BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - Daronshel Blackman graduated Friday from Louisiana’s first domestic violence intervention program, becoming the first person to complete the intensive 20-month initiative that aims to break cycles of abuse through treatment rather than incarceration.

The 33-year-old father of four successfully cleared his record after participating in individual and group therapy, substance abuse treatment, monthly court check-ins, and medical consultations.

“Sometimes you gotta take a minute to go through what you go through to remember who you is and I had to go through what I went through to remember who I was,” Blackman said.

Program faces uncertain future

The program comes as Baton Rouge police report approximately 900 arrests for felony domestic violence since January wi

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