Sheila Donnelly, Roxanne Lieb - December 1993

Washington State's 1990 Community Protection Act requires released sex offenders to register with the sheriff in their county of residence within 24 hours of release. In addition, the Act expressly authorizes law enforcement agencies to notify the public when a sex offender with a high risk of reoffense settles in the community. This law, called "community notification," was the first of its kind in the country. In March 1993, the Institute surveyed sheriffs in all 39 counties and the chiefs of police in the ten largest cities regarding their use of the community notification law.

WSIPP - December 1993

Previous Family Income Study research found that more women left public assistance due to employment than for any other reason and that most exits from assistance were temporary, not long term. This issue brief discusses the hourly wages of women who left public assistance due to employment and the percent who were able to stay off assistance for at least 36 months.

WSIPP - November 1993

Previous Family Income Study research indicates that dropping out of school before graduating, and being a teenage mother, are factors related to low educational attainment and welfare dependency. This issue brief describes the sequence of dropping out of school, and becoming pregnant for the first time, for women on public assistance.

Lin Song, Roxanne Lieb, Sheila Donnelly - October 1993

This report reviews the literature regarding female sex offenders, and examines the characteristics of convicted female sex offenders in Washington State. Research literature indicates that the prevalence of sex offenses committed by females is relatively low, partly because of underreporting.

WSIPP - October 1993

In the fifth annual Family Income Study interview administered in 1992, women were asked if they had been physically or sexually abused as adults. Physical abuse of women by spouses occurs at least once in 20 to 30 percent of households nationwide. National research on the sexual abuse of adult women is scarce; however, studies indicate that at least 20 percent of women have experienced sexual abuse and assault at least once during their lifetime. This issue brief specifically addresses physical and sexual abuse of women on public assistance as adults. Family Income Study survey findings show an alarmingly high rate of physical and sexual abuse of women on public assistance in Washington State. Over half of the women surveyed reported being physically and/or sexually abused as adults. The majority of those who reported being sexually abused also reported being physically abused by a spouse or boyfriend.

WSIPP - October 1993

A recent study conducted in Washington State of young women who were pregnant or parenting teens found that 66 percent of the young women surveyed who became pregnant as teenagers were sexually abused (Boyer and Fine 1992). The high rate of abuse found in this study prompted new questions, relating to physical and sexual abuse, to be asked in the Family Income Study's fifth year interviews of public assistance and at risk comparison samples. This paper reports on findings concerning the physical and sexual abuse of women on public assistance in Washington State while they were growing up. Sexual abuse in the Family Income Study questionnaire was defined as: unwanted touching, sexual assault, or rape by a family member or others. Physical abuse was defined as: being hit, kicked, punched, or beaten up, other than the occasional spanking, by parents or guardians.

Lin Song, Roxanne Lieb - September 1993

The effect of prison or jail sentences on recidivism is an important issue to those concerned with public safety and the cost-effectiveness of putting convicted offenders in prison. This paper summarizes theories and empirical studies on the effect of sentencing on recidivism. Study findings indicate that for some offenders, incarceration and longer confinement seem to increase the risk of recidivism. For other offenders, the likelihood of re-offense will either be unaffected or reduced by longer terms of incarceration. Furthermore, early-release programs do not appear to affect overall recidivism rates.

Shilin Hu, Carol Webster, Greg Weeks - May 1993

Employment was emphasized as a major pathway off welfare in the federal reform of the AFDC program. For this report, five years of Family Income Study data were analyzed to determine which factors affected the likelihood of employment for women who received public assistance.

Carol Webster, Greg Weeks - March 1993

The majority of women who receive AFDC are short-term assistance users and leave AFDC within two years. Long-term users of public assistance, however, present a dilemma to both state and national policymakers in terms of cost and perceived "welfare dependency." The federal Family Support Act and its Job Opportunities and Basic Skills (JOBS) program now directs states to focus upon education, training, job search, and job development activities for potential long-term users of AFDC. Using five years of Family Income Study data, this study compared the characteristics of short-term and long-term users of AFDC in Washington State during the period of 1988-1992.

Roxanne Lieb, Hal Scogin, Greg Weeks - February 1993

Policy debates regarding sentencing for sex offenders frequently focus on recidivism rates and treatment techniques. This paper addresses the financial aspects of sentencing, comparing the costs of three sentencing options in Washington State.