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Abstract: 

Initially designed as an ad hoc response to a difficult scenario in which a high risk/need sexual offender was released to an angry and fearful community, the Circles of Support and Accountability (CoSA) model has grown significantly from its Canadian Mennonite beginnings. Nineteen years after the initial circle was formed in Hamilton, Ontario, projects have been established in communities across Europe, North America, and New Zealand. In the United Kingdom, Circles-UK has been established as a national charity. This article examines how CoSA projects have begun taking hold in the United States, with Vermont among the first to have instituted statewide use of the model. Interest in the Circles model continues to grow on a global scale, with active or planned programs in the Netherlands, France, Latvia, New Zealand, Spain, and other countries.

Keywords: Sex offenders; community supervision

Affiliations:  ; 2: Vermont Department of Corrections; 3: Correctional Service of Canada.