In early 2017, California Assembly Member Mark Stone introduced
AB 372 to help advance domestic violence batterer
intervention programs. The California State Association of
Counties (CSAC) co-sponsored this legislation which ultimately
allowed six counties (Napa, San Luis Obispo, Santa Clara, Santa
Cruz, Santa Barbara, and Yolo) to pilot alternative
interventions, focusing on creating the opportunity for change to
stop future incidents of domestic violence. CSAC, with the
support of the Blue Shield of California Foundation, embarked on
supporting these critical efforts as part of the CSAC Initiative
on Improving Domestic Violence Programs and Systems. Several
years in the making, CSAC has completed the initial phase of
county collaboration and data synthesis to develop the
Year 1 Legislative Report.
Counties have worked tirelessly – amid a national pandemic – to
continue pushing this critical work forward to do better for the
safety of Californians and the nation. Some key findings of the
report, which focuses on program participants entering pilot
county Domestic Violence programming from July 1, 2019, to June
30, 2020, include:
89 percent of pilot program participants identified as male
38 percent were unemployed
51 percent had a prior domestic violence assault report to
the police
33 percent were considered at high risk of committing future
acts of Intimate Partner Violence
This
initial report details the types of programming within the
pilot counties, the structure of the programming, and includes a
variety of discussions around the style and evidence-based nature
of the approaches to assessments, program timeframes, and
interventions. It also discusses the challenges and ongoing work
needed to fully recognize the intent of the legislation in
understanding output and outcomes based upon those modified
programs. As the pilot program continues, future reports and
briefs will focus on recidivism outcomes for pilot counties and
informing counties and stakeholders on opportunities to improve
domestic violence intervention programs.
For more information on the full report or additional activities
within the CSAC Initiative on Improving Domestic Violence
Programs and Systems, please visit the CSAC Support Hub for
Criminal Justice Programming website or contact Ryan Souza, Program
Director, at RSouza@counties.org.
