Counselors require longer treatment for abusers

For some convicted batterers in Kootenai County, a year of domestic violence treatment isn’t enough.

After 52 weeks of required regular meetings, some offenders are leaving group counseling – only to be arrested soon after for new crimes against their intimate partners, experts said.

Worried about a recidivism rate of about 5 percent, the area’s three primary treatment providers joined together this week to require more treatment over a longer period for the most serious offenders. They said it’s a necessary step in a region that consistently posts Idaho’s highest per capita rates of domestic violence.

“What we’re saying now is we need to take a community approach,” said Michael Botnick, a licensed clinical social worker with three decades of experience.

Of the 60 clients he supervised last year, three were rearrested for similar crimes within a short time of completing treatment, Botnick said.

Some in local law enforcement acknowledge that a recidivism rate of 5 percent is low compared with other categories of crime, but they applaud the effort to make sure batterers don’t reoffend soon after treatment.

Under new rules that take effect June 1, offenders will be required to attend monthly sessions for four months after completing a yearlong treatment program.

Offenders newly classified as “high risk” – those convicted more than once of a domestic violence misdemeanor or those convicted of a felony – will be required to attend monthly sessions for the duration of their probation, typically about two years.

Previously, only counselor Edwin Hutchinson of the Amend Center in Coeur d’Alene required monthly follow-up visits. Botnick suggested that his clients continue therapy, and Sue Smith of the Solutions counseling agency had no formal follow-up program.

The change is aimed at easing offenders out of treatment and back into family life and society, Botnick said. Providers hope it will help diffuse what they say are feelings of abandonment, grief and loss that offenders feel upon leaving treatment.

“It’s like anything else. When you’re done, there’s this void that occurs and it’s a high-risk time,” Botnick said.

More important, the changes will help keep offenders’ family members safe, said Laura Bonneville, victim services advocate with the Kootenai County Prosecutor’s Office.

“The fact that they’re required to show up holds them accountable,” Bonneville said. “There’s the real pressure of wanting to show up and say, ‘I was violence-free for the past week.’ ”

In 2004, there were 962 victims of domestic violence in five North Idaho counties, according to Idaho State Police statistics. That’s a rate of 4.95 victims per 1,000 residents, the highest in the state. Kootenai County posted the second-highest county rate in the state, with 662 victims and a rate of 5.41 per 1,000 population. Only Bonneville County in southeast Idaho, with a rate of 5.99 per 1,000 people, was higher.

North Idaho has led the state in domestic violence rates for the past five years, figures showed. Statewide, about 80 percent of victims are female. Nearly 45 percent are abused by spouses, and 52 percent are abused by boyfriends or girlfriends or common-law spouses. About 15 percent of victims are also offenders, statistics showed. New statistics reflecting 2005 crimes are set for release in May, an ISP data collection expert said.

Bonneville estimated that there were more than 400 offenders responsible for domestic violence crimes in Kootenai County last year.

Batterers convicted of those crimes are required to enter treatment provided by one of the area counselors. The providers are free to define treatment according to their own professional standards, Botnick said.

That suits Kootenai County Sheriff’s Capt. Ben Wolfinger just fine. He said he’s pleased that the professionals agreed to collaborate on stricter standards for all offenders.

“It’s a crime that doesn’t need to be,” he said. “Good for them.”

Protecting the community is the providers’ first priority, but helping offenders come to terms with their anger and abuse is also important, Botnick said. Most offenders resent treatment when they enroll, but by the end, they find it’s a valuable source of insight and support, he said.

“Men don’t typically get together and talk,” he said. “Treatment offers these guys a chance to talk about what it’s like being a man.”