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Home helps Walla Walla sex offenders stay on straight and narrow

Walla Walla Union-Bulletin - 1/29/2018

Jan. 28--About 860,000 registered sex offenders were living in the United States in 2016, according to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.

Washington state Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs said Friday that 19,600 of those offenders are in this state.

Today 124 of those live in Walla Walla County: 87 in the city, 17 in College Place, and the rest scattered up to Burbank. Seven sex offenders here are listed as homeless.

Some of those, almost all low-level offenders, live in an ordinary-looking house in the Eastgate area on a block largely surrounded by businesses.

It's called Joe's Place, and up to nine men voluntarily live at the address at any one time, said its director, Joe Field.

The house was founded in 2016 under the STAR -- Successful Transition and Re-entry -- Project, as a way to get previously-incarcerated sex offenders on track outside of prison.

Or, as Field puts it, away from reoffending.

In his line of work that's the goal, he added. "No more victims."

After prison

It's a hard truth for any community -- convicted sex offenders of every risk level live among us. And only a minority of those are folded into a community supervision program, officials say.

By law, except in specific circumstances involving victims, sex offenders are required to return to their home counties when they leave prison, said Walla Walla Police Chief Scott Bieber.

Released sex offenders must register with their county sheriff's office. About 15 percent also must check in with the state Department of Corrections as part of an oversight program.

While on community supervision, registered sex offenders must reside at least 880 feet away from schools if their crime was against a child or children.

That said, when sex offenders have met their legal mandates, the state of Washington has no requirements regarding where a registered sex offender must live, Bieber and other local officials said.

Ben Brink is the community corrections supervisor for the Walla Walla Community Corrections field office of the Department of Corrections, where he oversees a staff of eight officers.

His office serves Walla Walla and Columbia counties, Brink said, and about 10 percent of actively-supervised offenders within that area are registered sex offenders.

Like many former felons, released sex offenders struggle to find employment and housing.

"Anyone who has a rental property, there's a screening (process) for sex offenses, and they will screen you out," Brink said.

The greater population of sex offenders is couch surfing, or living with a family member. Others wander the streets, looking for a doorway to sleep in, Brink said.

Those factors make life unstable and make the community less safe. That can lead to crisis, he added.

Finding home

Shelter is a basic human need; Walla Walla already has a tight rental market and people get desperate -- imagine being the registered sex offender competing in that market, he said.

Having somewhere like Joe's Place can make a big difference in a town, Brink and others say.

"We know where they are, and we know where to find them," Brink said. "We know that when housing is unstable, there's more likelihood they will commit a criminal act."

Moreover, rent at the Eastgate home is $500 a month, which many residents pay for through a subsidized voucher program at first. Having housing in place allows the Department of Corrections to release the offenders at the earliest possible date, saving a lot of taxpayer dollars, according to Brink .

"As a citizen, you want to see these guys in the safest place possible," he said.

While Joe's Place is within city limits, it falls to Walla Walla County Sheriff John Turner's office to have regular contact with its residents through the registry and monitoring efforts.

"From our interactions, Joe's Place appears to be a successful program home where offenders are educated on behaviors and counseled on triggers in a structured environment and coordinated effort to deter recidivism," Turner said. "This program keeps offenders off the street and away from otherwise being homeless when released from prison."

Turner understands the discomfort people have in living among sex offenders. When residents call, he and his staff listen to and validate concerns, he said. As well, officers work to share what information they can to alleviate community fear.

For example, say a family with young kids is worried about a registered sex offender who lives close by -- the Sheriff's Office may be able to let them know that offender has historically offended against adults. He also encourages people to be watchful and never hesitate to report anything out of the ordinary.

House rules

The director of Joe's Place understands how things look after prison. Burglaries and thefts to feed a drug habit kept a younger Field, now 49, in numerous county and state jails. He began cleaning up his life by enrolling in Walla Walla Community College, where he graduated in 2012 with honors and as the commencement speaker. Next Field attended Walla Walla University, leaving with a major in sociology.

Last March, Field finished his master's degree in social work.

It was while working toward degree completion Field said he became more aware of the hurdles sex offenders encounter after prison -- and the price communities pay when those issues go unaddressed.

He was working at STAR Project at the time, and then-executive director Glenna Awbrey strongly supported the idea of a house dedicated to serving sex offenders.

Research backs up the concepts behind Joe's Place, Awbrey said last week.

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"The STAR Project recognized the need for stable, appropriate housing for this population, which is the most difficult offender population to house," she said.

With dawning awareness of the complexities came funding to give the Eastgate house its start; Field's tenacity and expertise has advanced the program to what Joe's Place is today, Awbrey said.

That means a house with rules, expectation and standards as well as cameras, contracts, commitments and chores.

Everyone has to sign in and out of the house, and must explain where they are going, Field said. Some, by court order, must attend treatment. Others participate in group sessions designed to define behavior triggers and avoid relapse. Anyone who can must actively seek work, no matter how tough their offense makes it to find employment, Field said.

Residents have assigned household jobs and all must keep the common areas clean. No one is allowed an overnight visitor or company in the bedrooms. Field does random drug testing.

There is no required minimum length of stay and, so far, no maximum, he noted.

"If they leave on their own accord, they have found housing or are moving in with family," he said.

Residents can expect to be reported if they violate tenant agreements, and Field said he has evicted a few people for violence and alcohol use.

"I can't let that affect the whole house," he said.

In general, though, those who live at Joe's Place act like family, Field pointed out.

"They give each other rides to the food bank or to the community college," he said. "They cook meals together and they eat together."

Field now runs Joe's Place as a sole operator. He also contracts with the state Office of Public Defense as a transition specialist for men with sexual offenses being released by the state.

Better answer

Chief Bieber said he initially worried about dedicated housing for sex offenders, but he has come to see Field's model as one that should be emulated across the state. The house rules, the counseling component, even the peer support among residents has added up to a better answer, Bieber said.

One issue rising out of this success has been registered sex offenders from elsewhere wanting to come to Joe's Place, too.

"We said 'no.' We did not want to become the magnet," Bieber said. "We only want to be dealing with the ones who would be in Walla Walla anyway."

Field has honored that line drawn in the sand, Sheriff Turner added.

People are going to complain, Bieber said. "'Not in my backyard.' ... But if we don't have a setting like this, the released offenders are in everyone's backyard."

As well, most registered sex offenders do their best to lay low, according to Corrections Supervisor Brink. "These guys just want to be left alone. People are in recovery; sex offense is an addiction. As long as we know where these guys are, our public is safer."

Sheila Hagar can be reached at sheilahagar@wwub.com or 526-8322.

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