CHANGE 1998-1999 Annual Report   Convenor’s Report On behalf of the Management Committee I welcome the opportunity to introduce CHANGE’S ninth Annual Report.  Last year the decision was made to register CHANGE as a company limited by guarantee. This took effect from March 1998. The company is registered as "CHANGE (Men Learning to end their Violence to Women) Limited".  I am pleased to report that in December 1998 CHANGE obtained Scottish Office funding for the development of a National Training Initiative targeted at Criminal Justice Service personnel in Scotland. In March this year, we received the good news that three years’ funding had been granted to implement the Initiative.  Since the end of Urban Programme funding in September 1996 the Management Committee has recognised that the future of CHANGE lies primarily in the areas of consultancy and training. Despite a lack of resources and on a part-time basis, Monica Wilson continues to promote the work of CHANGE in her involvement in conferences, seminars and also with the Practitioners Network, a national forum for agencies and individuals working with violent men.  CHANGE’S Scottish Office funding will continue until March 2002, and while financial limitations will require Monica to remain part-time, we are fortunate to have been joined in January by our new part-time administrator, Susan Peebles. The Management Committee would like to extend our sincere thanks to Monica and Susan for their commitment and hard work, particularly during the last few months. Muriel Young   Background Introduction CHANGE began as a pilot project in September 1989 with the central aim of providing a criminal justice based re-education programme for men convicted of offences involving violence towards their wives or female partners. The programme aimed to complement the work of Women’s Aid and others with the survivors of domestic violence by challenging men to take responsibility for their violence and offering them an opportunity to change their violent and abusive ways. The perspective adopted in developing the programme was that male violence is intentional, albeit not always conscious, behaviour that men use to maintain power over and to control women in intimate relationships. It stems from the historic and cultural legacy of patriarchy whereby men are socialised into believing they are superior to and have rights over women. The project aimed therefore to impact on institutional responses and the wider community as well as on individual men. By offering a programme that focused on offending behaviour, sentencers had an option that addressed men’s violent behaviour. By working closely with social workers and placing the programme in the context of a probation order this would both signal the seriousness with which such offending was regarded and offer an opportunity to monitor the offender’s behaviour while on probation. Emphasising the criminal nature of domestic violence and placing the responsibility on the man to change that behaviour would also help to demonstrate to the community in general that this behaviour is criminal and unacceptable. Assessing Men for the Programme Staff assessed a man's suitability for the programme at the request of the Sheriff Court. An assessment report was compiled in consultation with social workers. Those assessed as suitable then attended the programme as a condition of a probation order.  An important element at the assessment stage involved addressing the safety of women partners. Women were advised that the programme could not guarantee protection and were given information about the organisations and services which exist to support women. Where men were accepted onto the programme partners were kept informed of their progress and advised if men were suspended from it for any reason.   The Work of the Men's Programme The focus of the CHANGE programme is men taking responsibility for ending their violence. The programme stresses that violence is a criminal offence, that it is not acceptable to women or to the community Participants working in small groups are required to complete a minimum of twenty seven modules over six months in sessions each of two hours duration. Each module relates to a specific theme concerning violence, its causes, consequences and how to stop. The requirements of attendance and participation are demanding and rigorously enforced. The work is not complicated and is directed at men from all educational backgrounds.  Liaison with Probation Staff Programme staff were in regular contact with those holding probation orders and submitted written reports to and attended probation review meetings with them throughout the man's attendance at the programme. Evaluation As the CHANGE men’s programme was designed to operate as a pilot, it was subject to a formal research study together with a similar scheme, the Domestic Violence Probation Programme in Lothian Region. The impact of men’s programmes was compared with other criminal justice sanctions such as fines, probation and prison. The findings of the three year Scottish Office and Home Office sponsored study were published in 1996. An important finding was that: ‘a significant proportion of the offenders who participated in the men’s programmes reduced their violence and associated controlling behaviour and their women partners reported significant improvements in the quality of their lives and their relationships with these men.’ In its final year of Urban Programme funding, an evaluation report was compiled by the sponsoring agency. That report concluded that CHANGE: 'appears to have made a significant contribution to raising professional awareness and developing professional practice in an area of work which had not been previously tackled' While the men’s programme was central to the project, CHANGE was also charged to develop training and educational materials for use by social, legal, voluntary and community agencies; and to raise general public awareness about the nature of men’s violence to women. Before Urban funding ceased therefore, six months were devoted to the production of a Training Manual which would document the skills and knowledge gained over the project’s lifetime so that they might be preserved, developed and disseminated among other professionals. Current circumstances When Urban funding ceased in August 1996 CHANGE moved to premises in Grangemouth and continued operation in a part-time manner generating income through training while seeking longer term funding. Last year the decision was made to register as a company limited by guarantee. This took effect from March 1998. The company is registered as "CHANGE (Men Learning to end their Violence to Women) Limited". Staff currently comprise a part-time Director and a part time Administrator.   In November 1997 Russell House Publishing in Dorset released the published version of the CHANGE manual; Men Who Are Violent To Women by David Morran and Monica Wilson. This publication has been central to CHANGE’s development. Activities 1998 – 1999 Income and Funding This year has proved a positive one for CHANGE. At the start of it, we had no guaranteed income and were unsure whether funding would be secured to allow the organisation to develop and progress. Then the business plan which we submitted to the Social Work Services Inspectorate (SWSI) of the Scottish Office in May 1998 was acknowledged to the effect that funding options were being explored in reference to Section 9 Funding (training). In September we were informed that a small sum of Section 9 funding would be granted for the remainder of the current financial year, for the development of a National Training Initiative targeted at Criminal Justice Service personnel in Scotland. The grant also enabled us to upgrade our office and appoint a new administrator, Susan Peebles. In the interim CHANGE submitted a funding bid for a three year rolling programme of training to implement the Initiative. The plan was that by April 1999, CHANGE would be ready to begin delivering a three year national training programme for which funding was sought under Section 9. In March 1999 we heard that this application had been successful, although the money agreed was not the full amount bid for. Nonetheless an examination of the budget indicates that it is viable, providing staff costs do not increase (i.e., both staff remain part-time), and we are able to earn money from training contracts outside Scotland. Section 9 Funded National Training Initiative The National Training Initiative, which CHANGE is now funded to deliver, aims to promote effective practice in working with men convicted of violence towards their wives or female partners. Initially CHANGE was in discussion with SWSI and the Association of Directors of Social Work (ADSW) Criminal Justice Standing Committee who have nominated a small working party which now liaises with CHANGE. The work of the Scottish Partnership on Domestic Violence will also influence this development.   To fulfil the aim of promoting effective practice CHANGE is offering consultancy to authorities embarking on the planning and development of criminal justice based work with violent men, promoting a multi-agency approach. Subsequently we will offer general awareness-raising courses concerning perpetrator work targeted at workers in all agencies of the justice system. The next stage will involve training courses in the delivery of the specialist service of a men’s programme, which will also be relevant in one-to-one work. Liaison will be undertaken with local Women’s Aid groups where possible, to offer complementary training in awareness-raising training around the experiences of women, and partner contact/support. Part of the task is making plans to ensure maximum uptake and use of resources and developing monitoring and evaluation methods and tools. Proposed monitoring methods will include the setting of annual training targets in agreement with SWSI and local authority social work departments. All activities relating directly to training will be monitored in relation to their implementation into practice. In the longer term, external evaluation of the impact of subsequent changes in local practice in terms of effectiveness would be desirable if resources permit. As South Lanarkshire Criminal Justice Services had already been in discussion with CHANGE before funding for the Initiative was made available, it was agreed that they would be used to pilot the scheme. Several planning meetings were held in early 1999, which included the involvement of local Women’s Aid groups. So far Women’s Aid has undertaken two days’ awareness training for criminal justice staff, and so has CHANGE. By the end of the period covered in this Annual Report, CHANGE will be starting to implement the three-year rolling programme of training across Scotland. Conferences and training On 15 May 1998 CHANGE was invited to contribute to a conference with the theme ‘Preventing Domestic Violence: working with male perpetrators’ held at the Royal Marsden Hospital in London. The contribution consisted of a one-hour presentation and facilitating two workshops. Among the other speakers was Nicola Harwin from WAFE who gave cautious support for programmes like CHANGE. The fourteenth meeting of the Practitioners’ Network was held in Plymouth on 21 & 22 May 1998 hosted by Plymouth Everyman Centre. A major issue currently for the Network is whether we should formally constitute, enabling practitioners to have a ‘voice’ on issues about working with violent men. A small working party has been formed to take the matter forward including representation from CHANGE. On 5 November 1998 CHANGE undertook an afternoon seminar at a conference which was held to celebrate twenty years of the Women's Shelter Movement in Austria. Held at the Rathaus in Vienna, the event focused on the issue of women and ambivalence and featured speakers from around Europe. Subsequently the Austrian Family Ministry formalised an agreement to translate the CHANGE Manual into German for internal use. Once completed this will be followed in summer 1999 by CHANGE undertaking training in Salzburg for potential programme facilitators.  On 5 February 1999, CHANGE once again undertook a half-day seminar for final year social work students at Glasgow University. Future Plans For the next three years, CHANGE will continue the work already begun on the National Initiative and will seek to build on the interest from outside Scotland in developing and expanding its remit.                A charitable company limited by guarantee registered in Scotland No 183989             Scottish Charity No SCO18322          CHANGE acknowledges funding from the Scottish Executive