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Partners teach how to avoid violence
By CARRIE JOHNSON, Times Staff Writer INVERNESS -- David Jackson remembers them all: the burly man in braids who was so angry with his girlfriend he refused to say her name, the arrogant doctor with four restraining orders filed against him and the tearful young man desperate to rejoin his wife and children. Through the years, Jackson has counseled these men and countless others in an attempt to free them from a lifelong history of violence. In his offices in St. Petersburg and Lakeland, he offers classes in anger management, substance abuse and batterers intervention. Now Jackson and his partner, Loida Lufkin, are opening an office in Inverness. "We're hoping that we can be of benefit to the people of Citrus County," Jackson said. "That's what our business is all about -- helping people." The timing is fortuitous, said Alida Langley, the county's domestic violence coordinator. The county has been without a state-certified intervention program for batterers since Tri-County Counseling Services closed in December, she said. Under Florida law, people convicted of domestic violence are required to participate in counseling as a part of their sentences, Langley said. "These people need someplace to go to improve their lives," she said. "Sometimes violence is all they know how to do. . . . They haven't been told that violence isn't appropriate." That's where Jackson and Lufkin hope to intervene. Their new business, called BayCare Inverness, will offer 26-week classes geared toward teaching men and women the proper way to behave in a relationship. The two have known one each other for nearly 20 years and opened their first counseling office in Lakeland several years ago. Most of their clients are sent to them from the Department of Corrections or the Department of Children and Families, and a surprising number are receptive to the counseling. "Most get it, believe it or not," Jackson said. "There's quite a few who give it 100 percent. . . . The exceptions are the very young, the very old and the know-it-alls." Jackson has seen examples of all of these pass through his doors. He recalled a doctor who insisted he didn't belong in counseling despite his three aggravated stalking charges and four restraining orders filed against him. "He really didn't think he belonged in the program, and there was nothing you could say to convince him otherwise," Jackson said. But there have also been numerous success stories. For example, the angry man in braids reconciled with his girlfriend and eventually married her. The two regularly attend church together, Jackson said. The unhappy man seeking to be reunited with his family never got his wish. "But he said he had learned to live a happier, healthier life," Jackson said. BayCare will operate from an office at 103 Dampier St. The business is expected to open within the next week or two, Jackson said.
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