Title: Sex Offender Treatment and Assessment | Washington State Department of Corrections
Headings: Sex Offender Treatment and Assessment
Sex Offender Treatment and Assessment
The three primary goals for the Sex Offender Treatment Program are:
Learn More about Sex Offender Treatment
Prison Treatment
The goals of group therapy include:
Offenders admitted to the sex offender treatment programs must meet the following criteria:
Community Treatment
The goals of group therapy include:
Rules in the Community
Supervision:
Registration:
Living arrangements:
Treatment:
Alcohol and drugs:
Contact with past and potential victims:
Relationships:
Entertainment:
Employment:
Weapons:
Financial obligations:
Resources
Policies
Laws
Revised Code of Washington (RCW)
Resource Links

Content: He or she must agree to attend SOTAP and follow treatment rules and expectations. Treatment priority is given to higher risk offenders. Sentence structure, court ordered treatment, and release date dictate additional prioritization practices. The program is approximately 9-12 months in duration and typically occurs in the last 12-18 months of the participant's incarceration. Offenders can be terminated from treatment for assaults and fighting, sexual behavior that cannot be managed through formal interventions, intentionally violating confidentiality, failing to make progress in treatment, being placed in a higher security category than that allowable by the treatment facility such as maximum, engaging in behaviors that are disruptive to the operation of the program and/or institution, or using illicit substances. Many higher risk sex offenders don't volunteer to participate in treatment on their own. Beginning in 2014, the SOTAP instituted the practice of completing face to face screenings with all sex offenders coming in through the Reception and Diagnostic Center in Shelton, Washington. Through the use of motivational interviewing techniques and the development of a therapeutic rapport, the SOTAP has seen a dramatic increase in the rates of higher risk sex offenders volunteering to participate in the treatment program. Due to the increase in higher risk offenders volunteering to participate in the program, the SOTAP has not had sufficient capacity to allocate treatment resources to lower risk offenders. Back to Top
Community Treatment
DOC and its partners also continue that treatment in community supervision after they have served their prison time.