are my thoughts about how the SSOTR might be approached.  I'll let Dr. Brake answer for himself as a comment to this blog entry if he feels the need... HE DID.. SEE COMMENTS BELOW.

The SSOTR is not an evaluation or assessment tool in the traditional sense. It is a structured protocol designed to assist treatment teams in identifying and avoiding sex offenders grooming, splitting, and misdirecting the team over time.  The SSOTR provides a structured approach to reviewing the case and establishing treatment and supervision goals. By answering the SSOTR questions about an offender,  professionals are taken through a structured review of the offender's treatment and management process.

Basically, it is used here in CO (and elsewhere around the country) as an "alignment tool".  The Tx team (probation, treatment provider, other significant individuals, etc.) use it to ensure they are all on the same page.  Quarterly or semi-annually is probably a good time frame. Probation requires it every 6 months from providers out here.  There are a variety of ways it is being used across the country:

1.  Tx team completes it in a staffing.  This can take some time !
2.  Tx team fills it out independently then compares results in a staffing - more time efficient.
3.  OFFENDER fills it out and reviews it with Tx team - an interesting twist that is extremely eye-opening  as well as being 'empowering' to the client.

It really doesn't matter what approach you take.  The purpose of the tool is to ensure everyone is seeing the same client.  

What you will find when you start using it is that you don't agree on some elements  (no surprise there, huh?).  The first challenge is to define what the various questions actually mean.  You will find differences among Tx providers and certainly disparate views between Tx and Probation (or supervising agencies) as to what terms like "achieved", "initiates", or "eliminates" actually mean .  I can't help you there... it really is what your local jurisdiction agrees it means.  This process of clarification is, at first, a bit frustrating, but the end result (alignment) is very productive.   Once you determine what your team means by phrases like "... can identify and explain...", you are off to the races on determining if the client has "achieved" it during the review period.

The one suggestion I may offer there is that you not get trapped into moving to some sort of "Likert Scale" (1 to 5) . The SSOTR was designed to be binary on purpose.  The person has or has not achieved a measure (it's sort of like one is either pregnant or not... no middle ground).

The strength of the tool is alignment of the team AND focusing the team on what the next step should be.  Rarely does an offender score an 'achieved' in every category.  The challenge for the team is to prioritize what should be the focus in the next evaluation period.  Again, the tool provides a chance for the team to align on what is needed.  This not only provides clarity for the team, but clarity for the client.  Obviously an offender cannot work on all 30 elements at once.  Unfortunately, they also don't always maintain progress on elements once achieved.  The SSOTR is a structured way for the team (and client) to review progress, establish agreement, and designate goals. 

Bottom line - the tool is not a diagnostic instrument, but a structured tool which helps the team stay aligned and focused despite the significant grooming, splitting, episodic progress, and sporadic lapses that occur in SO treatment. How it is used is somewhat less important than the fact the Tx team conducts a structured review on a regular basis.