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Please Meet The ADA Staff

David J.H. Garvin MSW, LMSW
ADA Program Director
Click here for copy of Garvin Bio (Adobe pdf. file)

David is a member of the Ann Arbor Domestic Violence Coordinating Board and the St. Joseph Mercy Hospital Domestic Violence Advisory Council. David served on the Michigan Judicial Institute PPO CD-I Advisory Council and was the Chair of the Ypsilanti Domestic Violence Coordinating Board. David is a frequently requested speaker throughout the state of Michigan and the Midwest. David has been an administrative/clinical supervisor and consultant to individuals and programs who have chosen to begin working in the field of batterer intervention. In May 1997 David was appointed by Governor John Engler (Michigan) to Co-Chair the Governor’s Task Force on Batterer Intervention Standards. This project was completed in June 1998. In 1998 David was appointed to the Domestic Violence Benchbook Advisory Committee of the Michigan Judicial Institute. David currently serves as a faculty member to the Michigan Judicial Institute.

In May 1997 David was appointed by Governor John Engler (Michigan) to Co-Chair the Governor’s Task Force on Batterer Intervention Standards. This project involved the creation of a multi-disciplinary task force. The standards were completed in June 1998. David is pictured here with Governor John Engler and former Lt. Governor Connie Binsfield during the press conference introducing the completed State Standards.

In November 2002 David began serving on the Michigan Domestic Violence Prevention and Treatment Boards (MDVPTB) Advisory Council for the Grants to Encourage Arrests (GTEA). This was awarded to MDVPTB, in collaboration with the U.S. Attorneys for the Eastern and Western Districts, Michigan's Attorney General, PAAM, MCADSV, MJI, MSP and MCOLES, in order to convene an advisory task force of federal, state, local and tribal representatives of criminal justice and domestic violence service providers agencies, with the purpose of improving coordination and communication in the response to domestic violence in Michigan.

In 2002, David, along with others from Catholic Social Services of Washtenaw County launched an outreach effort to over 400 religious and faith-based communities in Washtenaw County to help them come together in a meaningful way to discuss issues related to non-violence. This project grew into a coordinated effort called the Washtenaw County Faith Based Council Against Violence.

In March of 2003 David was elected to serve as the Chair Elect of the Batterer Intervention Services Coalition of Michigan with a term beginning March 2004-05. It was during this term that David Chaired the International conference entitled FROM ROOTS TO WINGS: The Future of Batterer Intervention.

In May of 2003 David was asked to serve on the Line of Service Immersion Review by the Michigan Domestic Violence Prevention and Treatment Board. This project was completed within the month.

In January of 2004 David was asked to serve on the Statewide DELTA Project Advisory Board (Domestic Violence Prevention Enhancement and Leadership Through Alliances). Michigan is one of only fourteen states to receive this funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This project is expected to end at the end of 2006.

In April of 2005 David was asked to serve on the Michigan Domestic Violence Prevention and Treatment Board, Michigan Commission on Law Enforcement Standards Research Advisory Committee. Also in April of 2005 David was asked to serve on the Michigan Prisoner ReEntry Initiative-Victims Committee Taskforce.

David served as the Program Manager of the Families First of Michigan Program from 2000-2005 for Catholic Social Services of Washtenaw County contracts in Jackson, Hillsdale and Branch counties. David is also the Clinical Director of the Catholic Social Services of Washtenaw County Behavioral Health Services and Substance Abuse Treatment Program. In addition David currently serves as the Director of the Catholic Social Services of Washtenaw County Adoption Pregnancy Programs.

Lori has been part of the Batterers Intervention Coalition (BISC) since the beginning in 1994. Lori currently represents Region 4 with BISC-MI. Lori has a history of working with Judges, Probation/Parole Officers, Family Independence Agency Workers, as well as other agencies. Lori has educated the community through presentations and training’s. Among other experiences Lori has supervised and trained agency staff. Lori has also supervised both Bachelors and Masters degree students from a variety of Institutions. Additionally, Lori has worked in the substance abuse field. For a short time Lori worked for the Department of Correction, again dealing with men who had battered their partners. Lori’s work with Survivors has continued to fire her passion to protect the victim and the children.

While in Monroe, Lori was an active member of the Child Advocacy Network and the Child Sexual Abuse Task Force. From the inception Lori was part of the County of Monroe Against Gangs to stop the gang violence and educate the community about gangs.

Lori’s other areas of professional experience include working in residential care with adolescent females and their families who were placed due to abuse/neglect or through being adjudicated. The abuse included physical, sexual, emotional, psychological or combination finding domestic violence either in the family or the dating relationships. Lori has been in private practice working with batterers/abusers realizing group work was needed to make a difference through confrontation, group awareness and opportunity to see their behavior in others.

Joined the ADA Team in May 2001. Jeffrie Cape is a licensed master social worker with over 20 years of experience. She earned her degree at Case Western Reserve. She started out working with children in foster care, where she developed her first area of expertise, survivors of child sexual assault. She quickly learned that to help children she had to work with their parents which lead her to develop skills in substance abuse assessment, intervention and treatment.

Leaving the foster care field she became and EAP (employee assistance professional) with particular expertise in critical incident stress debriefings and trauma work.. During that time she was an active member of the education and training committee for the professional organization, EAPA.

In 1994, returning to clinical practice as a manager at Family Service Inc, Jeffrie became involved in the domestic violence field and felt there was a need to have programs for the batterers. Advocating in her agency and networking in the community she became involved in the then embryonic BISC-MI (Batterer Intervention Services Coalition of Michigan) and other local task forces. Within the agency she developed the SAVE program for batterers and the WAVE program for women arrested for violence. In the community, she helped develop local standards for batterer intervention programs eventually becoming a member of the governor’s task force to develop state standards. She was active in the development and implementation of the first BISC conference, which lead to the formation of BISC-MI in 1995. She has served on the board ever since and was chair in 2001-2002.

After leaving Family service Inc. Jeffrie worked to create a jail based program for batterers with substance abuse problems and in the court system doing pre-sentence investigations.

Jeffrie joined ADA (Alternatives to Domestic Aggression) in Washtenaw County, part time, in 2001 where she continues to facilitate groups, train and develop and refine curriculum.

In 2003 she became the director of Charron Services and started HEAL (Helping Explore Accountable Lifestyles) which meets through community corrections Step Forward program in Oakland County. In 2005 she expanded services to include WEAVE (Women Exploring Accountably Violent Encounters) a program for women arrested for violence. In 2006 she moved her private practice to Charron Services where she works with a varied client population addressing issues of substance abuse, couples counseling, children, mental health issues, life adjustment, trauma and violence.

She is an active member of NASW-Michigan where she is the chair of the education and training committee. She participates in a variety of state and local task forces as well as providing training and supervision for agencies and individuals who work with individuals involved in domestic violence.

Treaty performed in the movie “Standing in the Shadows of Motown”. This movie was released in the Fall of 2002 and in February 2003 received two Grammy Awards. Additionally Treaty performed along with the Funk Brothers at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in February 2003 for the induction of The Funk Brothers into the Hall of Fame.  Treaty has a strong interest and devotion to creating change through this unique blend of social work and the arts. 2007 marked the release of A Soulful Tale of Two Cities a 2-CD set on which Treaty performed

The photograph to the right was taken on 2-21-03 at the Conference on Healing Through the Arts and the Media, in Detroit Michigan. The Institute on Domestic Violence in the African American Community conducted this conference. Treaty wrote and performed a song entitled “I Gave Her Flowers Today” at the conference.

Changing Lives…
Gary Bushong, Peer Facilitator
Alternatives to Domestic Aggression Program
(Published in the Catholic Social Services of Washtenaw County OutReach News, Winter 2003)

Gary Bushong was, by his own admission, a very dangerous person - he was violent, ruthless and had plenty of attitude. Beginning at age 11, he was in and out of youth homes for offenses ranging from theft to selling and smuggling drugs. His criminal ride came to an abrupt end at 22 when he was convicted of armed robbery and attempted murder. Clearly not the kind of guy many would consider worth rehabilitating.
Perhaps it sounds cliché, but 25 years later, Gary is a changed man. He conveys a serenity and poise that belie his past. The journey of how he became who he is today, however, is more complicated and more real than any movie. And it’s almost unbelievable.

“Today,” Gary says, “I have a good life.” In addition to his employment as a tool and die maker, he was recently hired by CSS to be a Peer Facilitator for the Alternatives to Domestic Aggression Program (ADA) Choices program. In this capacity, Gary co-facilitates a group at the Washtenaw County Jail once a week for incarcerated men convicted of domestic abuse. Violent behavior, and all the excuses that come with justifying it, is something Gary is very familiar with. Whereas the Choices program is held at the jail, ADA offers the majority of its services at the CSS office.

“My belief was my problem,” Gary explains. “Violence was my way of getting what I wanted. It was my way of life.”

It was his way of life. A life of being shuttled from youth home to youth home, a “state-raised” kid many considered incorrigible. A life that recalls, in a drug smuggling deal gone bad, being beat, stabbed and tied-up-literally hours from being thrown into the ocean. A life that witnessed  seeing fellow inmates die before his eyes.

In prison, he began his journey to discard that life, developing a deeper faith and learning a marketable trade. Once released in 1990, however, Gary still had a ways to go. He struggled with drug and alcohol abuse until successfully joining a 12-step program almost ten years ago. Going through the rehabilitation program Gary says, “...gave me hope and direction and further inspired me that it was possible to change.”

Gary assumed he had beaten his demons; his employment was stable and rewarding, he  remained substance free, and had a wife and young daughter. There was one problem. He believed that abusing his wife was okay.  “I was the king of my domicile. I really thought that hitting at home was not a crime… It was normal to me, as insane as that sounds.”

It was that violence that landed him in his first ADA meeting two years ago. Admittedly, he says, he initially rejected the idea he was personally accountable and responsible for his violent behavior; but several months into the program, he “was eager to be corrected.” From that day forward, he has talked the talk and walked the walk, becoming a disciple of the cause.

He swears emphatically, “ADA changed my life. It changed my core beliefs.”  It is that authenticity he brings to the men in the ADA Choices program who have walked in his shoes; and it is his ability to recognize the stonewalling and excuse-making that makes him so effective getting through to his peers.

As for Gary and his future, the question begs. What will he do when faced with future challenges? Will he be tempted to revert to old behaviors?

He certainly cannot be described as naïve; he knows that each day he must remain vigilant. But he also knows how empowering it is to be free from anger and self-hatred. Being mellow is alright with Gary. He laughs, “These days, I even drive slowly.”

Nearly every man in the room is in jail for domestic violence. Every one has a story; some deny they did anything wrong and are stuck in justifying what they did and why they did it. That is what makes this program so important and so effective -  it peels back the layers of a distorted belief system. The men certainly aren’t coddled, and excuses are left at the door. All attendees must refer to their victims by name, not “she,”  “that woman” (or worse) and take full responsibility for their abuse in an intense, and at times, confrontational manner.

Men involved in Choices leave better prepared to reenter society, after which they are required to continue attending ADA classes at the CSS office, explains Program Coordinator Lori Knott. Interestingly, she adds, “the advantage to the jail program is the men appear to own their behavior quicker than the men in the (outside) ADA program. They tell us, ‘in jail there are fewer distractions, more time to think.’ The men named the group ‘Choices,’ as this gives a framework to eliminating the excuses of being drunk, being angry, or ‘it just happened.’”

As Choices peer facilitator, Gary Bushong is quick to recognize when participants start dismantling, or “unpacking.”  When one group member says he feels he doesn’t need to attend any more and knows what he needs to do, Gary challenges him. “Do you go into a church, and after attending 47 times, say I’m done, I know everything I need to? Of course not…you keep on going.” He continues, “Every time I walk out of one of these groups, I am not the same as when I walked in. Every time.”

There is a National movement towards “Mentoring”. In ADA, Mentoring is the process in which members who are familiar with the program go out of their way to help others understand the it, establish goals and develop the skills to reach them. Utilizing Gary as a Peer Facilitator is the next step in this progression of Mentoring. Gary’s personal experience enables him to command the group’s respect. He speaks their language, and they in turn listen.

"There is no question that they see Gary differently," says ADA Program Director David Garvin. “Gary’s credentials and credibility are his life experiences. They value his expertise and his ability to relate to them.”  Garvin continues, “Not only is this useful for the men whom Gary speaks with and teaches from his personal struggles and experiences, it is beneficial for Gary in his day by day reconstruction of his belief systems, learning more about himself and “giving back”.

The men in Choices are required to attend two sessions, twice a week for six weeks while incarcerated. The program, established nearly three years ago, is just one part of a county-wide demonstration initiative to connect law enforcement, courts, and local agencies in an effort to identify, prosecute and ultimately, reduce domestic violence.

From 2000 to 2005, ADA was one of the partners in the Washtenaw County Judicial Oversight Demonstration Initiative and received funding for this service from the JODI.

Since the Fall of 2006 this program has been funded by the Washtenaw County Community Corrections Department.