Position Statement

Endorsing Community Corrections’ Response to Domestic Violence: Guidelines for Practice Enacted: Jan 2013   Revised:

WHEREAS, an estimated 1.3 million women are victims of physical abuse by an intimate partner annually; and,

WHEREAS, researchers estimate that nearly one in four women and one in thirteen men will experience intimate partner violence at some point in their lifetime; and,

WHEREAS, 1,640 females and 700 males were killed by an intimate partner in 2007; and,

WHEREAS, effective responses to domestic violence require coordinated, collaborative efforts in partnership with a variety of community organizations and professionals, including victim advocates, criminal justice agencies, the courts and others; and,

WHEREAS, the arrest, prosecution and sentencing of domestic violence offenders are crucial steps in holding abusers accountable for their crimes and deterring future violence; and,

WHEREAS, most domestic violence offenders are released on community supervision either in lieu of or following periods of incarceration and the courts and community corrections agencies have the opportunity to reduce the risk of violence by intervening with domestic violence offenders in a way that promotes victim safety and offender accountability; and,

WHEREAS, community corrections programs are now confronted with supervising domestic violence offenders who previously had rarely been designated as needing specialized supervision services or any supervision at all; and,

WHEREAS, research has found positive benefits for reducing domestic violence recidivism from coordinated community approaches including community corrections programs with specialized domestic violence offender supervision; and,

WHEREAS, heightened attention to the sentencing and supervision of domestic violence offenders necessitates educating community corrections agencies and the courts to identify, respond to and coordinate with other service providers in domestic violence cases;

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the American Probation and Parole Association hereby endorses and recommends Community Corrections’ Response to Domestic Violence: Guidelines for Practice, developed and published through funding from the Office on Violence Against Women, as a critical resource for court officials and community corrections professionals in enhancing supervision strategies for intimate partner abuse cases to better hold abusers accountable for their crimes, promote the safety of victims, and prevent future intimate partner violence from occurring.