1. NY Model batterer programs’ only role in the community is within the civil and criminal court systems.
Batterer programs, operating outside of the civil and criminal court systems, lend credence to the idea that domestic violence is caused by individual pathology. An unwitting result of this is the detraction of energy away from the critical social change efforts necessary to end men's violence against women. NY Model programs believe that social change efforts are the surest path to ending men's violence against women and to the eventuality of individual men's change.

2. NY Model batterer programs’ accept and monitor court-ordered men only.
After twenty years of accepting both court mandated and “self referred” or “voluntary” participants, the NY Model program moved to accepting court mandates only. Why?

a. It was increasingly clear that the role of batterer programs as rehabilitative needed to be refuted. Research, tragic incidents and anecdotal reports from across the country demanded this. b. "Offender accountability" became watchwords. To create accountability, there must be real consequence for men who enter programs but do not comply with its policies. c. Self-referred participants are often given credit for their willingness to attend, their initiative and their commitment to change. When this credit is given by the partner he abused, it understandably results in her postponing safety and protective plans, grounded in the depth of her hope, not in the reality she has been living. It also lulls others around him (both within his family, social network and those within the larger community) into a period of waiting and hoping. d. Men who were not court ordered would often sign up and not show up, attend irregularly or stop attending altogether. These were men who initially indicated that they deeply wanted to work on these issues. e. When a separate group was formed for self referrals, it was decided that the same information and material would be shared as in the court ordered batterer program. The caveat was that it would not be called a “batterer” program and there would be no attendance reports. Participation was minimal to non-existent!

3. NY Model batterer programs are designed for men who appear in court in relation to offenses against intimate female partners.
Men are eligible for NY Model programs if their offense is in relation to intimate women partners. The decision as to who gets mandated to attend NY Model batterer programs rests with the courts. It is clear that stranger assaults are not appropriate referrals.

4. NY Model batterer programs are one in a graduated series of penalties available to the courts.
The NY Model is a sanction that a judge may choose in determining an appropriate sentence for domestic violence offenses. This penalty is offered in the context that punishment should be based on the seriousness of the crime committed, and not on the relationship between the accused and his victim.

Historically, punishment of men’s offenses against female intimate partners has been less severe than for crimes against victims who do not fit this criteria. Battered women’s advocates have said that these crimes should be more seriously dealt with due to the ongoing security risk posed by the access the offender has to the victim.

5. NY Model batterer programs function as a service to the civil and criminal court systems. It is imperative that NY Model programs recognize this as their key and critical function.
The intuitive question, "Does it work?" is similar to the equally intuitive, "Why does she stay?" Over the years, both questions have taken us in a wrong direction and have had negative effects on our progress as a social change movement.

"Why does she stay?" points to what is wrong with individual women – rather than to the community standards that make it the viable choice for untold numbers of women who do stay. “Does it work?” directs us to the individual men within programs – to assess their “progress.” Decades of anecdotal reports from partners of men in programs and millions of dollars of research provide the answer: inconclusive, insignificant results.

Closing batterer programs – and challenging communities to figure out how to end domestic violence without them – appeared to be the solution of choice. On reflection, this was untenable. Next best was to create a model that would affirm social change efforts and support the criminal justice system’s responsibility to hold offenders accountable for their crimes.

6. NY Model batterer programs are a tool for judicial monitoring of a referred man’s compliance with court orders to attend.
NY Model batterer programs create doable, achievable attendance and participation policies that every referred person can attain. We explain all policies and participant responsibilities associated with compliance. NY Model programs make it possible for participants to satisfy the court’s order to attend.

Giving this particular sanction signals that the court believes a defendant warrants this penalty. It also says clearly that the responsibility for complying with this order is solely the defendant’s.

NY Model program participants discover quickly that they cannot “get away with” non-compliance. This is an important lesson and a hallmark of social change.