Lawmakers are considering a new way to lower Oklahoma's high rates of domestic violence — a specialized intervention court that focuses on rehabilitation. Researchers said the program would allow existing courts to collaborate and create pathways for people accused of domestic violence to receive treatment.
The idea was discussed last month at an interim study led by Sen. Michael Brooks, D-Oklahoma City. During the study, legal experts outlined how the program could work and what it would take to get off the ground.
Oklahoma County received $75,000 from the U.S. Department of Justice and the Oklahoma District Attorneys Council through the S.T.O.P. (Services Training Officers Prosecutors) Violence Against Women grant program in March. Much of that funding is being used to research a domestic violence intervention court.
"In order to build anything, first we need to know what we're building," said Zana Williams, grant strategist for the funding. "We have to do that research responsibly."
And seven months in, Williams and the research team said, the study is almost complete. But before Williams presented their plans for the new court — which are contingent on receiving more funding — other local experts discussed some of the shortfalls in the current justice system.
What problems would the specialty court address?
Jackie Steyn is a domestic violence professional with more than 20 years of experience in the field. She said keeping survivor and child safety at the center of every initiative is important, but doing that requires coordinated systems focused on safety, accountability and intervention.
"Multisystem collaboration is key," Steyn said. "Homicides occur in the gaps when systems aren't coordinated, when systems aren't working together."
And the current systems aren't coordinated, Steyn told lawmakers. That creates blind spots and contributes to overlooking domestic violence risk factors, leaving gaps where intervention could have occurred before major offenses took place.
Steyn said risk changes from moment to moment for a survivor, but domestic violence is also patterned behavior. She said assessing risk allows for better prevention.
"It's about what harms have already occurred, but also what is the risk of future harm, near-fatal and fatal future harm?" Steyn said. "How serious could that harm be and what actions are needed to reduce it?"
Harsher punishments for offenders haven't been effective in reducing domestic violence rates. But lawmakers say accountability measures and educational courses such as Batterers Intervention Programs (BIPs) have shown some results. They've also shown high incompletion rates in Oklahoma.
Batterers Intervention Programs are structured intervention services designed to address the root causes of an offender's behaviors. People can participate in the programs voluntarily, or courts can mandate attendance.
"In Oklahoma, the state statute is for Batterers Intervention Programs to be 52 weeks in length. So it's once a week for 52 weeks," Steyn said.
Currently, those BIPs aren't differentiated — they're not specialized to match each offender's behaviors. Steyn said some offenders would likely see greater behavioral improvement from less time in the program, while others would likely need more time.
"If you're assessed to be in a lower level of treatment intensity need, then maybe you don't need 52 weeks [...] the content of that [shorter] program would be different to suit your needs," Steyn said. "Those who are engaging in patterns of coercive control are going to need longer time in these programs."
And the services aren't coordinated across the state's judicial systems. Steyn said BIPs have good research to suggest their effectiveness, but there's always room for improvement.
"Using an intervention court model that works very closely with providers in the community and the system as a whole [...] I would want to be thinking about using programs in the community that are taking a differentiated approach as part of any kind of pilot [program]," Steyn said.
How would the court address those issues?
Brooks, who hosted the study, said Oklahoma already has specialized drug, veterans and mental health courts. But from what he's been told, the potential domestic violence intervention court could offer services in a new, unique way.
"A court that offers wraparound services. But at the same time, creates certainty and consistency for offenders until, perhaps, ideally, they can begin to think differently about some of these relationships," Brooks said. "Increasing punishments [...] doesn't seem to necessarily be to address the issue."
According to Steyn, there needs to be cohesive training across all parts of the system to provide a common understanding of key issues. She said reducing recidivism requires assessing risk from the victim's perspective and the perpetrator's behavior.
"There are many other needs that offenders have that don't cause perpetration of domestic violence, but certainly can exacerbate the issue," Steyn said. "Until accountability for the abuse shifts to offenders, survivors' trauma will never end and recidivism will not decrease."
Steyn said domestic violence presents a distinctive challenge. In substance abuse and mental health court treatment, the focus is on the participant's recovery. In domestic violence cases, the court must consider other people at ongoing risk from the perpetrator's behavior.
"We have to ask ourselves what elements of the treatment court model are transferable, what may be adapted, what we need to adapt? How will the court maintain accountability, protect survivors throughout the process?" Steyn asked.
Another way the court would operate differently is working across separate judicial systems — the municipal court, the juvenile court, and the Oklahoma County District Court — to fill major service gaps. Williams said she hasn't seen any such system during her research.
"What would change from where we are currently at? There would be clear responsibility for each referral, coordinated services, judicial review, and each court would keep its legal authority," Williams said. "Having that open and honest communication for systems and processes and development, we see much smoother programs."
Tentative timeline, but uncertainty remains
According to Williams, the grant strategist, the program would be implemented in three phases, pending the final completion of ongoing research. Phase one is a two-year pilot court in Oklahoma County. If successful, the system would be tested in rural communities. Then the program could potentially be adopted statewide.
"The mission for the domestic violence intervention court, based on research and the conversations with interviews we did across the state, would be safety being the first priority for victims, accountability, and then swift and consistent follow-through," Williams said.
Williams said the domestic violence intervention court would have ongoing judicial oversight. It could potentially provide more timely response to threats and assaults, differentiated batterers intervention programs with competency achievement formulas and decisions that account for coercive control.
Brooks asked Williams whether she has seen data reflecting how an intervention court reduces recidivism.
"Senator, you all have the opportunity to get some standards for this nation, because that information is difficult to find," Williams said. "We did not see a lot of information around that as far as recidivism goes."
Although researchers said the intervention court in Oklahoma would operate differently than similar systems, specialty courts have had mixed success in improving public safety or public health, according to the Prison Policy Initiative.
But the plan also needs nearly $4 million in funding, likely from the state or federal government, to move forward.
"The proposed budget for the two-year span of the pilot would be 3.925 million [...] there's been no grants approved at this point in time, the partners have not signed any agreements," Williams said. "This is purely just an estimate based off of where we are at in the process, and this is subject to review for the next phase of the report."
The next steps for researchers are to finalize the report, complete cost validation and funding review, confirm judicial leadership and build relationships with community partners.
This report was produced by the Oklahoma Public Media Exchange, a collaboration of public media organizations. Help support collaborative journalism by donating at the link at the top of this webpage.
