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Creators of A New Day left in dark

Eight months after the John Howard Society took over A New Day, those who helped build the spousal violence reduction program have heard nothing of its status.

"We haven't seen anything about its operation, or who's in the program, or if they're having any success at all," Bree Denning, executive director of the Yellowknife Women's Society, said Tuesday.

Lydia Bardak, an advocate for the Coalition Against Family Violence, says the Department of Justice did away with five years of research and collaboration with the Native Women's Association of the NWT, the YWCA, the RCMP, Indigenous representatives when it remodeled the A New Day program last year. Sidney Cohen/NNSL photo

Denning is part of the Coalition Against Family Violence, the organization that worked with the GNWT to develop the voluntary group therapy program for men who have been violent in their relationships.

A New Day is premised on the idea that ending family violence starts with healing men.

The program was first offered by The Healing Drum Society in 2012 and was taken over by Tree of Peace in 2014.

In June 2017, after a controversial overhaul of the program, the John Howard Society was awarded a four-year, $575,000 contract to run A New Day.

Lydia Bardak, who has worked with the Coalition Against Family Violence for more than a decade and was formerly the executive director of the John Howard Society, said both The Healing Drum and Tree of Peace gave regular updates on the program.

But there's been radio silence since the John Howard Society took over last summer, she said.

Bardak said she used to encourage A New Day staff to attend Domestic Violence Treatment Option Court, a special court for people who have pleaded guilty to violence against a partner and wish to change their behaviour.

Having A New Day staff at the court helped recruit men to the program.

During sentencing, judges would acknowledge a man's participation in A New Day as a meaningful step toward becoming non-violent, said Bardak.

But it's been some time since she has heard the program brought up in court.

"I haven't heard A New Day mentioned in court sentencing, haven't heard of any guys that I know participating (in it)," she said.

"I don't know that it exists."

Originally, men who signed up for A New Day did a few one-on-one counselling sessions before entering a 20-week group therapy program.

Complete program faster

A 2016 external evaluation of A New Day found that between 2013 and 2015, 80 men signed up for the program, 23 stayed for 10 sessions or more and 12 finished it.

The report found that men who made it through 10 sessions or more were less likely to re-offend.

Speaking on the new program, Leanne Gardiner, director of Community Justice and Community Policing said the old program "did not meet clients' needs."

In a Feb. 19 email, Gardiner said there were wait times to get into a group, and groups were far smaller than expected.

Under the John Howard Society, A New Day allows men to enter group therapy right away and allows them to complete the program faster.

"The current program model acknowledges that a man may be successful in choosing non-violence without receiving a completion certificate," stated Gardiner.

Since July 1, around 100 men have expressed interest in A New Day, and 20 have registered.

Bardak said allowing men to complete a shorter program is, "really, really dangerous."

She said the coalition's research showed that a longer program and more participation by men made women safer.

Julie Green, MLA for Yellowknife Centre, said the program, "changed fundamentally," when it was transferred to
the John Howard Society.

When Tree of Peace was running A New Day, said Green, men could drop in and they could come with their partners.

"It was really an open program, willing to meet people where they were at," she said. "Now it's more strictly a counselling program."

Justice spokesperson Sue Glowach said the current version of A New Day has been running for less than a year and the department anticipates "reporting as more data is gathered."

Robert Hawkins, the executive director of the John Howard Society and previously the MLA for Yellowknife Centre, was a critic of the John Howard Society under Lydia Bardak's leadership. Hawkins was beat in the 2015 territorial election by Green.

When asked for comment on this story, Robert Hawkins, the executive director of the John Howard Society, directed Yellowknifer to the Department of Justice.