Hocking County DV court provides a good template for other communities
By Nick Claussen
September 29, 2008
Hocking County is taking an innovative approach in dealing with domestic-violence offenders in hopes of preventing future violence.
The county is the second in the state to have a domestic-violence court, which is a program that offenders enter to receive treatment and counseling while they are on probation.
“It’s an intense two-year probation,” said Kate McGuckin, executive director of My Sister’s Place, a battered women’s shelter that serves Athens, Hocking and Vinton counties. “We’ve really been impressed with it.” The shelter works with the domestic-violence court in Hocking County.
“I have really high hopes for this. It’s a good example of a community holding batterers accountable for their behavior,” McGuckin said. The program includes drug tests, home visits, counseling sessions and regular appearances before Hocking County Municipal Judge John Wallace.
“It’s pretty novel in terms of the state of Ohio,” McGuckin reported.
Tami Freeman, program coordinator for the domestic-violence court and a probation officer for Hocking County, explained that the program started in April.
“It’s basically a court-ordered program,” Freeman said. If offenders decline to take part in the program, they may face jail time, she said. In the program, offenders go through a treatment program, weekly group counseling sessions and numerous other requirements, she said.
“They are monitored a lot closer this way because it’s intensive,” she said. Those in the program have to meet with their probation officers once a week and appear before Judge Wallace once a week.
In the first phase of the program, Freeman meets with the offenders twice a week, she added.
“It’s intervention and prevention,” Freeman said.
The offenders are also referred to drug and alcohol treatment programs and/or Tri-County Mental Health and Counseling if necessary, she said.
The idea behind the program is to find out why the individuals are having problems and caused the offenses, and to prevent any further problems from occurring, Freeman said.
“Getting to the root of that is how we’re going to fix the problem,” she noted.
Freeman and Judge Wallace worked together to start this domestic-violence court as a response to the very large problem with domestic violence in the community, according to Freeman.
She visited other domestic-violence courts, worked with the Ohio Supreme Court and My Sister’s Place in designing the new program, Freeman said.
My Sister’s Place works closely with the program, along with the Hocking County Prosecutor’s Office and the Hocking County Victim’s Advocate program, she explained.
The program currently has five men in it, and can take up to 10 at one time, Freeman said. Four of the men currently in the program are taking it very seriously, and three of those men are also receiving drug and alcohol counseling, she added.
Freeman said she’s pleased with the success of the program so far, and is anxious to help it grow and make an impact on the domestic-violence problem in Hocking County.
“I just really, really hope that other counties in the state can come and visit and see what it’s about, because it is something that is really going to help our community, “ Freeman said.
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