New program hopes to reduce domestic violence in Raleigh County

BECKLEY, WV (WVNS) – Domestic violence is a real concern in the United States and more locally, in the Mountain State.

According to the National Coalition of Domestic Violence, 33.6 percent of West Virginia women and 41.2 percent of West Virginia men experience domestic violence.

The Raleigh County Day Report Center is starting a Batterer Intervention and Prevention Program.

The goal of this program is to reduce the rates of domestic violence by implementing a 32-week program at the center.

Zach Hazelwood, Clinical Supervisor with the Raleigh County Day Report Center, told 59News that domestic violence seems to be overlooked and pushed under the rug.

“As far as the BIPPs program, I would say that I think that domestic violence is a bigger problem than you might know around here. Especially dealing with the court system, it’s all the time. I think domestic violence is one of those problems that is ‘hush hush’ and not a lot of people talk about it,” said Hazelwood.

This program offers a different approach to tackling the issues of domestic violence.

James Miller, Director of the Raleigh County Day Report Center, explained the approach.

“Then, we are able to offer services to that batterer and that’s one of the very few situations in domestic violence where an alternative can be implemented. An alternative to an outright dismissal if the victim does not want to cooperate or is scared to cooperate…a conviction where that person has conviction but nothing has been done to address the behavior,” said Miller to 59News.

Miller said some Raleigh County Day Report Center staff will be trained on the program.

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