Proposed rule change.

The SOMB is proposing rulemaking changes to Rule 003 which incorporates documents by reference by updating effective dates and titles of referenced documents and eliminating redundant documents. Specifically, this proposed rulemaking updates the versions of the documents issued by the American Association of Police Polygraphists and the American Polygraph Association incorporated by reference in Rules 003.01 and 003.02, and amends the official names of these documents. This proposed rulemaking also updates Rule 003.03 and Rule 003.04 to reflect the October 2020 version date of the Idaho Sexual Offender Management Board Standards and Guidelines for Adult Sexual Offender Management Practices and the Idaho Sexual Offender Management Board Standards and Guidelines for Practitioners, Evaluations and Treatment of Juvenile Sexual Offenders. The SOMB is amending the Standards to allow all 40 hours of continuing education to be obtained through on-line education resources to give providers more options for fulfilling continuing education requirements. The current December 2019 version of these Standards only permit certified providers to obtain 10 of the required 40 hours of continuing education through on-line educational resources. These changes to the Standards are expected to be finalized at the SOMB’s October 2020 meeting. Finally, this proposed rulemaking deletes Rules 003.05 and 003.06 as the documents referenced in these rules are included in the Standards incorporated in Rules 003.03 and 003.04.

No More Sexual Violence

Absolute Risk Potential

Absolute Risk Potential
Under Section II(E)(c), the standards state that “Under no circumstances shall an evaluator conduct a psychosexual evaluation in accordance with this section – or generally in all other circumstances under which a psychosexual evaluation is requested or conducted – for the explicit purpose of attempting to generate or offer the evaluator’s opinions or assertions regarding the individual’s absolute risk/potential for engaging in sexually abusive behavior.” As read, this section is a bar or prohibition to family court judges, practitioners or child protection agencies to getting a psychosexual evaluation of an individual, even if only one of the goals of the evaluation is to assess risk.

The key word in this statement is absolute. In other words, evaluators are not to say definitively that an offender will or will not reoffend. A goal of the evaluation is to identify the level of risk an offender poses but there should not be a statement saying that the offender is definitively going to – or not going to – reoffend.