By: Shapiro, Moncrief S.C.R. No. 5 West, Zaffirini SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 1-1 WHEREAS, In 1989 the 71st Legislature established the 1-2 Battering Intervention and Prevention Program project as part of 1-3 the community justice assistance division of the Texas Department 1-4 of Criminal Justice; the Battering Intervention and Prevention 1-5 Program project was Texas' first direct involvement in domestic 1-6 violence prevention through specialized programs to rehabilitate 1-7 perpetrators, and the project is a vital supplement to law 1-8 enforcement and the criminal justice system in responding to 1-9 domestic violence; and 1-10 WHEREAS, The development of specialized counseling and 1-11 rehabilitation for batterers was in response to victims' requests 1-12 to the Texas Council on Family Violence for services for their 1-13 abusive partners; their experience has shown them that law 1-14 enforcement and criminal justice intervention might briefly end 1-15 acts of violence but did not cause their partners to change their 1-16 abusive behavior; and 1-17 WHEREAS, Judges and other referral sources are often required 1-18 to refer batterers to treatment without any knowledge of the 1-19 providers' training or knowledge of domestic violence; and 1-20 WHEREAS, Professionals and others who specialize in domestic 1-21 violence intervention and prevention believe that battering is 1-22 primarily a learned behavior and that Texas must provide trained 1-23 persons to help the perpetrator unlearn and change the battering 2-1 behavior or the emotionally and fiscally draining cycle of violence 2-2 will continue; and 2-3 WHEREAS, Historically, battered women have been placed in 2-4 jeopardy due to referrals for batterers intervention being sent to 2-5 individuals with little or no training in the dynamics of domestic 2-6 violence or the necessary accountability and assurances of the 2-7 victims' safety; and 2-8 WHEREAS, Outcome studies have shown that batterers 2-9 intervention programs do help men develop better communication 2-10 skills, learn to abate anger, learn conflict resolution skills, 2-11 gain respect, and reduce animosity toward women after having 2-12 received batterers intervention treatment; and 2-13 WHEREAS, National experts in the field, such as Edleson, 2-14 Hart, Gondolf, Pence, and Paymer, have concluded that successful 2-15 batterers treatment programs have a strong accountability and 2-16 connection to their local battered women's program; and 2-17 WHEREAS, The community justice assistance division and the 2-18 Texas Council on Family Violence have developed standards aimed at 2-19 improving treatment within the battering intervention and 2-20 prevention programs throughout the State of Texas with the 2-21 objective of increasing victim safety and stopping violent 2-22 behavior; and 2-23 WHEREAS, Section 5, Article 42.141, Code of Criminal 2-24 Procedure, establishes that battering intervention and prevention 2-25 programs can only be state-funded in counties where a battered 3-1 women's shelter or services exists, and while there are 62 shelters 3-2 there are currently only 20 batterers intervention and prevention 3-3 programs; and 3-4 WHEREAS, In fiscal year 1994, 20 state-funded battering 3-5 intervention and prevention programs provided intervention and 3-6 rehabilitation services to 4,735 batterers; now, therefore, be it 3-7 RESOLVED, That the 74th Legislature request and encourage 3-8 local counselors and professionals to obtain training and to 3-9 affiliate themselves as volunteers and counselors with already 3-10 established battered women's centers and battering intervention 3-11 programs to develop additional battering intervention and 3-12 prevention programs and services which meet the state standards; 3-13 and, be it further 3-14 RESOLVED, That a copy of this resolution be prepared and 3-15 forwarded to the community justice assistance division of the Texas 3-16 Department of Criminal Justice to be dispersed to the community 3-17 service agencies.