Resolution calling upon the New York State Unified Court System to require the Integrated Domestic Violence Courts in New York City to issue regular reports on batterer intervention programs.

Res. No. 104

Resolution calling upon the New York State Unified Court System to require the Integrated Domestic Violence Courts in New York City to issue regular reports on batterer intervention programs.

By Council Members Cabrera, Barron, Chin, Eugene, Ferreras-Copeland, Gibson, Levine, Palma, Rose, Williams, Rosenthal, Mendez, Cumbo, Cohen, Levin, Lander, Wills, Menchaca, Koslowitz and Kallos

                     Whereas, The Integrated Domestic Violence (IDV) courts in New York State are designed to have a family’s multiple cases come before a single judge; and

                     Whereas, IDV courts provide judicial monitoring, access to advocacy and services, and close communication with outside agencies and programs; and

                     Whereas, These courts help to ensure consistency in judicial orders, which allows the court to respond on a particularized basis to each family’s situation; and

                     Whereas, A Batterers Intervention Program is an educational program for domestic violence offenders, which focuses on encouraging participants to take responsibility for abusive acts and explores the effects and impact of violence; and

                     Whereas, Although there are several possible ways to enter a batterer program, one of the more common is upon order from a court; and

                     Whereas, However, when batterers go through court-ordered programs, there is currently no readily accessible public record of outcomes to determine if there are identifiable changes in the behavior patterns of batterers and whether the programs are successful; and

Whereas, It is important batterer programs address the substantive issues behind domestic violence, and not simply act as a procedural requirement that the batterer must fulfill; and

Whereas, Reporting on the placement in and outcomes of batterer intervention programs would help researchers and advocates to measure the success of the programs and trends in changing the behavior of batterers; now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the Council of the City of New York calls upon the New York State Unified Court System to require the Integrated Domestic Violence Courts in New York City to issue regular reports on batterer intervention programs.

Res. No. 1931-2013

LS 390

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2/12/14