NCJ Number
198983
Journal
Corrections Today Volume: 65 Issue: 1 Dated: February 2003 Pages: 50-53
Date Published
February 2003
Length
4 pages
Annotation
This article focuses on the ways that victims of domestic violence are being protected and provided with services in Missouri.
Abstract
After describing domestic violence as a widespread problem, the authors discuss the 1997 partnership between the St. Louis City Circuit Attorney’s Office and the St. Louis Circuit Court that resulted in the formation of the St. Louis City Domestic Violence Intervention Project. Designed to target high need/risk offenders convicted of domestic violence offenses, this Missouri initiative operates under the assumption that intensive supervision of domestic violence offenders is critical to the safety of a community and the offenders’ victims. After briefly describing the Domestic Violence Unit, the authors explain that in order to be eligible for the program, an offender must be sentenced to probation through the 22nd Judicial Circuit Court. Required to follow all of Missouri’s standard probation conditions, domestic violence offenders enrolled in the Domestic Violence Unit’s program must proceed through three phases based on their behavior and compliance. Phase One of the program includes weekly office visits, employment verification, participation in a domestic violence program, urine analysis testing, and home visits. During Phase Two of the program offenders are required to report to their probation officer biweekly while all conditions are monitored, and in Phase Three, offenders report in on a monthly basis while continuing with all of the other conditions of their probation. The Domestic Violence Unit’s program has made a significant difference in the lives of domestic violence offenders and their victims because of better supervision and increased levels of safety for victims and their families.