Home > About ADA > Staff

Please Meet The ADA Staff

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

David has been 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 around the country. 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 has served 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 and Pregnancy Programs as well as the Supervised Parenting and Exchange Program.

Begining in 2007 David and Jeffrie Cape were asked by the Michigan Department of Corrections to develop programming for men in prison called BRIDGES. The philosophy and function of BRIDGES is Men who have been incarcerated for short or long duration are exposed to the myriad issues of domestic violence, male responsibility and accountability. We believe that it is valuable to provide a forum where men are given the opportunity to discuss their experiences of perpetrating domestic violence. It is in this forum, that men, possibly for the first time, will experience not only an education about domestic violence but will benefit from the introspective challenge of discussing their beliefs, attitudes and behaviors about domestic violence. This class meets for 2 hours three times per week to have discussions as outlined in this curriculum. An additional function of the BRIDGES Preparation Program is to promote active and accountable participation in a long-term batterer intervention program once they complete the BRIDGES Preparation Program. This curriculum is currently operating in two Michigan Prisons and is in development at a third.

Joseph has worked as the HIV coordinator for DHS/DTD for the past 12 years. Joseph also developed and facilitated a Co-Ed Recovery and I.M.P.A.C.T (a skills building workshop) groups to address patient needs.

Joseph has worked with Family Services of Wayne County as a domestic violence facilitator and Individual/Family therapist. Joseph's counseling skills have been significantly broadened and enhanced through his years of working in Detroit area.

While working for Family Service Inc. she developed the SAVE (Strategies Against Violent Encounters) program for batterer intervention. Jeffrie was an early member in the grass roots group, which developed into BISC-MI (Batterer Intervention Services Coalition of Michigan). Jeffrie served as the chair of BISC-MI from 2001-2002. Jeffrie served on the Governor’s Task Force for the development of Batterer Intervention Standards.

Jeffrie has been a member of the Wayne County Council Against Family Violence and has served on several committees, including the Fatality Review Team. Jeffrie was also a recipient of the 2001 Spirit Award. Jeffrie has also been a member of the Oakland County Council Against Domestic Violence. Jeffrie was instrumental in the development and implementation of the Wayne County jail based Batterer Intervention/Substance Abuse program. Additionally, Jeffrie has provided numerous training’s to corporations, community groups and professionals on domestic violence, substance abuse, parenting, supervision, and other topical issues.

In 2001, she was given a Merit Scholarship for her Masters in Social Work from the University of Michigan which she completed in 2003. During her Masters, she worked in the Spanish-speaking community in Southwest Detroit as a School Social Worker and Mental Health Therapist.  During this time, she also lived in and studied as a dharma student within a Zen Buddhist Temple for over four years, and is a Certified Yoga Instructor.

Bobbi also worked as a Crisis Corps Volunteer with the relief efforts in Sri Lanka after the Tsunami.  She was responsible for training Sri Lankan Probation Officers to be Social Workers.  She was evacuated out of Sri Lanka in August 2006 due to the escalation of violence.

Bobbi's dedication to end aggression has been in her own recovery from violence.  One must enter the eye of a hurricane to find peace.  Bobbi's sensitivity allows her to work skillfully with male aggression, allowing a safe space to acknowledge the darkest despair and acts of violence; while holding accountability for all committed acts of violence.

In 2004, Jorge volunteered at a shelter for indigenous girls called Protección a la Joven de Oaxaca A. C. for two years. There he taught a 6 months EFL (English as a Foreign Language) course. With the support of other members of the shelter staff, Jorge also coordinated and carried out socialization activities, like dancing classes, and field trips, as a way of softening the social impact that the girls had from coming from their small communities from different regions of the state into the city of Oaxaca.

Right after college, in 2003, Jorge volunteered as a treasure assistant for the community of Santiago Zoochila, located in the mountains of the Sierra Juárez in Oaxaca, Mexico. During this year, Jorge also formed groups of teenagers and started different activities, such as, teaching them how to use computers, reforestation, talks for gender equity, and English tutoring for the ones attending middle school.

After going back to the city of Oaxaca, in 2004, Jorge became the local director of an exchange program that sends students that want to learn Spanish to Oaxaca. During the same year, Jorge became the manager of foreign affairs for a local publishing company, and also translated children books into Spanish. While having these two positions, in 2005, Jorge was nominated to be the president of his neighborhood’s committee, to deal with the wellbeing of the neighborhood in front of the Oaxaca City government and the State government. With this opportunity, Jorge coordinated activities related to community improvement, including security, health, social development, education, and infrastructure.

At the end of 2007, Jorge moved to the US and has been volunteering in the Ypsilanti Senior Center as a Spanish teacher for adults participating in a prevention of Alzheimer program. Also, he has been volunteering at the First United Methodist Church of Ypsilanti as a teacher in the ESL program of the church. He believes that lack of education in any field will put an individual in an enormous disadvantage within society.

Joseph's involvement in human services began in the middle 1960's as staff in the Federal Job Corps program, and during his tenure with the State he also participated as resident counselor with the Family and Children's Service Agency of Calhoun County, working with couples facing relationship issues and facilitating divorce adjustment groups.

A third generation American citizen, Joseph has lived and traveled extensively in the Spanish speaking areas of the world and is bilingual in Spanish. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science, History, Latin-American Studies, and a Masters Degree in Social Work, both from Western Michigan University. For ten years he was adjunct faculty at the Eastern Michigan University School of Social Work, teaching courses on Social Work Services to criminal offenders. He joined the ADA program as facilitator in late 2007.

Terri next worked for a local agency who serviced those making the transition from jail or prison to the community. Terri became certified in Moral Reconation Therapy(MRT) and ran a MRT group along with a group for women at the Washtenaw County Jail. Terri developed and facilated a group for women on probation for assualtive behavior. Upon the closure of this agency Terri gained experience in substance abuse as a therapist doing one on one short term therapy, facilitated an adolescent Intensive Outpatient Group (lOP), and women's group facilitator. While there, Terri was the coordinator and representative to the Mid Michigan Council for women with substance abuse for the agency.

Terri received her MSW in 2004 from Eastern Michigan University where she had internships at Michigan Community Mental Health and a 20 hour a week, 7month internship in a State Facility serving prison inmates with severe mental illness. Here Terri received experience co-facilitating groups for prisoners with co-existing conditions (often mental illness and substance abuse) and Borderline Personality. Terri also counseled prisoners one on one on issues relating to discharge to the community or a prison setting.

Terri later worked at Gratiot Hospital in a partial hospitalization program for those with mental illness. Terri also co- facilitated two batterer intervention groups through Women's Aid in Mid Michigan.

In 2006 Terri moved back to the Ann Arbor area and worked as a Medical Social Worker with a Hospice organization, counseling patients and families with life limiting illness. Terri joined the staff of ADA in late 2007.

Lisa’s diverse professional experiences include teaching English in Japan, meeting the needs of low-literacy pregnant teenagers in Hawaii, and, as a Fulbright Scholar, investigating the social impact nongovernmental bank membership has on the lives of impoverished rural Bangladeshi women.  Each experience has inspired ? and continues to inform ? Lisa’s work with men who batter, female survivors of domestic violence, and women who have used force (WWUF) in their intimate heterosexual relationships.

Before coming to CSS, Lisa facilitated support groups for survivors of domestic violence and male batterers at the Jersey Battered Women’s Services (JBWS), Inc. in Morris County, NJ.  At JBWS, Lisa also cocreated, implemented, and managed JBWS’ Vista Program that provides an extended view of serving WWUF in their intimate relationships.

At CSS, Lisa coordinates the Reflectively Embracing Nonviolence through the Education of Women (RENEW) Program that addresses the advocacy, support, and intervention needs of WWUF (www.csswashtenaw.org/renew).  Lisa and David Garvin are cofounders of the international W-Catch22 yahoo group that provides resources and information sharing opportunities for professionals involved in the lives of WWUF.

Lisa is a published author and national presenter.  She was recently appointed to serve on the editorial review board of the international journal Violence Against Women.

Publications Include:

Larance, L.Y., Hoffman, A., and Shivas, J. (2008).  VISTA Program Curriculum:  An Extended View of Serving Women Who Use Force.  Jersey Center for Nonviolence Publication:  Morristown, NJ.  www.jbws.org

Larance, L. Y. (Winter 2007).  When she hits him:  Why the institutional response deserves reconsideration.  Violence Against Women Newsletter:  Prosecuting Attorney’s Association of Michigan.  Volume 5, Issue 4, pp. 11-19.

Larance, L. Y.  (July 2006). Serving Women Who Use Force in Their Intimate Heterosexual Relationships: An Extended View. Violence Against Women Journal. Volume 12, Number 7, 622-640.

Larance, L. Y. and Porter, M. L. (June 2004). Observations from Practice: Support Group Membership as a Process of Social Capital Formation among Female Survivors of Domestic Violence. Journal of Interpersonal Violence. Volume 19, Number 6, 676-690.

Larance, L. Y.  and Malik, R. (July 2002). Creating Community in a United States
City: Bangladeshi Women Share Their Immigrant Experiences, research report
(reprint). Anannya: a Bangla monthly journal, Year 14, Number 19.

Larance, L.Y. (January 2001).  Fostering social capital through NGO design:  Grameen Bank membership in Bangladesh. Journal of International Social Work.  Volume 44, Number 1, 7-18.

Heather began working in Detroit in 2001, providing substance abuse services, working as an HIV prevention specialist and administering HIV testing & counseling at Detroit LIGHT House & the AIDS Consortium of Southeastern Michigan (ACSEM). She provided educational trainings to SEMCA-funded agencies, professionals and clients on HIV, hepatitis and STDs.

In addition to working in the ADA community based program, Heather co-facilitates ‘Expanding Options’ and ‘Choices’ groups with Treaty Womack at the Delonis Homeless Center and the Washtenaw County Jail, facilitates substance abuse groups and provides individual counseling.

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.