Section 501.90  Educational Component

a)         Format and Structure

PAIP staff shall conduct in-person psycho-educational based groups that work with participants to assist them in recognizing and understanding their beliefs and behaviors that lead to violence toward their intimate partners. Group format must include informational presentations, opportunities for application of skills, such as role-playing and homework assignments, and assessment of participant progress. Participants must attend no fewer than 24 sessions, conducted weekly, for a minimum of 36 hours of direct program contact that does not include intake/screening. Up to 4 individual sessions may be included, but all remaining hours must be group work unless individual circumstances or insufficient numbers contraindicate group involvement.  Rationale for exceeding the four individual sessions must be documented and available for review.

b)         Content

Educational content must be consistently and directly tied to intimate partner violence. General concepts or skill-building without a connection to intimate partner violence are not appropriate.  Educational content includes lecture materials, group activities, homework assignments and media resources.

1)         PAIPs must educate participants about the causes, forms and effects of intimate partner violence. Emphasis on learning to respect the partner's preferences with regard to intimate activities and respect for the gender of the partner, non-physical forms of violence, intentionality of violence, and impact on children must be included.

2)         PAIPs must provide participants with skills for handling conflict that promote safety. 

3)         PAIPs must promote attitudes that are associated with non-abusive behavior and challenge attitudes that are associated with abusive intimate partner behavior.

4)         PAIPs must contain components that assist participants to develop skills for nonabusive behavior and equal partnerships. These components include, but are not limited to:

A)        Recognition and identification of abusive behaviors;

B)        Non-abusive and respectful conflict resolution;

C)        Assertive, non-aggressive communication;

D)        Achievement and maintenance of healthy and nonabusive intimate relationships;

E)        Achievement and maintenance of healthy and nonabusive parenting;

F)         Understanding the impact on children of witnessing intimate partner violence, including developmental and emotional effects; and

G)        Understanding the use of children as part of manipulation or coercion against partners.

c)         Inappropriate Intervention Models

1)         The following models are inappropriate for use as partner abuse intervention and are not permitted: 

A)        Models that include or allow couples and family counseling and therapy. 

B)        Models that require the victim to attend counseling as a condition of service for the participant.

C)        Models that deny a participant's personal responsibility for violence, abuse and controlling behavior. Perpetrators are responsible for their violent, abusive and controlling behavior. Abuse is not caused by factors such as stressors or alcohol or drug use, or by the victim.

D)        Models that encourage the expression of rage.

E)        Anger management techniques that place primary causality on anger and/or are the sole intervention rather than one part of a comprehensive approach.

F)         Approaches that identify and treat intimate partner violence as an addiction or mental illness and the victim as enabling or co-dependent in the violence.

G)        Theories or techniques that identify poor impulse control as the primary cause of the violence.

H)        Pastoral counseling.

I)         Models that fail to approach substance abuse and partner abuse as separate issues.  Protocol approved programs must approach these two issues as separate and distinct disciplines that involve separate accountability.

2)         If a PAIP program works within an agency that also offers anger management classes and/or family/marriage programs, the PAIP staff must work with these programs to establish policies and procedures that include screening for intimate partner violence and referral to appropriate intervention services.  This separation of services and application of appropriate intervention will be addressed as a part of the Department's monitoring and technical assistance.

d)         Facilitator Teams and Group Composition

1)         Groups must be conducted by two facilitators.

2)         Former perpetrators of intimate partner violence may co-facilitate after being abuse-free for a minimum of five years, but only with another facilitator who has no history of violence perpetration in his or her own life. Verification of current nonviolence must be obtained in such a way that any partner or former partner of the facilitator does not have his or her safety compromised.  Programs must keep this verification on file. 

3)         Group participants must all be of the same gender. 

4)         The group composition (age, size, gender and sexual orientation) must be appropriate to the intervention strategies.  Group size must not exceed 15 participants. 

5)         Co-facilitation team composition shall mirror the intimate partner relationship of participants.

6)         Co-facilitation team composition shall mirror the race, ethnicity and cultural considerations of the population served.  At a minimum, the staffing team must be culturally competent.

e)         Compliance with this Section will be assessed by the Department through the monitoring and technical assistance outlined in Section 501.70. Documentation of compliance with this Section must be contained in PAIP files and available for review.