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SC officials seek to reverse domestic violence trend through pilot program

By Erica Bryant, wsoctv.com
By Erica Bryant, wsoctv.com

YORK COUNTY, S.C. — For more than 20 years, South Carolina has ranked among the top five states in the nation for domestic violence murders, but a pilot program started in York County could change the deadly trend.

At the South Carolina Criminal Justice Academy in Columbia, new training is underway to help save lives.

For the first time, agents with the Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services are practicing home visits to check on domestic violence offenders.

“They are going to the house to talk with the offender to find out if they are in compliance with their supervision,” Director of Field Operations Jennifer Brice said.

It’s a focused effort to combat a troubling trend.

In 2015, South Carolina was No. 1 in the country for women dying at the hands of men. A pilot program in York County found a way to reduce the numbers.

The director of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services, Jerry Adger, said the department is now taking the program statewide through a $1.2 million grant that gives agents specialized domestic violence caseloads.

“This is just the start,” Adger said. “We're going to take 20 agents and put them in regions, and we are going to pull those domestic violence caseloads from those county offices. And then we will have to say, ‘How many more do we need?’”

Before the program, officials said each agent would oversee more than 150 offenders, all with different criminal charges. Now, each will oversee a maximum of 60 offenders, and only those who have been charged with domestic violence.

Officials said the pilot program found individuals are much less likely to re-offend if supervising agents double their interactions with them.

“They go into the home more often each month, they see the person in the office more each month, they drug test more,” said Shannon Myers, assistant agent in charge of York County Probation, Parole and Pardon Services. “They have more contact with the batterer intervention treatment provider.”

After training in these scenarios, agents get critiqued to be ready for the real thing, officials said.

“As the instructor, what we see is, ‘Maybe you should have looked in this area, maybe you should have asked these questions,’” Brice said.

Beyond the scenarios, agents also review domestic violence law and policy, as well as safety planning.

Officials told Channel 9 that they also learn how to track and alcohol-monitor the offenders. Finally, they hear from domestic violence survivors themselves about their personal experiences.

Channel 9 asked officials if they think the program has made some offenders change.

“I do. I do,” Myers said. “Even if it’s a small change, it’s a change. It’s getting them to rethink their behavior and that is the key.”

In addition to York County, the program is now being rolled out in Greenville, Spartanburg, Anderson, Lexington, Richland and Orangeburg counties, then will expand statewide.

Officials said it could one day be used as a model across the country.

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