It's a boost they say is long overdue for sex-offender treatment programs.

The Department of Corrections has not received a funding increase for sex-offender treatment programs since 1996. At that time, the number of inmates or parolees who had been convicted of a sex offense and were receiving state-supervised treatment was 804.

By the end of 2004, that number had grown to almost 1,500 and shows no sign of stopping. Corrections research analyst Cliff Buttars told the Legislature's Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Interim Committee that the rise was due to stiffer sentences, population growth and a strict parole policy.

The Legislature was unable to deliver the $1 million Corrections officials requested last year. They are hoping for a different outcome in the 2006 legislative session.

"The lack of resources has forced [therapists] to triage and stage - allocating the treatment resources," Buttars said.

Which means many sex offenders might not get a full slate of therapy before they complete their sentences. Those that do not graduate from a sex-offender program are twice as likely to return to prison within the first year of their release, according to data presented to the committee.

The rate of return to prison for nongraduates between 2000 and 2003 was about 41 percent. Program graduates who were tracked between 1991 and 2004 averaged a 19.5 percent rate of return.

"No matter where you live, you ought to have access to treatment and the citizens deserve to be safe," said Kathy Ockey, director of the Fremont Community Corrections Center.

Buttars, who has advocated more funding for sex-offender treatment for many years, says the state stands to save millions of dollars by properly treating offenders and keeping them from returning to prison.

Of the $1.2 million requested, about $700,000 would be channeled to inmates at the Utah State Prison to supplement a treatment budget of $826,400 that currently accommodates 440 offenders per year. The new money would provide treatment for another 350 offenders each year, paying for an additional supervisor, eight therapists, a psychologist and other services, according to Buttars.

The rest of the funding request, about $500,000, would be divided among several treatment facilities throughout the state. That money would be the first installment of a sex-offender treatment funding request that would reach $3 million over six years.

mwestley@sltrib.com