This is a police program to reduce the harm caused by repeat domestic violence offenders, by establishing a conditional warning (as defined in Criminal Justice) so that the offender is not immediately arrested, but provides some type of service. If the service is not provided, the offender is convicted of the initial domestic violence offense.
The program’s differential is the component of mandatory participation by the offender in a two-day workshop, each lasting five hours and four weeks apart, developed by a domestic violence victim/offender service provider, which works to move the offender from denial and minimization of the violence to acceptance of responsibility for the harm caused.
The program also offers conflict resolution strategies and facilitators also conduct motivational interviewing to encourage willingness to change.