While well intentioned, a proposal backed by Norwich state Rep. Emmett Riley that would make it nearly impossible to house former sex offenders in urban areas is "misguided and irrational" as one witness succinctly stated at a public hearing last week.

The concerns of the Norwich lawmaker are understandable. Norwich and other urban areas have been stung by the placement of former sex offenders in their communities. The burden seems unfair. The fear among families in these neighborhoods is real, even if misplaced.

The solution proposed by Senate Bill 1087 is to make Connecticut compliant with the federal Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act, requiring that sexual offenders reside at least 1,000 feet from any school or child-care center.

That would effectively block such housing in "virtually every urban area" in the state, said Eric Ellison, deputy director for parole and community services at the Department of Correction.

While forcing this housing into suburban and rural areas might provide some degree of satisfaction to cities that have grown tired of handling a disproportionate share of societal burdens, it would be, as noted above, irrational.

The treatment and support services that boost the chances of these ex-offenders not reoffending and that can help them become productive are located in the cities, as is the affordable housing.

Mr. Ellison said the state is having good success and that the rate of recidivism among sex offenders is low. The reality is that a child faces a much greater chance of being sexually assaulted by a family member or other person of authority in their life than a former sex offender being monitored nearby.

A 2000 U.S. Department of Justice report determined that strangers were the offenders in just 3 percent of sexual assaults against children under age 6, and 5 percent in the case of children 6 through 11.

If monitoring former sex offenders is the goal, making it impossible for them to find housing is not the solution, testified David McGuire, a staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union of Connecticut, and the witness who called the bill irrational.

"In 2007, after residency restrictions took effect in Miami, more than 100 former sex offenders set up a shantytown under a causeway," noted Mr. McGuire.

That is not the future Connecticut or its cities want.