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Good practice Imported

Second Responder Program for Men — Targeted Post-Charge Intervention in London, Ontario

Canada · London · See the Canada profile · See the London profile

Evidence: Quasi-experimental Top 42% 74/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

A short, individually tailored intervention for men newly charged with domestic assault in London, Ontario, delivered by Changing Ways London and shown in a matched-comparison study to significantly cut repeat charges within two years.

12.2 vs 41.5 %
New domestic violence charges within 2 years (intervention vs comparison) (2-year follow-up)
25.0 vs 52.5 %
Any new charges within 2 years (intervention vs comparison) (2-year follow-up)
5.0 vs 32.5 %
Property-offence charges within 2 years (intervention vs comparison) (2-year follow-up)
52.2 vs 85.0 %
Further police-recorded occurrences within 2 years (intervention vs comparison) (2-year follow-up)

Details

Maturity
Established
Promoter
Changing Ways London, Inc., with Western University's Centre for Research & Education on Violence Against Women & Children (CREVAWC)
Period
Operating since the 1990s; quasi-experimental evaluation published 2015
Keywords
criminal justice, domestic violence intervention, community social services

Context

The Second Responder Program targets men assessed as moderate-to-high risk shortly after a domestic violence charge, offering tailored, practical counselling focused on immediate steps to reduce their dynamic risk of reoffending — distinct from standard longer-format group perpetrator programmes. It is delivered by Changing Ways London, Inc., working alongside London, Ontario's coordinated domestic-violence-court response and Western University's Centre for Research & Education on Violence Against Women & Children (CREVAWC), founded in 1994.

Objectives

The programme aims to reduce reoffending among newly charged men through a short, targeted add-on to standard justice processing, rather than a lengthy standalone programme.

Results

Scott, Heslop, Kelly and Wiggins (2015) evaluated the programme with a quasi-experimental design comparing 40 intervention participants to 40 men who received standard policing and prosecution response only. Over a two-year follow-up, intervention participants were significantly less likely to face new domestic charges (12.2% vs. 41.5%), any new charges (25.0% vs. 52.5%), property-offence charges (5.0% vs. 32.5%) and further police-recorded occurrences (52.2% vs. 85.0%); differences in violent-offence charges specifically were not statistically significant. The U.S. National Institute of Justice's CrimeSolutions registry independently rated the programme 'Promising' on the strength of this study.

Conclusions

As a short, targeted add-on rather than a lengthy standalone programme, it offers a lower-cost complement to longer group interventions such as Ontario's court-mandated Partner Assault Response programs — though, being based on a single site and study, its evidence base has not yet been replicated elsewhere.

Implementation
Indicative cost
Low (< €50k) — No published budget figures; band reflects a short, targeted counselling add-on rather than a standalone multi-session programme.
Time to results
Short (< 1 year) — A brief post-charge intervention rather than a multi-year programme.
Staffing & skills
Delivered by Changing Ways London, Inc., Coordinated with London, Ontario's domestic-violence-court response, Evaluated in partnership with Western University's CREVAWC

Conditions for success

  • Targets men assessed as moderate-to-high risk shortly after charge, rather than all offenders
  • Counselling is short and practically focused on immediate risk-reduction steps rather than a lengthy standalone curriculum

Common failure modes

  • Evidence is based on a single site and a single study of 80 men and has not yet been replicated elsewhere
  • No significant reduction was found specifically in violent-offence charges

Where it fits

Governance type
non-profit delivery partner working within a coordinated criminal-justice response
Scale
local (single city)

Commonly funded by

National / regional programmes

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Data sources

Where this practice's information was retrieved from, and when.

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