Current through April 3, 2024
(1) Requirements
for all personnel. All Certified Program personnel shall comply with the
following:
(a) Must not engage in domestic
abuse in their own lives.
(b)
Former batterers must not have committed acts of domestic abuse for a minimum
of two years prior to employment and must have completed successfully a
batterers intervention program.
(c)
Must not abuse alcohol or drugs.
(2) Characteristics of direct service
providers. Personnel of Certified Programs who provide direct services to
batterers should exhibit the following characteristics:
(a) Demonstrate awareness of power and
control issues;
(b) Communicate and
act in ways that provide batterers with a positive role model for behavior that
is consistent with gender equality and mutual respect between men and
women;
(c) Demonstrate an interest
in working toward the elimination of domestic abuse and other forms of abuse
both as a worker in the Certified Program and as a member of the wider
community;
(d) Demonstrate
sensitivity to the racial, ethnic and linguistic diversity within the community
served;
(3) Diversity.
Certified Programs should attempt to attract and retain personnel who reflect
the racial, ethnic, and linguistic diversity within the community
served.
(4) Credentials and
Qualifications.
(a) Instructors and
supervisors shall, at a minimum, have a baccalaureate degree, except as
provided in item (b) below.
(b)
Instructors who do not have a college degree may serve as instructors provided
that:
1. They are paired in a batterers
intervention class with an instructor who does have the required college
degree; and
2. They have at least
two (2) years experience,
(i) working with
batterers or domestic abuse victims, or
(ii) working within the criminal justice
system with other types of violent perpetrators.
(5) Program
Supervisors.
(a) Each Certified Program shall
have at least one person in a supervisory position with at least two years of
experience working with batterers or victims of domestic violence.
(b) Each Certified Program shall have at
least one person in a supervisory position with training in group
facilitation.
(6)
Supervision Structure.
(a) Supervision shall
ensure instructors' ability to conduct safe and effective interventions with
batterers.
(b) Certified Programs
shall maintain clear records of dates, times, and content of supervisory
contacts.
(c) Internal Program
Supervision. Each Certified Program shall designate one person who shall have
supervisory responsibility for the following:
1. Supervision of Certified Program
instructors and other staff;
2.
Instructor training;
3. Compliance
by the Certified Program with these rules; and
4. Compliance by the Certified Program with
applicable laws.
(7) Consultation with Victim Advocates.
(a) Certified Programs shall require that
instructors consult with Victim Advocates associated with local battered
women's programs or, if there are no such programs in the local area, then
Victim Advocates associated with nearby or statewide battered women programs.
This consultation shall, at a minimum, include discussion of the following:
1. Problem solving techniques;
2. Information sharing;
3. Victim safety issues;
4. Program suggestions; and
5. Collaboration on efforts to eliminate
domestic abuse.
(b) The
Certified Program supervisor and Victim Advocate shall maintain contact on a
periodic schedule or as needed.
(8) Training.
(a) All Certified Program instructors and
supervisors shall receive annual training in domestic abuse and batterers
intervention. Such training shall include:
1.
Training in these rules;
2. Group
process and intervention techniques;
3. Safety training directed to ensuring
victim safety, the safety of the Certified Program, and the safety of the
participating batterers; and
4.
Current knowledge about the dynamics of domestic abuse.
(b) Number of hours of training.
1. All instructors and supervisors shall
receive a minimum of forty (40) hours of training within the first twelve (12)
months after a Certified Program has received its initial certification, except
that if an instructor or supervisor has worked in a batterers intervention
program for two years, or has received other domestic violence training, such
instructor or supervisor may request a waiver, in whole or in part, of this
requirement from the Domestic Violence State Coordinating Council.
2. Newly employed instructors and supervisors
shall receive a minimum of forty (40) hours of training within the first twelve
(12) months of their employment.
3.
After instructors and supervisors have received their initial forty (40) hours
of training, they shall receive a minimum of eight (8) hours of training
annually.
(c) Providers
of training. Training sessions may be conducted by any of the following:
1. The Certified Program that employs the
instructors and supervisors, other Certified Programs, or battered women
shelters, provided training offered by such organizations is approved by the
Domestic Violence State Coordinating Council, if such training meets the
standards set forth in Rule 0490-1-.07(8)(a);
2. The Tennessee Task Force on Domestic
Violence or other organization or individual or group designated by the
Domestic Violence State Coordinating Council to provide training for batterers
intervention programs; or
3. Other
providers approved by the Domestic Violence State Coordinating Council, if such
training meets the standards set forth in Rule 0490-1-.07(8)(a).
(d) The forty (40) hour
requirement during the first year of a Certified Program's certification and
during the first year of employment of instructors and supervisors, shall
include attendance at the batterers intervention training conducted by the
Tennessee Task Force Against Domestic Violence, or such other similar training
for batterers intervention programs designated by the Domestic Violence State
Coordinating Council.
(9) Mental health personnel. Certified
Programs in Tennessee are not required to employ mental health professionals.
Certified Programs, however, may employ, retain, or consult with mental health
professionals as needed.
Authority: T.C.A. §
38-12-110.