Washington Courts: Press Release Detail

Gender and Justice Commission convenes workgroups and reports to lawmakers

Domestic violence treatment practices and court processes in Washington need to be restructured for better system-wide effectiveness and accountability, according to recommendations of the broad-based workgroups convened by Washington Supreme Court Gender and Justice Commission in two reports to the Legislature and Governor Jay Inslee.

After nearly a year of investigation and collaborative discussion, the Gender and Justice Commission delivered two reports to the state legislature concerning treatment for domestic violence (DV) offenders and assessment of risk from arrest to sentencing and treatment. The Section 7 report identifies 10 primary problems with the current system of court-mandated domestic violence treatment which could make treatment less effective in reducing repeat offenses. This workgroup, composed of persons and agencies experienced in the field of prevention of and response to Domestic Violence recommends a comprehensive new approach to adequately assign, monitor and complete treatment.  The workgroup strongly recommends improved data collection to improve effectiveness of treatment and risk assessment tools.

The examination and reports facilitated by the Gender and Justice Commission and its collaborators which include Washington State University (WSU) researchers and the Washington State Coalition Against Domestic Violence (WSCDV) as well as prosecutors, defense lawyers, advocates and treatment providers from around the state, were required by House Bill 1163, adopted by the state Legislature in May 2017. Established in 1994 by the Washington State Supreme Court, the Gender and Justice Commission was the logical choice of the legislature to facilitate the year-long examination of these important community issues.

HB 1163 addresses gaps in Washington’s laws and policies regarding the serious problem of repeat domestic violence crimes. According to the Senate Bill Report, 54 percent of mass shootings in the U.S. are related to domestic violence, law enforcement officers are three times more likely to die responding to domestic violence calls than any other calls with shots fired, and progression of violence is prevalent among DV offenders.

“The workgroups carefully examined the processes involved to mandate and enforce effective treatment. Until very recently we have used a one-size-fits-all treatment regime that is largely seen as unsatisfactory,” said Kitsap County District Court Judge Marilyn Paja, who with Snohomish County Superior Court Judge Eric Lucas, co-chaired the G&J Commission’s HB 1163 Workgroups. Recent changes to treatment and assessment implemented by the Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) are seen as promising practices that require on-going data collection and study.

“Because the gaps identified involve system-wide processes, the solutions are not simple,” Judge Lucas said. “Our new approach, if it’s accepted, will mean a long-term statewide commitment to improving domestic violence perpetrator treatment.” The Section 7 Workgroup dubbed its treatment recommendation an “Integrated System Response” with six key components such as moving domestic violence treatment into a therapeutic court model, establishing multiple treatment levels with required competencies for providers and perpetrators, enabling collection of statewide data and information, establishing policies and systems for monitoring, funding and training.

In the Section 8 report to the Legislature, also required by HB 1163, a different Workgroup convened by the Gender & Justice Commission and also with WSU and WSCADV, recommended steps for creating effective, evidence-based risk assessment tools that should be used by law enforcement officers, courts, treatment providers and others for assessing the degree and potential of lethality of risk in domestic violence situations and of perpetrators to the victim and the community as a whole. The report stressed that at all stages of intervention by law enforcement, advocates and the courts, quality assessment tools must be affordable and accessible for local jurisdiction use, and further emphasized that the state legislature must adequately fund data collection and monitor research over a period of years.

The Workgroups’ two reports to the Legislature and Governor Jay Inslee can be found on the Gender & Justice Commission web page at: http://www.courts.wa.gov/programs_orgs/gjc/?fa=gjc.Legislation&parent=res

The Washington State Gender and Justice Commission was established by the state Supreme Court in 1994 to identify measures for preventing gender bias in the courts. The Commission followed the work of the Gender and Justice Task Force, created by the Supreme Court in 1988 to thoroughly research and identify specific gender bias in the judicial system, and to develop recommendations for eliminating it.

CONTACT: Kitsap County District Court Judge Marilyn Paja, (360) 337-7109, mpaja@co.kitsap.wa.us; Snohomish County Superior Court Judge Eric Lucas, (425) 388-3215, eric.lucas@snoco.org; Washington Supreme Court Justice Sheryl Gordon McCloud, Chair of the Gender and Justice Commission, (360) 357-2046; Cynthia Delostrinos, Administrative Manager for Supreme Court Commissions, (360) 705-5327, Cynthia.Delostrinos@courts.wa.gov.