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A plan still under development would provide housing, Global Positioning System surveillance, mental health treatment, Social Services support and a parole reporting office in one central location.
County Probation Director Robert Sudlow said the state Division of Parole has embraced the comprehensive idea and has offered a "significant" amount of funding to get it off the ground.
Mark Johnson, a spokesman from the Division of Parole, would not comment on the amount of funding available, saying the details were yet to be worked out.
Sudlow, who has been working on the plan along with the leaders of the county departments of Mental Health and Social Services, said the program may be used as a state and national model to address problems with managing sex offenders. But first, county officials must work out the details and garner support from county lawmakers and the community.
A proposal to locate the center on the county's Golden Hill campus in Kingston is already meeting with resistance from city politicians. State officials met with Sudlow on Thursday to scope out the area.
"I'm very concerned about it and it's not something I think I could support," said Mayor James Sottile. "We house the jail, Mental Health and the County Office Building. We are the community that has the homeless shelter, the entry-level housing, and, quite frankly, it's time for other communities to take their fair share."
Legislator Frank Dart, D-Kingston, said he appreciates the benefits of establishing a central location for housing sex offenders, but added, "A lot of people who have kids would rather live next to a hazardous waste site than have a sex offender living next to them."
Legislator Peter Kraft, chairman of the committee that oversees the Department of Social Services, said the location is still up for discussion, but pointed to the benefits of the Golden Hill campus.
"It can definitely change as we go around and get feedback from different people, but initially ... that would seem the most logical," said Kraft, D-Glenford. "They've been talking about Probation, housing and Mental Health, and it would seem that all those services are conveniently located there."
Sudlow said educating the public on the current problem is the most important component of moving forward. According to Sudlow:
* Housing restrictions are causing some offenders to go "underground" rather than try to find a legal place to live. That increases their risk of re-offending, he said.
* Myths perpetuate the fear that sex offenders are lurking behind bushes, but 90 percent of sex offenders commit crimes against someone they know.
* A lack of re-entry planning often leaves recently released offenders at Social Services' doorstep without warning.
The proposed comprehensive approach seeks to solve these issues and establish a parole reporting office. Sudlow said the reporting station is a key component, since the county's roughly 300 parolees must currently travel to Poughkeepsie.
He said housing will be transitional and focus on Level 3 offenders (those considered most likely to strike again). Participants would be required to engage in mental health treatment and other recommended programs. They would be restricted from certain areas like schools and would be monitored on GPS - an initiative already in the works.
Kraft said public forums will be held around the community in the coming months to educate the public and gather comments.
"It's a crisis and, before something severe happens, we want to be proactive and address the issue," he said.
