Why the Certifying of Batterers Intervention Programs is Imperative
by Dr. Eric L. Davis
One of the many services we offer at Life Recovery Center is our Batterers Intervention Program (BIP). This means we treat individuals who are abusive to others. Though the batterer is the individual sitting in our group session, we are very clear in the philosophy that our client is the victim that this individual has abused. Our goal is always to ensure victim safety at all times. Our program goes by the name the FIRST Program, which is an acronym for Fundamental Integrity Relational Skills Training. Our program is based on the philosophy that abuse is a choice and that individuals have the ability to act with integrity based on the Golden Rule. We make it a point to always point out that the Golden rule states, "Treat others like I want to be treated PERIOD." When individuals abuse, they try to blame shift and make excuses, and we are adamant that the Golden Rule does NOT state, "Treat others like I want to be treated--unless they're getting on my nerves," or "--unless I'm in a bad mood," or "unless they're being mean to me," etc. The Golden Rule implies that I should treat others like I want to be treated in every instance, at all times, no matter what. For the sake of time, you can read more about the details of our program and philosophy here.
What I want to briefly discuss in this article is what BIP certification is, what obtaining it entails, and why I feel it is absolutely crucial to ensuring the integrity of a program. It is something about which I feel very strongly and do so because individuals' lives are truly at stake. Our program's mission is stop all forms of abuse; whether it be physical, mental, emotional, etc. We are trying to educate individuals and shift an entire paradigm. Maintaining a certified program only helps to make our mission more attainable, and that is of the utmost importance to myself and my colleagues at Life Recovery Center.
In 2011, a bill (IC 35-50-9) was passed in Indiana which made the Indiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence (ICADV) the sole certifying body for BIPs. The bill specified that courts can order an individual to attend a BIP, and that the BIP must be certified by ICADV. Life Recovery Center had already been a provider member of ICADV for a few years at the time the bill was passed, so we immediately began the process to become a certified BIP -- which let me tell you is no easy task at all.
Simply put, certification sets a minimum standard to which all BIPs should adhere. Certified programs must agree to adhere to the ICADV code of ethics, and the program's policies and procedures must reflect that the program is operating in a way that does so. Quite simply, ICADV certification helps to ensure that programs are operating with the victim's safety at the forefront of their program, that staff are properly trained and monitored, and that a state-approved, empirically-based curriculum is being taught.
The certifying process requires certification candidates to first complete a phase known as the "client experience" -- during which the individual completes 26 weeks of BIP as a client. This is followed by co-facilitating 26 BIP sessions, and then facilitating another 26 sessions alone. The individual can then be certified as a Supervisor. For certification, every program must have at least one individual certified at the Supervisor level.
Another important aspect of certification is Monitoring. Every single certified BIP facilitator/supervisor must be monitored by a Victim Advocate once every quarter (4x/year). The advocate shows up unannounced at random and sits in on the group to ensure that ICADV's standards (which ensure victim safety) are being followed and that the program is using an approved empirically-based curriculum. The advocate fills out a monitoring report for each visit which must be submitted to ICADV each year as part of maintaining certification.
I will be the first to say that while becoming a certified program was no easy task, it was overwhelmingly worth it. We have a BIP of which I'm extremely proud, and the entire process of getting and maintaining the certification has done nothing but help our program to work toward accomplishing it's goals. It ensures that our staff are competent, professional, and doing the best job we possibly can at all times. For that I'm grateful. I like having the oversight and the accountability. ICADV helps us to make certain that we are doing the best job and providing the best service we can at all times. It is for this reason that, quite frankly, the programs out there that are resistant to obtaining the certification should rethink their stance on the matter. We pursued the certification because we wanted to do everything we could to provide the very best program possible. It is for this reason that I feel certification of BIPs is so crucial -- because it helps to enforce that an acceptable standard is being maintained. As I said before: we are talking about ensuring safety and preventing violence -- a matter of life and death in some instances -- for the individuals in our community. The citizens of our state (and all states, for that matter) deserve the best possible education and intervention we can offer -- and that is what certification is helping to ensure they get.
In summary, CERTIFICATION HOLDS AGENCIES ACCOUNTABLE FOR THE INTEGRITY OF THEIR BATTERERS INTERVENTION PROGRAMS! And that is why certification is so crucial. My hope is that all the agencies in our state will work together to raise the overall quality of our BIPs to help ensure that the citizens of our community are receiving the very best services they can get. The better the quality of our programs, the better our chances of preventing domestic violence, saving lives, and shifting the culture of violence into a new paradigm of love and equality.
For more information about the FIRST Batterers Intervention Program at Life Recovery Center, contact our Director of Domestic Violence Programming,
For more information on ICADV, certification, and how you can join the fight against domestic violence in our community, visit www.ICADVinc.org
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