A MOTHER who is beaten by the father of her children can get help at a domestic violence shelter. But this relief often comes late, after long periods of abuse. And as the Globe's Maria Cramer recently reported, on any given night there aren't always enough shelter beds.
The temptation is to manage the crisis by adding more beds. But this is only a short-term solution. And some victims won't leave their homes, fearful that this would increase the danger they face. That's why Massachusetts doesn't just need shelter beds; it also needs an infrastructure of state and community programs that help victims long before they are forced to flee their homes.
While such programs exist, they aren't large or numerous enough to meet an evident need.
The human toll
"We hear all the time from victims who say: 'If I could leave . . .' " explains Candace Waldron, executive director of HAWC (Help for Abused Women and their Children), a Salem nonprofit. Part of what can stop them is money. They may not be able to afford apartments. They may not have jobs. They may believe an abuser who tells them they have no options. That's why Massachusetts needs an economic escape hatch, a pipeline that helps victims get housing, job training, and jobs that enable them to become economically independent. HAWC has enough money to help only one-quarter of its clients with housing costs for as much as a year."How much school failure is related to this issue?" Waldron also asks, pointing to the devastation that domestic violence subjects children to and to the related costs of affected children who drop out of school.
"The cost to society of having families languish in abusive relationships is huge," she adds. There are missed days of work, healthcare bills, and social services for domestic violence victims and their children.
Better coordination of existing state services would help. But ultimately Massachusetts needs to better fund and promote these services until it becomes common knowledge that no one has to suffer violence for lack of any other choice.
Massachusetts responds
Another way to counter the problem is through batterer intervention programs, which push perpetrators to stop abusing their partners. Good programs aren't quick fixes. Certified by the state's Department of Public Health, these programs meet in guided groups for 40 weeks, long enough to push participants to change their behavior.At the Emerge program in Cambridge, batterers dig through their relationship histories so they can see violent patterns. Roughly half of Emerge's clients are still in relationships with victims, says co-director David Adams. Emerge and similar programs provide victims with reports on how their partners are doing - vital information that can help a victim decide whether and how to end a relationship. Leaving while a batterer is in a program can be safer, because batterers know they're being monitored. Those who complete programs are less likely to re-offend, according to studies, including a 2004 one by the state's Office of the Commissioner of Probation.
Unfortunately, many batterers don't enroll in or complete the program. In 2006, nearly 1,800 people were enrolled in programs, but only 834 completed them, according to Jane Doe Inc., a local nonprofit. In other cases, courts refer batterers to anger-management programs, a poor substitute that does not deal with the complex issues of domestic violence.
Policy makers should look for ways to increase enrollment and completion rates as well as funding, both to keep victims safe and turn more batterers away from violence.
Community-response teams are another promising state effort. Funded by the Department of Social Services, the teams bring together police, court officials, healthcare providers, and others. They assess cases of possible domestic violence so they can spot dangerous situations and intervene early, speeding up court proceedings or helping remove perpetrators from home. Thirty-six teams are in place or being set up around the state.
To calibrate their response, agencies on these teams need specific data about what has and hasn't worked in the past. To help this effort, the state could set up a domestic violence homicide review board that could comb through old cases to assess what went wrong.
A culture of violence
In October, Governor Patrick announced a zero-tolerance policy for domestic violence. It's a good commitment to make, but the state also needs concrete efforts to push for broader cultural change.One such effort is occurring at Northeastern University's Center for the Study of Sport in Society. According to Jarrod Chin, the senior manager of violence prevention there, the center is trying to enlist high school, college, and professional athletes - who are often viewed as natural leaders - as "empowered bystanders." The Mentors in Violence Prevention program trains them to avoid either intervening - a dangerous strategy - or looking the other way. Instead trainees are asked to consider a range of options from following up with victims or perpetrators to alerting parents, teachers or police.
Close to Home, a nonprofit in Dorchester, is similarly trying to prevent domestic violence through outreach and education. In a video on the organization's website, one participant says he didn't know much about domestic violence and first got involved to beef up his resume. But awareness helps; the young man stayed involved to end violence.
Shelter beds may always be needed to provide emergency help to domestic violence victims. But safe beds aren't enough. What will make the greatest difference is building the foundations of safer communities.
