Domestic Violence : Community Partnerships and Principles, Part 2

by Child Welfare Information Gateway

(Page 4 of 4)

"Domestic Violence: A National Curriculum for Child Protective Services" - Family Violence Prevention Fund, San Francisco, California

The Family Violence Prevention Fund, a national domestic violence advocacy and public policy organization, developed the first national cross-training curriculum regarding the overlap between domestic violence and child abuse. This training curriculum provides practical information, guidelines, and tools for identifying, assessing, and intervening with families who are experiencing domestic abuse and child maltreatment.

Community Partnerships for Protecting Children - Jacksonville, Florida, and Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Sponsored by the Edna McConnell-Clark Foundation, Jacksonville, Florida, and Cedar Rapids, Iowa, are two of four sites that are implementing a community-based, child protection response to domestic violence. In this model, formal and informal community networks, such as CPS agencies, domestic violence programs, substance abuse facilities, neighborhood centers, and community residents, share the responsibility for protecting children and strengthening families. In Cedar Rapids, domestic violence and CPS staff are located in neighborhood-based centers to provide onsite consultation, support, and advocacy to families affected by violence. Hubbard House, in Jacksonville, is one of the first domestic violence shelters to train CPS caseworkers, who then come onsite to interview the victim and children. CPS and domestic violence workers also "shadow" one another, participate in cross-training, and pair off on consultation teams.

Advocacy for Women and Kids (AWAKE) Program - Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts

Boston Children's Hospital was one of the first organizations that identified the link between child maltreatment and domestic violence. Subsequently, this discovery led to the establishment of the Advocacy for Women and Kids (AWAKE) Program. The AWAKE Program incorporates domestic violence advocacy in a pediatric setting and offers services to victims and their abused children. AWAKE also provides training and case consultation to Children's Hospital staff on domestic violence and child abuse.

The Child Development-Community Policing (CDCP) Program - New Haven, Connecticut

The Child Development-Community Policing Intervention (CDCP) Program was created in 1992 by the Child Study Center at Yale University School of Medicine and the New Haven Police Department. This initiative convenes community police officers, service providers, and mental health clinicians to provide joint responses to victims of domestic violence and their children. Law enforcement officers are trained to identify children exposed to violence and refer them to mental health providers for further assessment. Police officers also connect victims with domestic violence services.

Dependency Court Intervention Program for Family Violence (DCIPFV) - Miami-Dade County, Florida

The Dependency Court Intervention Program for Family Violence (DCIPFV), located in the 11th Judicial Circuit Court of Florida, was the first national demonstration project to develop a coordinated approach to victims and children involved in child protection and dependency court proceedings. The judiciary, along with other key systems, employs a two-pronged approach to enhance the safety and well-being of children and victims involved with CPS and experiencing domestic violence. DCIPFV locates staff at juvenile court proceedings where domestic violence service workers are available for assessment and referral. They also provide support to victims and their children. DCIPFV staff assists victims in navigating the child welfare and juvenile court systems and helps them obtain civil protection orders.

Effective Interventions in Domestic Violence and Child Maltreatment Cases: Guidelines for Policy and Practice - The Greenbook Project

The Greenbook Project is a Federal demonstration project consisting of six pilot sites selected to test and implement the recommendations of the National Council for Juvenile Federal Court Judges' Effective Intervention in Domestic Violence and Child Maltreatment Cases: Guidelines for Policy and Practice. Published in 1999, this document offers a set of principles and guidelines for designing comprehensive approaches to co-occurring domestic violence and child abuse. The Greenbook Project focuses on three primary systems in the development of this coordinated response - juvenile and family courts, CPS, and domestic violence programs. A concurrent, cross-site evaluation measures the extent to which the demonstration sites' collaborative efforts result in system change and improvements in safety, recidivism rates, and abuser accountability.

Conclusion

Domestic violence and child maltreatment cannot be viewed separately by professionals responding to family violence. The mission of CPS is to ensure the safety, stability, and well-being of child victims. This calling, however, is consistent with the domestic violence field's goal of providing protection and strength to victims of abuse. Adult and child victims suffer similarly and often in the same families. Thus, a thoughtful and synchronized approach is needed by the two systems charged with intervening. CPS caseworkers and service providers can and must join together to achieve their shared goal of freeing victims from the violence in their lives and working to prevent future violence.

About the Author

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Formerly the National Clearinghouse on Child Abuse and Neglect Information and the National Adoption Information Clearinghouse, Child Welfare Information Gateway provides access to information and resources to help protect children and strengthen families. A service of the Children's Bureau, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.