State pays millions for contract psychologists to keep up with Jessica's Law
Source: By Charles Piller and Lee Romney, Los Angeles Times (CA), August 10, 2008
A 2006 law intended to crack down on sex offenders has proved a bonanza for a small group of private psychologists and psychiatrists, 14 of whom billed California taxpayers last year for a half a million dollars or more each, a Times investigation found. Among the 79 contractors hired by the state to evaluate sex offenders, the top earner was Robert Owen, a Central Coast psychologist who pulled in more than $1.5 million in 2007, according to state records reviewed by The Times.
........ The vast cost of the evaluations and the system's reliance on contractors have prompted concerns by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, which represents state psychologists. "There is going to have to be some kind of adjustment in what the contractors are making if [the state] is going to recruit" staff psychologists, udi Herman, who chairs the union's psychologist committee, said in an interview.