Pol: Suffolk sex offender hotel program 'a disaster'

Presiding Officer William Lindsay is seeking to end Suffolk's nascent program to give homeless sex offenders $90 a day to stay in hotels and called on the county's Social Services department to develop a new plan.

Lindsay's legislation, to be introduced April 27, would terminate the 3-month-old voucher program and direct Social Services to develop a plan that is "equitable, cost-effective" and contains oversight.

"The voucher system, I think, is a disaster waiting to happen," Lindsay said. "We just give these folks $90 and they can show up anywhere."

Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy in January scrapped plans to locate homeless sex offenders at an industrial site in East Farmingdale and announced the voucher program, which is modeled after one in Nassau County.

But lawmakers have balked at funding the vouchers.

Lindsay (D-Holbrook) said he has worked with Social Services Commissioner Gregory Blass to develop a proposal that would locate the sex offender population at sites throughout the county. Ideally, he said, no more than three homeless sex offenders would live at one site, which would be in industrial areas with 24-hour monitoring. No legislative district would have more than one site, Lindsay said.

Social Services Commissioner Gregory Blass was not available to comment Tuesday, but released this statement: "The administration has a housing plan. The presiding officer is seeking a different route through his proposal and the department will await legislation disposition of the presiding officer's proposal."

The county now houses 15 homeless sex offenders at spartan trailers in Riverside and Westhampton, which the state has ordered closed because they do not have hot water or cooking facilities. Four others receive vouchers, Social Services spokesman Roland Hampson said.

Legis. Jay Schneiderman (I-Montauk), whose district includes the two trailers, said the cost of new facilities for homeless sex offenders would be less than what the county pays now to transport them to and from the East End.

"The county is looking at a $2 million taxi bill for this year," he said. "There are always costs for housing the homeless. If you want to do it responsibly it will cost more."

Levy last month signed legislation requiring homeless sex offenders who receive the county vouchers to wear GPS tracking devices, though the plan has yet to be implemented.