28th Annual BISC-MI Conference

Dates: November 12, 13, 14, 2024

Envisage: Expanding Connections, Creativity, and Confidence

AT THE KENSINGTON HOTEL – Ann Arbor, Michigan!

Conference description: There are certain practices, beliefs, and strategies that Abuse Intervention Programs (AIPs) or Battering Intervention Programs (BIPs) have learned to rely on in the hopes of promoting individual participant accountability, model compassion and empathy, and utilize strategies that foster victim safety, coordinated community responses, and systems change. The specific ways that AIP’s implement programming, however, can be adapted over time. To be effective, it is often necessary to adapt interventions to incorporate new ideas to meet the varied needs of participants and communities. This conference will provide participants with opportunities to consider innovative programming ideas, shared by other AIP’s, community partners, and our research colleagues.

Zoom Chat from all 3 days

Note: Conference is Eastern Time (ET)
Pre-Conference: Monday, November 11, 2024

8:00 pm-9:30 pm ET Conference Check-In: At the registration area near the Grand Ballroom in Kensington hotel in Ann Arbor.

Day One: Tuesday, November 12, 2024

8:30 am – 9:30 am ET Registration and Continental Breakfast Provided

9:30 am – 10:00 am ET Welcome: Welcome to the BISC-MI 28th Annual Conference. Stacey Ettawageshik, Executive Director & Sandra Pilgrim-Lewis, DVS Project Director of Uniting Three Fires Against Violence
Session Materials:

10:00-10:30 am ET Myths & Misconceptions About Abuse From A Woman Who Survived
Description: Leslie is the author of Crazy Love, a New York Times bestseller, and whose TED Talk about surviving domestic violence, titled “From the Ivy League to a Gun at My Head,” has been viewed by over ten million people. In Leslie’s own words…At 22, Leslie Morgan Steiner seemed to have it all: a Harvard diploma, a glamorous job at Seventeen magazine, a funky New York City apartment. Plus a handsome, funny, street-smart boyfriend who adored her. But behind a facade of success, this golden girl hid a dark secret. At first Leslie and Conor seemed as perfect together as their fairytale wedding. Then came the fights she tried to ignore: he pushed her down the stairs of the house they bought together, poured coffee grinds over her hair as she dressed for a critical job interview, choked her during an argument, and threatened her with a gun. Several times, he came close to making good on his promise to kill her. With each attack, Leslie lost another piece of herself, and she dug in deeper to help the man she loved.
Faculty: Leslie Morgan Steiner
Session Materials:
https://www.lesliemorgansteiner.com/

10:30 am – 12:00 pm ET Looking for alternative outcomes for partner abuse intervention programs: what does the research tell us about what “works”
Description: Traditional research on partner abuse intervention programs has produced minimal results regarding the efficacy of such programs. However, current outcomes measures (e.g., recidivism data) are limited and fail to fully capture the totality of the PAIP (Partner Abuse Intervention Program) experience. Qualitative studies of PAIPs, on the other hand, have found that individuals attending PAIPs report a number of gains from their time in a program. These studies suggest that learning within a PAIP may be more incremental than what traditional outcomes measures are designed to capture, and that perhaps we need to redefine “success” PAIPs. This presentation will review the research on “what works” in PAIPs, with a focus on considering alternative measures of efficacy. 
Faculty: Penelope Morrison
Session Materials:
Penelope Morrison PowerPoint Presentation

BISC-MI Domains References Penelope Morrison

Domain checklist for perps and survivors Penelope Morrison

12:00 pm – 1:00 pm ET Lunch Buffet Provided (Door Prizes)

1:00 pm – 2:30 pm ET Holding Boundaries: Relational Insights from UK Domestic Abuse Perpetration Change Facilitation Research
Description: In this session, Zuzana Žilková will share preliminary insights from her Ph.D research focusing on the emotional practicalities and relational ‘stance’ of Domestic Abuse Perpetrator Programme facilitators in the United Kingdom. Drawing from over 20 interviews and an action research practice development workshop series with professional facilitators of intervention work with those using abusive behaviors in their intimate partnerships, this session will share implications for education about domestic abuse behavior change work, facilitator development, and takeaways for potential informal interveners.
Faculty: Zuzana Žilková
Session Materials:
https://www.zuzanazilkova.com/

Zuzana Žilková PowerPoint Presentation

2:30 pm – 3:30 pm ET Let’s Keep Talking! Small Group Discussion On The Participant Change Process
Break-out Description: This will be an opportunity to continue the conversation. Conference participants will meet in small, facilitated groups to share their questions, perspectives, expertise, and wisdom with each other.
Hosted discussion: Faculty and Board members
Session Materials:

3:30 pm – 3:45 pm ET Break

3:45 pm – 5:15 pm ET Working with Non-Court-Involved Abusive Men:  Hearing Directly from the Participants
Description: This Zoom panel will feature a number of abusive men who have voluntarily participated in Allies in Change abuse intervention groups, including some who have attended for years.  They will discuss what led them to initially engage in services as well as what have been some of the key takeaways for them.  There will be ample time allowed to field questions from the audience
Faculty Moderator: Chris Huffine
Session Materials:

7:30 PM – Cookies & Chat: Informal gathering location within the hotel to be announced!

Total Number of CEs for Day One: 6.0

Day Two: Wednesday, November 13, 2024

8:30 am – 9:30 am ET Registration and Continental Breakfast Provided

9:30 am – 10:00 am ET Welcome: Stacey Ettawageshik, Executive Director & Sandra Pilgrim-Lewis, DVS Project Director of Uniting Three Fires Against Violence, Gail Krieger, Director of Operations Division of Victim Services, MDSVPTB, Amanda Barratt, Associate Director MCEDSV
Session Materials:

10:00 am – 12:15 pm ET Video: BEHIND THE RAGE
Description: In America, most female homicide victims are killed by their current or former partner and one in four women experience domestic violence or abuse. In this documentary Peabody and Emmy-winning filmmaker Deeyah Khan ask a simple question: is it possible to reduce these endemic levels of male violence? In search of an answer, she hears heartfelt testimonies from survivors and victims’ families, and gets vital insights from social workers and psychologists who work with violent men. And she speaks to those whose voices are rarely heard in conversations about domestic violence yet hold the key to stopping it: the perpetrators themselves
Faculty: Leslie Morgan Steiner, Dorthy Stucky Halley, and David Adams
Q&A and Follow up Discussion (50 min.)
Session Materials: https://www.wmm.com/catalog/film/behind-the-rage/

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12:15 pm- 1:15 pm ET Lunch Provided

1:15 pm – 1:45 pm COMPASS Award: Oliver Williams
Session Materials: https://www.will2change.org/

1:45 pm – 2:45 pm ET Victory over Violence:  Veterans and IPV, Challenging and Encouraging Veterans to End their Use of IPV
Description: This session will explore the ways that state coalitions and their members—family violence programs, battering or abuse intervention and prevention progams, rape crisis centers, community organizations, helping professional, and accountability systems can work together towards providing a path for Persons Using Violence (PUVs) to examine their beliefs and behaviors to end their use of violence, using the military experiences many may have to help motivate and bond them together in that process. While the military has used some of the approaches civilian agencies in the U.S. and other countries have seen make a difference, there are some foundational beliefs that can undermine ensuring the PUV is challenged to change and take responsibility for behavior that causes harm to partners and other family members. Somehow “Be All You can Be” in this context is to know the differences between the battlefield and the home front…and the difference between seeking to neutralize an enemy and work in partnership with family members to ensue all are supported and thrive.
Faculty: Deborah D. Tucker
Session Materials:
https://www.ncdsv.org/

In Service to our Country: Military Responses to Domestic Violence. Delores F. Johnson, MSW, ACSW, Deborah D. Tucker, MPA

DOD MANUAL 6400.01, VOLUME 1, FAMILY ADVOCACY PROGRAM (FAP): FAP STANDARDS
HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY FISCAL YEAR 2021 REPORT TO CONGRESS
1st Year Report DEFENSE TASK FORCE ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
2nd Year Report DEFENSE TASK FORCE ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
3rd Year Report DEFENSE TASK FORCE ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

2023-03-14-EvalStrengthHomeIPV-VA Debby Tucker

2022-01-11-Army-FY21-CongressRpt-MDT-ChildA-DomesticV Debby Tucker

2019-07-22-DoD-FAP-Standards-640001m_vol1 Debby Tucker

2014-02-13-DoD-FamilyAdvocacyProgram_Overview Debby Tucker

Creating-Cooperation-Coordination-Collaboration-Tucker-2015

2023-10-01-TheFiveThingstoSay-AdultVictim-PUV-Child

2016-Mark Wynn Consulting Boy Drawings-Incident-Law Enforcement-Intervention

2:45 pm – 3:00 pm ET BREAK

3:00 pm – 4:30 pm ET Strengthening Communities through Male Connections, Creativity, and Confidence.
Description: This presentation explores the crucial role men play in building resilient communities through connections, creativity, and confidence. Highlighting the mission of InvolvedDad, we’ll share strategies and real-life examples of how engaging men as active fathers and community leaders can lead to transformative outcomes. Learn about successful programs that empower men to connect deeply with their children, think innovatively, and lead with confidence. Gain insights and actionable strategies to promote active male engagement and create positive change in your community.
Faculty: Shon Hart
Session Materials:
https://www.involveddad.org/

Strengthening Communities Shon Hart

4:30 pm- 6:00 pm ET Reflecting to Propel: Looking back at the history and future of the Farmington Hills High-Risk Response Team
Description: Join us for a roundtable discussion to explore the challenges and successes of the Farmington Hills High Risk Response Team, which is dedicated to addressing high-risk intimate partner violence cases. Despite several changes in leadership across agencies and varying levels of support, this team has remained. This session will emphasize the crucial need to establish institutionalized policies, procedures, and practices that prioritize the safety of survivors. Through collaborative efforts and a shared understanding of intimate partner violence, this team and others inspired by them have saved lives across Oakland County. Participants will gain valuable insights into the lessons learned—both positive and challenging—while exploring the future possibilities for coordinated community response teams. Come discover the stories of resilience, learn from real-world experiences, and explore strategies for navigating complexities and sustaining impactful change in your own communities.
Faculty: Melissa Silver, Jon Haupt, Megan Widman, Colleen Monaghan and more!
Session Materials:

7:30 PM – Cookies & Chat: Informal gathering location within the hotel to be announced!

Total Number of CEs for Day Two: 6.5

Day Three: Thursday, November 14, 2024

8:30 am – 9:30 am ET Registration and Continental Breakfast Provided

9:30 am – 10:00 am ET Welcome: 

10:00 am – 12:00 pm ET Multiple Pathways to Accountability: The New York City Model
Description: In New York City, the Center for Justice Innovation partnered with the Coalition on Working with Abusive Partners (now known as HEARTS) and the NYC Mayor’s Office to End Domestic and Gender-Based Violence to create a plan and implement a comprehensive approach for abusive partner intervention. After a year of focus groups and listening sessions with criminal and civil legal system stakeholders, community-based organizations, advocates, survivors, and people who cause harm through intimate partner violence, the Seeding Generations report highlighted the need to create multiple pathways to accountability and healing for people who cause harm As a result of this initiative, New York City, via an interdisciplinary coalition of practitioners, now offers culturally enhanced and trauma-informed mandated programming, voluntary programming unconnected to systems entirely, community-based education approaches at the intersection of intimate partner violence and gun violence, brief education classes for people on supervised release, training and support for practitioners, and a restorative justice collaborative to support practitioners engaging in restorative approaches to IPV. In this panel, program staff, a researcher and a representative from the Mayor’s office will highlight these programs and the benefits of New York City’s approach to provide comprehensive engagement and intervention for abusive partners.
Faculty: Gene Johnson, Devin Deane, Storm Ervin, Saloni Sethi
Session Materials:
https://www.innovatingjustice.org/programs/rise-project
https://www.innovatingjustice.org/abusive-partner-resources

PowerPoint Presentations from the New York City Model:
R&R Implementation Assessment Findings

ENDGBV – BISC MI

CJI BISCMI

RISE BISCMI

The New York City Model session recording (BISC-MI ENVISAGE Conference)

Recording from 2-7-2024 Multiple Pathways to Accountability: The NYC Model

12:00 pm – 1:00 pm ET Lunch Buffet Provided (Door Prizes)

1:00 pm – 2:00 pm ET Supporting Families Beyond the Group Room
Description: What does support look like for those families that decide to stay together? Do we know what barriers they face? This session talks about how we support survivors and secondary victims of participants that enroll in our Abuse Intervention Program and assess the barrier that can play a role in increased incidents of domestic violence.
Faculty: Shelby Frink & Laurie Wagerman
Session Materials:
https://www.familycrisiscenter.net/

Shelby Frink & Laurie Wagerman PowerPoint Presentation

2:00 pm – 3:00 pm ET Survivor-Defendant Experiences: Maine’s Systems Advocacy Learning Lab
Description: Approximately 1,200 people are referred to Maine’s Certified Domestic Violence Intervention Programs (CDVIPs) each year, and under 100 are women. While these women used force against their partners, that force was almost always resistive or reactive, meaning it was in response to the ongoing pattern of abuse they experience from their male partners. They are both survivors AND defendants.  The situations of survivor-defendants are complicated and deserve careful attention as some of the most vulnerable and marginalized survivors. The Maine Coalition to End Domestic Violence in collaboration with the Maine Department of Corrections invested that attention through an 8-month Systems Advocacy Learning Lab in 2023. Victim advocates and interventionists came together as an extended training cohort, facilitated by Amanda McCormick and Melissa Scaia, to examine cases, map systems, and strengthen skills related to meaningful Coordinated Community Response participation.  This session will provide an overview of the work of the Systems Advocacy Learning Lab and its findings and next steps.
Faculty: Karen Wyman and Amanda McCormick
Session Materials:
https://www.mcedv.org/

Karen Wyman and Amanda McCormick PowerPoint Presentation

3:00 pm – 3:15 pm ET Break

3:15 pm – 4:45 pm ET Doing Long-term Work with Abusive Partners
Description: Abusive partners are typically enrolled in abuse intervention programs for less than a year and in some cases, for less than six months.  However, there are a few abusive partners who choose to remain in group much longer, sometimes for many years.  Why do they choose to remain so long and how is their work different from those who remain a briefer period of time?  This panel will talk about their decades of experience working with abusive partners who have remained in services for years.
Faculty Panel: Chris Huffine, Alyce LaViolette, David Adams, Oliver Williams
Session Materials:
https://www.alycelaviolette.com/
https://www.alliesinchange.org/
https://www.emergedv.com/

Oliver Williams Video on Fatherhood (NOTE: This will be available from 11-18-2024 to 11-25-2024 ***This link has now expired***)

4:45 pm EST ET CONFERENCE CLOSING:  Raffle for 2 Free Registrations for the 2024 BISC-MI Conference (In-Person and Virtual) Must be present to win!

Total Number of CEs for Day Three: 5.5

Total Number of CEU Hours: Day One: 6.0|Day Two: 6.5|Day Three:  5.5|Total for Three Days: 18