Editor's note: This story is one in a series examining domestic violence in the Flathead Valley.

Batterer-intervention programming for domestic violence offenders is a challenge plaguing other rural Northwest Montana counties as well as Flathead County.

In Sanders County, one counselor, Nancy Smith, takes on all of the Partner and Family Member Abuse treatment for the area. Before Smith took up the mantle at Choices for Change treatment center, most men convicted on PFMA charges in Sanders County traveled to Kalispell or Missoula to fulfill their obligations. The distance only added to the preponderance of hindrances that prevent most domestic abusers from achieving rehabilitation.

Smith received specific training for domestic violence counseling this past year after working in the realms of anger management and child and adult protective services. To her knowledge, Smith is the only one in Sanders County with specific training to handle domestic violence cases.

“Part of it is it’s not financially anything that anybody wants to go after,” Smith explained. “…it’s not really lucrative.”

Most of her clients don’t have the insurance coverage or financial resources to make her practice profitable, though she said financial gain is not her primary goal. After 30 years living in Sanders County, Smith said, “this is my family, my town, my area…these people need help.”

Despite Smith’s good intentions, her one-woman show has its limits.

For example, even though group therapy is widely considered the best platform for interventions — and the recommended mode by the MBCC standards — Smith doesn’t have the numbers to form such a group.

And since she wears many hats, Smith’s experience in other areas such as anger management shades into her approach to batterers. That can be a problem, because research on effective treatment for abusers emphasizes the need to address an abuse problem as its own entity, separate from issues like anger, mental illness or substance abuse.

“An abuser program cannot be replaced by psychotherapy or anger management, as those services are not designed to address the range of behaviors that make up abuse and the core attitudes that drive them,” Lundy Bancroft wrote in his book, “Why Does He Do That?”

EVEN MORE troubling is the predicament in Lincoln County, where there is no programming dedicated specifically to addressing domestic violence. Anger management is often the recommended course for residents convicted on PFMA charges, but there are no anger management service providers in Lincoln County.

Still, there are more resources there today than just two years ago.

In 2018, Lincoln County received a state grant to add a pretrial probation officer position.

It’s a rare role in most rural counties, responsible for keeping track of the living situation for people awaiting trial on PFMA charges. The officer also monitors no-contact orders and recommends resources for people accused of domestic abuse before they’re convicted.

Before Vanessa Williamson took on the pretrial probation officer job in 2018, she said there was no oversight of whether abusers made contact with their victims before sentencing.

Online classes offer a possible alternative to satisfy Montana’s PFMA mandate for counseling. Companies such as Court Ordered Classes, based in Southern California, offer virtual batterer-intervention programs nationwide and includes Northwest Montana counties in its list of approved locales.

But Smith, who said she was aware of Court Ordered Classes advertising its service in Sanders County, said she had never heard of a local case where the online course was accepted in court.

Get help: If you are facing domestic abuse or know someone who is, call the Abbie Shelter's 24-hour helpline at 406-752-7273, or reach the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE.

Reporter Bret Anne Serbin may be reached at 758-4459 or bserbin@dailyinterlake.com