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BISCMI History
The Batterer Intervention Services Coalition (BISC) was formed
in July of 1994 when the staff of First Step’s Violence Intervention Project
(Canton, MI) met with the staff of Catholic Social Service of Washtenaw
County’s Alternatives to Domestic Aggression Program (Ann Arbor, MI) to
discuss issues of mutual interest and concern. BISC’s membership grew rapidly,
primarily with people who work with batterer intervention services and
battered women's services organizations.
In 1996 BISC held the FIRST Michigan Statewide Conference
on batterer intervention and state standards. The conference was held at
Higgins Lake, McMullen Conference Center. As a result, the organization
name was changed and The Batterer Intervention Services Coalition of Michigan
(BISCMI) was initiated in November 1996, bringing together the efforts
of all six regions of Michigan.
Reorganization Rationale
For several years now, BISCMI has been receiving feedback
and discussing our credibility and our role in the state. In 2002 we surveyed
our membership and it clarified our strengths and the needs of our membership.
Through Council discussions and exploration we began to understand the
challenges to our direction and credibility issues. In July 2003 we invited
the directors of the Michigan Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence
and the Michigan Domestic Violence Prevention and Treatment Board to attend
a Council meeting to speak frankly with us about their personal and organizational
views regarding BISCMI. We remain grateful to them for their candid and
forthright information. The Council is committed to the process of exploring
changing the organizational structure.
Through numerous discussions the Council recognizes BISCMI’s
strengths are our conferences and trainings. In order to broaden our strengths
we have begun to consider changing the membership structure from member
organizations to one of individuals who are committed to accountable batterer
intervention. There is recognition that organizations will want to continue
affiliation and to enjoy the benefits for an organizational membership,
such as reduced costs for conferences and trainings.
Our next step was to seek guidance from an organizational
consulting firm. From early fall 2003 to mid January 2004, the Council
interviewed five firms. We unanimously decided to proceed with Susan Stratton of Leading
Edge Mentoring.
We planned and held a two-day retreat with this consultant
on March 12th & 13th. The Council was thoroughly educated in what is
called “Policy Governance”. The Council believes BISCMI must make structural
changes.
From the outcome of this retreat the Council is in agreement
that we need to move from a geographic regionally based council to a representative
board, with strong representation from batterer intervention providers.
This would mean we would be reviewing and changing our regional representation
and structure. However, the Council is committed to having local meetings
and accessibility. The purpose of these meetings would be:
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Networking
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Legislative/regulatory information dissemination
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Identifying people who should be involved at the state and
local levels
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A linking point for ownership input
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Develop local and community connections and coordinating
efforts.
The Council clarified that the guiding principles and core
beliefs of BISCMI that will lead us through this change remain:
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Safety & empowerment needs of victims, including minors,
are primary in our efforts. Batterer accountability must occur but
NOT at the expense of the victims’ needs.
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Batterer behavior is a choice in a society that condones
violence against women. It is not caused by substance abuse, family
history, psychological conditioning, etc.
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Eliminating domestic violence requires a systemic response
from the community. Batterer intervention is a key interdependent
component in a community response to domestic violence.
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Children who witness or experience battering tactics are
also victims of domestic violence
The process of the organizational change may include:
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Creating a path to address organizational goals.
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Raise the integrity of the organization
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Gain strength
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Reinvigorate the organization through deep vertical change.
The Council is committed to making these changes in a timely
fashion. In an effort to avoid being short sighted the Council has set
a timeline to identify all structural changes to the Bylaws, the development
of the Board, Membership, Committee structure, etc. by the Fall training
on 11-12-04. At that time the membership will be presented with a document
to vote on. Therefore, we ask that you please support the election of the
current officers to stay in their role until 2005 elections.
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