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1 1 (February 2018)

handle is hein.amenin/aeiaavf0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Key Points * Circles of Support and Accountability (CoSA), whose goal is no more victims, provides sex offenders released from prison with pro-social support as they return to society and emphasizes accountability by insisting that offenders accept responsibility for their actions. * Findings from a CoSA program in Minnesota showed that the program significantly reduced sex offense recidivism, lowering the risk of rearrest for a new sex offense by 88 percent. * By helping sex offenders successfully transition from prison to the community, CoSA prevents individuals from being victims of crime, including sex offenses. Circles of Support and Accountability (CoSA) may be the most promising prisoner rehabilitative intervention no one has ever heard of. So far, CoSA has been used on sex offenders, and the results from evaluations in Canada, the United Kingdom, and most recently, the US have been positive. In fact, a randomized controlled trial (RCT) of a CoSA program in Minnesota showed it reduced sex offense recidivism by 88 percent and yielded a favorable return on investment. But it is also an intervention that has been seldom used. What Is CoSA? CoSA traces its modern origins to a small Mennonite community in Ontario, Canada, where, in 1994, a pastor and several members of his congregation formed a circle to help a high-risk sex offender transition from prison to the community. Rooted in the restorative justice perspective, which views crime as a harm committed against both the victim and the community, CoSA is predicated on the idea that no one, including a sex offender, is disposable in society. As its name implies, CoSA provides sex offenders released from prison with pro-social support as they return to society. But given the program's goal of no more victims, CoSA emphasizes accountability by insisting that offenders accept responsibility for their actions. Each circle contains between four and six community volunteers, one of whom is a primary volunteer who meets with the offender (i.e., the core member) on a regular basis. Whereas the primary volunteer meets with the core member on a daily basis during the first 60-90 days following release, the other community volunteers meet with the core member on a weekly basis. Although the duration of circles varies, circles generally last between six and 12 months. AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE

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