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AB1886 – Why Should You Care? WHAT AND
WHO IS AB1886? AB1886 sets minimal and flexible
training standards for members of our profession. AB1886 is already the standard in Los Angeles County and does not
change the requirements for facilitators monitored by the Los Angeles
County monitoring Team. The
original template for AB1886 is “Draft 14” enforced by Jim Wright’s
Monitoring Team and developed by a coalition of shelter advocates, the
Los Angeles Domestic Violence Council, the Probation Department and
batterers’ group facilitators. The Statewide California Coalition of Battered
Women (SCCBW), the California Association of Batterers’ Intervention
Programs (CABIP), the Association of Batterers’ Intervention Programs
(ABIP) and the Probation Officer’s Association support it. AB1886 was presented to members at both ABIP meetings and the CABIP
conference. It has been a membership-driven
and membership-supported endeavor. State Assemblyman Alan Lowenthal presented it. What does AB1886 do and what doesn’t it do?
AB1886 insures the rights of paraprofessionals and licensed professionals
to facilitate abusers’ groups provided they meet minimal training and
supervision requirements. Specifically:
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AB1886 requires 40 hours of “Basic Training” with specific broad headings
covered for specific time periods as spelled out in Probation Draft
#14. For example, the broad heading “The Art of
the Intake” is given 4 hours, as are “Substance Abuse”, “Assessment”
and “Facilitator Concerns”. “Cross-Cultural”
and “Shelter Concerns” and “Batterer Group Dynamics” are each given
an 8-hour slot. Shelter-based
or shelter-approved trainers must provide a minimum of 8 training hours.
The basic training can be provided by anyone who is qualified
to give it and qualifications are not spelled out.
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AB1886 does not restrict the ability of anyone to provide this training
and it allows for flexibility. As
long as the topics (broad headers) are addressed, trainers can focus
on the areas they see as most important and provide the training in
their style. There is no prescribed point-by-point curriculum.
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AB1886 has a grand parenting clause, which exempts qualified facilitators
from the 40-hour core training and the year of supervision. To be qualified, a facilitator must have 3 years of experience working
with batterers, 2 years of which must be in-group.
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AB1886 requires less experienced facilitators (those with fewer than
3 years experience) to be supervised once a week for 52 weeks or 104
hours. They must co-facilitate with a qualified facilitator
for one year before they can lead a group by themselves.
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AB1886 has a hardship clause which allows any program to individually
apply to their probation monitors to have a requirement suspended or
waived based on extenuating circumstances (e.g. shortage of facilitators
who can speak particular languages, financial hardship).
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AB1886 requires all group facilitators to obtain 16 hours of continuing
education annually. It does
not restrict the content of this training, only that it be relevant
to domestic violence.
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AB1886 does not require co-facilitation of batterers’ groups – except
in the case of less experienced facilitators.
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AB1886 does not create a monopoly in terms of who can provide training
and/or mandate/stipulate the cost of that training. What AB1886 does is to create minimal training standards.
It makes a statement that our work is important, that we take
the safety of battered women seriously, that we believe in networking
with our local shelters and that we believe everyone who does this work
should be trained whether they are licensed clinicians or paraprofessionals.
It insures the rights of paraprofessionals to do this work. Please write letters and make calls supporting
this bill. If you need additional
information on AB1886, please call Alyce LaViolette at (562) 493-1161
x-2, Alan Lowenthal’s office at (916) 319-2054 ask for Gail Miller or
Im Jung Kwuon at (818) 831-1701. Remember, if we don’t set the standards for our
work, someone else can. Sincerely, Alyce LaViolette, M.F.C.C. |
ABIP Co-Chair |
CABIP Co-Chair, South |
AL/ljg |