BILL ANALYSIS
SB 842
Page 1
Date of Hearing: June 21, 2005
Chief Counsel: Gregory Pagan
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY
Mark Leno, Chair
SB 842 (Machado) - As Amended: June 15, 2005
SUMMARY : Requires the Attorney General (AG) to conduct a study
of batterer's treatment programs and report its findings to the
Legislature by June 30, 2008. Specifically, this bill :
1)Provides that the AG shall conduct a study of attendance,
enrollment and re-offense rate among individuals assigned to
batterer's treatment programs.
2)States that the study shall review data collected from five
counties, including one rural, one urban, one northern
California county, and one southern California county and
compare policies regarding attendance, enrollment, periodic
reporting to probation or courts, and responses to batterer's
treatment program non-completion.
3)States that the study shall also review data from five
counties without batterer's treatment programs and compare
policies, responses, and data from those counties with five
counties with batterer's treatment programs.
4)Requires that AG shall report to the Legislature by June 30,
2008 on the results of the study.
5)Provides that the provisions of this act shall be implemented
only if and when adequate funding for that purpose has been
made available to the Department of Justice (DOJ).
EXISTING LAW :
1)Provides that any defendant convicted of a crime against a
spouse, cohabitant or former cohabitant, the partner in a
dating relationship or engagement, his or her child, or the
other parent of his or her child must successfully complete a
"batterers' program" or
equivalent counseling program of at least one year as a
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condition of any grant of probation. (Penal Code Section
1203.097.)
2)Provides that the court or probation department shall refer
defendants only to batterer's programs that follow specified
standards, which may include, but are not limited to,
lectures, classes, group discussions and counseling. (Penal
Code Section 1203.97.)
3)Requires the county probation department to design and
implement an approval and renewal process for batterer's
programs and shall solicit input from criminal justice
agencies and domestic violence victims' advocacy programs.
(Penal Code Section 1203.97.)
4)Requires that batterer's program staff, to the extent
possible, have specific knowledge regarding, but not limited
to, spousal abuse, child abuse, substance abuse, and the
dynamics of violence and abuse, the law, and procedures of the
legal system. (Penal Code Section 1203.97.)
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
1)Author's Statement . According to the author, "This bill
requires the AG to conduct a study of enrollment, attendance,
and re-offense rates among persons referred to batterer's
treatment programs, and to report to the legislature on the
results of this study.
"There is conflicting research on the value of requiring
attendance at batterer's treatment programs. Some studies
suggest that intervention in batterer's intervention programs
can reduce incidents of violence and controlling behavior.
Other studies have demonstrated no change in recidivism rates
between control and experimental groups.
"Unfortunately, even if these programs are successful in
affecting re-offense rates, not all offenders complete the
entire program as required by law. According to testimony
submitted by the California Alliance Against Domestic Violence
to the AG's Task Force on Local Criminal Justice Response to
Domestic Violence, batterer's intervention programs are not
available in all counties (despite the statutory requirement
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that an offender attend a batterer's intervention program) and
not all judges order batterers to the full 52 weeks of
treatment.
"This bill provides the state data on the individuals being
assigned to, and presumably enrolling and completing, these
intervention programs. This data will provide policymakers
with a better understanding of where the existing system falls
short. This bill will also provide a foundation for improving
compliance with existing law, as well as future efforts to
identify successful program models and develop more
comprehensive approaches to fighting the problem of domestic
abuse."
2)Batterer's Programs : As noted by the author, studies
evaluating the effectiveness of batterer's intervention
programs are regarded by many researchers as inconclusive
because of methodological problems. (Among the few considered
methodologically sound, the majority have found modest by
statistically significant reductions in recidivism among men
participating in batterer's intervention programs.)
In May 2000, the Judicial Council of California published,
"Domestic Violence Courts: A Descriptive Study", in which the
court surveyed judicial personnel, domestic violence advocates
and specialists working in batterer's intervention programs to
present data describing domestic violence courts in
California. With respect to batterer's programs, the report
states, "Survey respondents indicated that the batterer's
intervention program provided the most important resource for
perpetrators. Many cited 52-week programs as sufficient, and
several suggested the use of longer programs. Several
perceive that victims, as well as perpetrators, have benefited
when perpetrators are referred to batterer's intervention
programs. Victims have reported that they have witnessed
changes in the batterer's behavior and often attribute these
changes to the batterer's participation in the court-mandated
programs."
In an annual data report published in 2000, Santa Clara County
reported that a "total of 2,511 men and women enrolled in a
52-week batterer's intervention program as of December 31,
1999. About 987 of the clients completed a batterer's
intervention program. Of the total number of enrollment,
1,957 clients are in process as of December 31, 1999 and 920
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clients terminated from the program. The three major reasons
for termination from the program included absences (614
cases), voluntary withdrawal (78 cases), and violation of
probation/other (75 cases).
3)Domestic Violence Statistics : The AG's Office provides the
following statistical information regarding domestic violence
in California:
a) In 2003, 182 murders were the result of inmate partner
violence in California.
b) In 2003, 151 women in California were killed by their
husbands, ex-husbands or boyfriends; 27 men were killed by
their wives, ex-wives or girlfriends.
c) California law enforcement received 194,288 domestic
violence calls in 2003: 106,731 involved weapons,
including firearms and knives.
d) Domestic violence arrests dropped from 52,392 (2001) to
50,479 (2002), and 48,854 in 2003. Every year, almost 6%
of California's women suffer physical injuries from
domestic violence.
1)Prior Legislation :
a) AB 1886 (Lowenthal), Chapter 544, Statutes of 2000,
established training requirements for facilitators in
batterer's intervention programs.
AB 2768 (Poochigian), Chapter 327, Statutes of 1996,
authorized the County of Tulare to develop a Rural Crime
Prevention Demonstration Project to be administered by the
county district attorney's office pursuant to a joint
powers agreement with the county.
b) AB 217 (Pavley), Chapter 2, Statutes of 2002, requires
defendants to complete a batterer's intervention program
within 18 months.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
SB 842
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California Alliance Against Domestic Violence
Los Angeles County District Attorneys Office
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Gregory Pagan / PUB. S. / (916)
319-3744