Part of a series on domestic violence in Springfield and Greene County. Need help? See related story.
Those running batterers programs in the Springfield area apparently have made little or no attempt to learn from — or collaborate with — the people and agencies that deal directly with victims.
That conclusion is based on a list of best practices provided by the Missouri Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence for batterers intervention programs and the response from local leaders who work with victims of domestic violence.
Several batterers classes are offered in the Ozarks. The Missouri Department of Corrections Division of Probation and Parole credentials the programs and has a list of them, most recently updated four years ago.
(Two of the Southwest Missouri programs on that list — BeaconStar Counseling and Labryon Williams Counseling — were contacted by the Hauxeda in May and said they no longer offer batterers intervention classes.)
The coalition believes the community is best served when operators of batterers intervention programs seek assistance and knowledge from agencies that work with victims.
The “MCADSV Standards for Batterer Intervention Programs” was published in September 2018. The recommendations, or best practices, are guidelines that do not have the force of law.
The coalition does not oversee or credential batterers intervention programs or make rules for them. That responsibility falls to the Division of Probation and Parole.
The Daily Citizen sought responses to the best-practice suggestions to see if they were being followed locally. With one exception, they are not.
Those contacted for this story were:
- Jackie Langdon, public information officer at Harmony House
- Brandi Bartel, executive director of the Victim Center
- Jamie Willis, director of the Greene County Family Justice Center
- Matthew Huffman, spokesman for the Missouri Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence
Huffman’s response was:
“Missouri Department of Corrections uses our standards as the basis of their monitoring and credentialing. … The way I understand from the conversations that I have had is that DOC is supposed to monitor programs, but because they are short staffed, this is the area that has taken the biggest hit.”
The Division of Probation and Parole declined multiple Daily Citizen requests to discuss batterers programs with its employees for this series on domestic violence.
Best Practice: “Effective batterer intervention providers should consult with advocates who work directly with women to develop new programs, assess the need for substantial program policy changes within existing programs, and conduct periodic program reviews.”
Question 1: Does this consulting happen between your organization and those who operate Greene County batterers classes?
Jackie Langdon, Harmony House
No. We are not aware of any current batterer intervention programs in Greene County or how they operate locally. Our efforts and mission are focused on providing services and resources to survivors. ... We have not had any specific program reach out to us for consultation, but are open to the idea as it would be beneficial to provide the survivor and service provider perspective to these types of programs.
Brandi Bartel, Victim Center
I do not recall Batterer Intervention Programs in our area reaching out to us or asking us to advise on their programs.
Jamie Willis, Greene County Family Justice Center
The Family Justice Center has not had any local batterers intervention programs reach out to the Family Justice Center directly to consult with us on program development or program reviews. Austin Boon (who runs the Stop Domestic Violence program) and I met at my request a few years ago. ... Austin toured our Family Justice Center, and provided us with his program’s summary and expectations and a brief overview of the curriculum.
Best practice: “Batterer intervention programs need to identify and cultivate relationships with domestic violence programs so they can reflect survivors' perspectives. Programs should recognize that participation in the local domestic violence council becomes part of the informal training of the community.”
Question 2: Does this type of cultivation of relationship happen between your organization and those who operate batterers classes in Greene County?
Jackie Langdon, Harmony House
No.
Brandi Bartel, Victim Center
No recollection of any contact.
Jamie Willis, Greene County Family Justice Center
I have not had any batterers intervention programs reach out to the Family Justice Center directly to cultivate a relationship or ask about the perspective of survivors in our community.
Best practice: “Batterer intervention programs are accountable to the domestic violence movement, women victimized by domestic violence and the community. As programs participate in the community response to domestic violence, staff must educate themselves about issues faced by survivors.”
Question 3: Does your organization feel that those who operate batterers programs in Greene County operate in a manner accountable to the domestic violence movement, victims and the community?
Jackie Langdon, Harmony House
This is unknown as we do not have contact with any such programs.
Brandi Bartel, Victim Center
No recollection of any contact.
Jamie Willis, Greene County Family Justice Center
I am not familiar enough with local batterers intervention programming to know if the staff educates themselves on issues faced by survivors.
Best practice: “Domestic violence program staff should receive information on the batterer intervention program's curriculum, length of treatment, program requirements, assessment and evaluation used, and accountability systems including reporting to the referral sources.”
Question 4: Is anyone at your organization getting this information?
Jackie Langdon, Harmony House
No.
Brandi Bartel, Victim Center
No recollection of any contact.
Jamie Willis, Greene County Family Justice Center
The Stop Domestic Violence program run by Austin Boon provided the Family Justice Center with this information (curriculum, length of treatment, program requirements) upon our request several years ago. I am not aware of any other programs that have provided this information to the Family Justice Center directly. ... I am not aware of any local batterers intervention programs that are cross training with local domestic violence agencies.
