Sex-offender treatment program could move from hospital to jail

The future of Alberta Hospital’s Phoenix Program for sex offenders is up in the air as Alberta Health Services considers whether to move the treatment program behind jail walls.

The debate over whether the one-year program should be offered in a hospital or correctional facility has been ongoing. The province’s health authority says it has recently begun more serious discussions on the question with the Solicitor General’s office.

And while no decisions have been made about how to best deliver the program, it isn’t at risk of being shut down.

Instead, the discussions are “about ensuring that we’re delivering sex offender programming in the most efficient manner that allows us to reach as many offenders as possible,” said Mark Snaterse, executive director for addiction and mental health for Alberta Health Services’ Edmonton zone. “This is all about protecting the public and we’re 100-percent committed to offering the sex offender treatment that reduces recidivism and protects the public.”

The 18-bed program has operated out of a secure unit at Alberta Hospital Edmonton for more than two decades. It provides treatment for up to 20 male inmates each year. Generally, its participants are convicted pedophiles still serving their sentences. Offenders volunteer for the treatment program and, once accepted, are transferred to the hospital for intense oneon-one and group therapy. Snaterse said the Phoenix Program is still accepting admissions as the Solicitor General’s office and Alberta Health Services grapple over its future.

“We know that our Phoenix Program is a good program but we know that because of the way we deliver it we’re not able to reach a large portion of the sexual offenders who are serving provincial sentences,” Snaterse said.

He said the discussions over whether the program should be moved were partly prompted by a change a few years back that saw Alberta Health Services take over the responsibility for administering medical services within provincial correctional facilities.

“Now that we’re about two to three years down the road and Alberta Health Services is very well integrated with corrections, we’re continuing the conversation,” Snaterse said.

Still, if the program is offered in jails, it would need to operate in a therapeutic setting, he said.

“So we would obviously need to have space that is segregated from the regular correctional culture so that specialized programming could be delivered.”

If the program is moved from Alberta Hospital and under the purview of the Solicitor General, it’s likely “the staff would move with it,” said Kerry Williamson, a spokesman for Alberta Health Services.

Rumours have been swirling for months about the program’s future among staff, said Karen Weiers, a vice-president for the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees.

“Even in the past few weeks staff have met with management and specifically asked for an answer, but they basically have been given vague answers,” she said. “Our members aren’t being told anything, but I know our members are very concerned over how this is being communicated and conducted.”

The program has been in question before. Alberta Health Services suspended admissions after a review was launched in June 2009 to examine whether the program should be changed, moved or scrapped. The program began accepting referrals again five months later and the ultimately survived in its current form.

That review, which was done by the Institute for Health Economics, found that there was “no clear evidence” that a sex offender treatment program offered within a hospital provides different outcomes than one delivered in jail, Snaterse said. In fact, he said, the Phoenix Program is unique in that it is one of the only programs in the world that treats offenders in a hospital, not in a correctional facility.

The program will continue to operate at the Alberta Hospital until a decision has been made, he said.

“We’re not under any pressure to make a decision today.”