Battering Intervention and Prevention Programs (BIPP)

A BIPP, or Battering Intervention and Prevention Program, counsels people who have hurt their loved ones with a pattern of controlling behavior.

BIPPs help participants:

• Recognize abusive patterns;
• Understand why the behavior is harmful;
• Take responsibility for one’s own actions; and
• Learn healthier ways to treat intimate partners and others.

If you finish the program, a BIPP can help change abusive behavior. Statistics from this 2025 report from the Institute for Urban Policy Research show that:

• One year after completing a BIPP:
  • 87.5% of BIPP graduates do not have a new criminal arrest of any type
  • 98% of BIPP graduates do not have a new family violence criminal arrest
• Three years after completing a BIPP:
  • 74% of BIPP graduates do not have a new criminal arrest of any type
  • 95.2% of BIPP graduates do not have a new family violence criminal arrest.

Yes! A court can order a BIPP where family violence happened. This may be a:

• Criminal suit, such as an assault against a family member; or
• Civil suit, such as a divorce, custody, or custody modification.

Courts often order BIPPs in a protective order.

Parties in a lawsuit can also agree for one party to take a BIPP as part of the final order for that lawsuit.

See Texas Family Code 85.022 and Texas Code of Criminal Procedure 42.141, 56A.051,and 42A.504.

No! Anyone who wants help to change their behavior can sign up for a BIPP. You do not need a court order.

Each program may be a little different, but usually you:

• Sign up for the program;
• Attend orientation;
• Meet individually with a program facilitator; and

• Participate in weekly group meetings.

BIPP groups meet for eighteen to twenty-four weeks. Groups meet at different days and times based on the program and availability.

Staff from BIPPs, called facilitators, run each group to help you through the program.

Program curriculum helps you through four phases:

1. Seeing patterns of abusive behavior;
2. Being accountable for abusive behavior;
3. Learning healthy behavior; and
4. Practicing healthy behavior.

Programs have in-person activities during group and work to do on your own between meetings.

BIPP programs may also refer you to agencies that offer help with addiction, housing, mental health care, and medical care.

Yes, BIPPs charge a fee. Programs may offer a sliding scale based on what you earn. Contact a BIPP provider to ask about their fees.

You will need:

• Personal ID like a driver’s license or passport
• A copy of any protective order issued against you whether a BIPP was ordered or not
  • If a BIPP was ordered or agreed in a different kind of order, then a copy of that order too
• Proof of your income from any employer, if you are working, such as:
  • W-2,
  • Two most recent paystubs,
  • Bank statements if paid cash,
  • Offer letter for a new job, or
  • Proof of income letter from your employer(s).

Once you sign up, the program will let you know anything else needed.

Different agencies offer BIPPs across the state of Texas. Be sure you sign up with an accredited program if you are following a court order.

To locate a specific BIPP in your area, check accredited programs through the “Current BIPP Accreditation List” link available at the Community Justice Assistance Division page on the website of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. If a BIPP is ordered, the court may have a list of local options if you ask.

BIPPs must meet requirements set by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

No! Unless the court orders a specific program, you can sign up for any BIPP in Texas even if that BIPP is not in the same county as the court. Always double-check your order.

You do have to take a BIPP in the same state as the court order, so a Texas order means you need a Texas BIPP.

No! However, a BIPP addresses family violence, which statistics show adult men commit the most. Any BIPP must offer services to adult men by law.

Many programs also help women who have been abusive. Most BIPP groups meet by gender—men work together, and women work together.

Minors may be able to sign up with guardian approval if the minor is at least seventeen years old. Minors usually meet with their own gender unless the program has enough minors sign up to hold their own group.

Some programs offer groups based on racial, ethnic, or LGBTQIA+ identities. Contact a BIPP providers to ask what they may offer to fit your needs.

A BIPP is not the same as Anger Management.

• BIPPs help correct a pattern of abusive behavior for control over loved ones.
  • This pattern may be verbal, emotional, sexual, physical, or financial abuse.
  • BIPPs are structured, audited, and re-certificated regularly by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice specifically to address family violence.
• Anger Management helps correct mental health issues or a lack of control of emotions.
  • It looks at triggers for an incident that may or may not happen again.
  • It is not designed to help stop family violence.
  • It is not monitored or licensed in Texas to help stop family violence.

Anger Management helps correct a lack of control leading to an incident.

BIPPs help correct when abusive control is used on a loved one to make the loved one feel or do something the abuser wants as the pattern of that relationship.

Seeing that family violence is not a loss of control but an expression of control is very important in BIPPs.