Cosa Circles - COSA San Diego Program Evauation

COSA San Diego Program Evaluation

Final Report

Project Period: January 1, 2025 - December 31, 2025

Kimberly Kras, PhD, Malia Kohls, Jackson Perry ,Lauren Gomez

San Diego State University

Executive Summary

Social support is a critical factor in reentry success, yet few community-based programs offer structured, reliable support for individuals convicted of sexual offenses. COSA San Diego has been delivering high-quality, restorative justice programs since 2020. In 2023, COSA San Diego developed a peer-led adaptation due to the traditional model’s resource intensiveness, which limits providing support to a growing number of returning citizens.

Rather than relying primarily on community volunteers, COSA San Diego circles are led by Peer Facilitators—program graduates with lived experience. Circles typically involve 5–6 Core Members and are designed to be less resource intensive and more scalable. During the project period, COSA San Diego hosted seven weekly circles with over 70 active members participating. This report presents the findings from a process and impact study.

Implementation and Fidelity to Core COSA Elements

COSA San Diego’s model adaptation retains key COSA components—regular structured meetings, a focus on support and accountability, and connection to outside providers—while changing the composition of the inner circle to a peer-based model. The evaluation identified several core implementation strengths:

● Peer-led circles improve trust and openness: Participants frequently described feeling able to share more authentically in peer-only circles due to shared experience and reduced fear of judgment.

● Support is highly specialized and difficult to find elsewhere: Peer relationships provide validation, practical problem-solving, and empathy that participants often cannot access in other settings.

● Accountability is non-punitive and relational: Accountability was consistently framed as honesty, consistency, and “doing what you say you will do.” Peer Facilitators were observed using strong facilitation skills (including open-ended questioning and motivational approaches) to promote reflection, ownership, and follow-through.

COSA San Diego’s Impact

Thematic analysis of interviews and observations identified four central impact themes:

1. Challenging systemic isolation: Participants described profound loneliness driven by stigma and restrictions. COSA provides a rare structured space where they can connect with others who understand their lived reality.

2. Building community and belonging: COSA circles function as a meaningful community; many participants continue attending even after graduation for camaraderie, mutual support, and stability.

3. Personal transformation through peer support: Participants reported increased confidence, coping capacity, and a sense of forward momentum by learning from peers at different stages of reintegration—especially Peer Facilitators who model successful reentry.

4. “Coming full circle” through generativity: Many graduates express a desire to give back by facilitating, mentoring, or supporting newer members—reflecting progress toward stability and identity transformation.

Opportunity Areas for COSA San Diego’s Continued Development

Participants and facilitators identified several priorities for strengthening COSA San Diego’s impact:

● Meeting unmet basic needs: Members consistently highlighted urgent needs for tangible supports such as transportation assistance (e.g., bus passes), housing navigation, employment preparation, food resources, and other subsistence benefits.

● Technology support: Long-term incarceration and limited access create barriers to effective participation in virtual circles; additional technology coaching could reduce anxiety and improve engagement.

● Topic-specific circles: Specialized groups (e.g., employment-focused, meditation/well-being) were viewed positively and may be expanded to meet diverse reentry needs.

● Structured curriculum integration: Observers noted that more consistent educational infrastructure—integrating restorative justice and aligned frameworks such as the Good Lives Model—could support facilitators and strengthen service consistency as the program scales.

Conclusion

COSA San Diego fills a critical gap in reintegration support for individuals convicted of sexual offenses in the San Diego region. The peer-led adaptation offers a promising and scalable approach that retains key COSA elements while leveraging lived experience to build trust and community. Participant experiences strongly suggest that COSA reduces isolation, strengthens social connection, and supports personal transformation during reentry. Future growth will be strengthened by more robust measurement systems, clearer operational definitions of key outcomes (including relationship restoration), expanded resource linkage, and sustainable funding to support the program’s scale and stability.