Advocates For Change
Advocates For Change is civil rights and justice reform organization based in Denver, Colorado. Advocates for Change works to reform laws related to sex offenders. The organization is a Colorado state level affiliate of national level Reform Sex Offender Laws, Inc.
Purpose and advocacy
Advocates For Change aims to educate law-makers and public that sex offenders are diverse group of individuals; that contrary to popular belief, general recidivism rate of 5% over 5 years is the second lowest of all offender groups; and that residency restrictions and public notification have no demonstrable effect on recidivism and might actually undermine public safety, thus making blanket policies and stigmatizing effects of public sex offender lists, which extends to family members, unfair and unfounded when applied broadly to all offenders without considering the individual risk and underlying facts of individual cases.
Advocates For Change has been lobbying for legislation that would reform Colorado's sex offender registry and particularly the indeterminate sentencing policy under Colorado's Lifetime Supervision Act which keeps offenders incarcerated indefinitely pending their results in treatment program, the program which is severely backlogged due to budget constraints of Colorado Department of Corrections. They object these policies as they are applied as a blanket policy to most offenders - regardless of the actual severity of their crime or the risk the offender poses to the community and produce outcome the group sees unduly disproportional and unfair. Advocates of Change have organized a class-action lawsuit against the Department of Corrections to force them to speed up the treatment process, as every offender sentenced under the Lifetime Supervision Act has legislative mandate to treatment, the right to progress through treatment and upon meeting appropriate criteria, to be released from prison.
Purpose and advocacy
Advocates For Change aims to educate law-makers and public that sex offenders are diverse group of individuals; that contrary to popular belief, general recidivism rate of 5% over 5 years is the second lowest of all offender groups; and that residency restrictions and public notification have no demonstrable effect on recidivism and might actually undermine public safety, thus making blanket policies and stigmatizing effects of public sex offender lists, which extends to family members, unfair and unfounded when applied broadly to all offenders without considering the individual risk and underlying facts of individual cases.
Advocates For Change has been lobbying for legislation that would reform Colorado's sex offender registry and particularly the indeterminate sentencing policy under Colorado's Lifetime Supervision Act which keeps offenders incarcerated indefinitely pending their results in treatment program, the program which is severely backlogged due to budget constraints of Colorado Department of Corrections. They object these policies as they are applied as a blanket policy to most offenders - regardless of the actual severity of their crime or the risk the offender poses to the community and produce outcome the group sees unduly disproportional and unfair. Advocates of Change have organized a class-action lawsuit against the Department of Corrections to force them to speed up the treatment process, as every offender sentenced under the Lifetime Supervision Act has legislative mandate to treatment, the right to progress through treatment and upon meeting appropriate criteria, to be released from prison.
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