A Judicial Guide to Child Safety in Custody Cases (pdf)
"This Judicial Guide contains 14 bench cards which provide an easy-to-use checklist system for judges at critical decision-making points throughout child custody cases, as well as a supplemental guide which provides additional information about in- and out-of-court behaviors, best interest of the child, and order issuance and enforcement. "
ABA Commission on Domestic Violence eNewsletter on DV and Child Protection
An e-newsletter featuring articles from experts on the intersection of domestic violence and child protection.
Accountability and Connection with Abusive Men (pdf)
"This document is an effort to remedy the excessive focus on mothers in cases involving domestic violence. It provides suggestions for connecting with and holding abusers accountable. It is a resource for child protection workers, supervisors, managers and others working with families involved in the child protection system."
"The purpose of this study was to learn how CPS can be more responsive to families experiencing domestic violence and child abuse and neglect; learn how domestic violence advocates can be more effective in helping clients to respond to allegations of or actual child abuse and neglect and CPS interventions; explore how community can be more responsive to partner abuse and child abuse and neglect and provide support to families involved with CPS; and experiment with a research design that accomplishes the first step of participatory research and at the same time empowers advocates and survivors."
Beyond Observation: Considerations for Advancing Domestic Violence Practice in Supervised Visitation (pdf)
"This paper presents considerations for expanded practice in the Supervised Visitation Grant Program and describes interventions that go beyond observation in the supervised visitation setting."
A surprising number of battered women lose custody of their children to their abusive partners. This document describes some of the legal and cultural trends surrounding custody and visitation decisions and the social science evidence supporting a need to consider domestic violence in these decisions.
"Describes major legal and social trends surrounding custody and visitation decisions and the social science evidence supporting the need to consider domestic violence. Recommendations for custody and visitation decisions are explored."
Child Support Protocol: A Guide for Integrated Domestic Violence Courts (pdf)
A best practices guide for legal professionals who oversee integrated domestic violence court cases involving child custody issues.
This article addresses the likely and realistic outcome regarding custodial care decisions during divorce battles. It would seem apparent that the parent responsible for inflicting abuse upon their child is often the one to receive unsupervised visitation rights and often even full legal custody as well.
Danger Zone: Battered Mothers and Their Families in Supervised Visitation (pdf)
"This paper outlines research conducted at a supervised visitation center specifically for serving families where domestic violence was the primary reason for referral. The authors have classified their experiences based on these main subjects: battered women in supervised visitation, how battering continues during supervised visitation, how the rules of the supervised visitation center evolved during the first 18 months of implementation, the importance of well-trained visit monitors, and the need to include supervised visitation centers within a larger context of coordinated community responses to domestic violence."
Family Court Statistics: an overview of Family Court Statistics in New Zealand 2004 to 2008
This bulletin analyzes, between 2004 and 2008, the four main areas that come under the jurisdiction of the Family Court in New Zealand, including family violence and child protection.
Guiding Principles for Safe Havens: Supervised Visitation and Safe Exchange Grant Program (pdf)
"This document was designed to guide the development and administration of Supervised Visitation Program centers with an eye toward addressing the needs of child(ren) and adult victims of domestic violence in visitation and exchange settings. The Guiding Principles look beyond the visitation setting to address how communities funded under the Supervised Visitation Program should address domestic violence in the larger community."
Implementing Evidence-Based Practice in Treatment Foster Care (pdf)
The guide highlights valuable information, references, resources, and tools for implementing Evidence-based Practices (EBPs) in Treatment Foster Care (TFC) service settings. The Resource Guide identifies specific models, interventions, and tools that TFC providers can use to deliver effective services to the children, youth, and families in their care. It also provides “how-to” information to help TFC providers successfully implement desired EBPs in their programs.
Issue Brief: Addressing the Mental Health Impact of Violence and Trauma on Children (pdf)
In addressing the mental health impact of violence and trauma on children, Luest looks into the question of "what is happening to our children" and responds with a well researched look into the experiences of children who are exposed to violence, their behavioral response, and how the system is currently failing them. She finishes with "next steps" for how policymakers, administration and government, communities and families can be more responsive to the needs of children.
Keeping Children Safe When Parents Are Arrested: Local Approaches That Work
This report presents protocols developed by four California communities that coordinated responses between child welfare services and law enforcement when parents are arrested. The report found that there were decreased trauma rates in the communities, fewer children taken into custody by child protective services, and increased positive interaction between parents, communities, and law enforcement.
Model Protocol for Advocates Working with Battered Women Involved in the Child Protection System
This protocol includes policy and practice recommendations for advocates who work with battered women involved in the child protection system.
Parental Alienation Syndrome and Parental Alienation: Research Reviews (pdf)
This VAWnet document provides a historical and research overview of Parental Alienation Syndrome and Parental Alienation, identifies strategic issues for advocates working with victims, and offers guidelines to improve courts’ treatment of these issues.
Promising Approaches: Working with Families, Child Welfare and Domestic Violence (pdf)
The purpose of this brochure is to provide a framework for mandated reporters to create family centered approaches when domestic violence is identified and to offer guidelines to assist mandated reporters to assess accurately and sympathetically, the impact of domestic violence on children and their families.
Realizing the Promise of Home Visitation: Addressing Domestic Violence and Child Maltreatment (pdf)
"This guide is intended to help policy makers and advocates build a strong national policy framework to maximize the effectiveness and reach of early childhood home visiting programs. It is intended to ensure that federal home visiting policies directly address: the needs of mothers and children who are experiencing or at risk of experiencing domestic violence, the link between domestic violence and child abuse and neglect, and the impact of domestic violence on the health and well-being of children and families."
Reasonable Efforts Checklist for Dependency Cases Involving Domestic Violence (pdf)
"This checklist includes easy reference bench cards for judges to consult during removal, adjudication, disposition, review, permanency, and termination hearings involving domestic violence. It is designed to aid judges in making reasonable efforts findings that are required by federal law in dependency cases involving domestic violence."
Reasonable Efforts or Unrealistic Expectations: A Look at Hennepin County Child Protection Cases (pdf)
"The purpose of this report is to identify ways in which Hennepin County could provide greater support for families throughout the Children in Need of Protection or Services (CHIPS) process and improve the systems in which judges, social workers, and guardians ad litem (GAL) are operating."
This document, comprised of research from many leading experts in the field of domestic violence, lays out the case that the majority of high conflict child custody disputes have a history of domestic violence.
Second Comprehensive Study of Missing Children (pdf)
A 6-page Bulletin posted by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP). The design of the National Incidence Studies of Missing, Abducted, Runaway, and Thrownaway Children (NISMART 2) study is described in this Bulletin, which outlines how it will provide vital data on the incidence of missing children in seven categories: runaway/thrownaway, nonfamily abduction, family abduction, custodial interference, lost and involuntarily missing, missing due to injury, missing due to false alarm situations, as well as children who have been sexually assaulted.
Supervised Visitation Programs: Information for Mothers Who Have Experienced Abuse (pdf)
"This guide was created for mothers who have experienced abuse and whose children are involved in supervised visitation programs. The guide provides information about how the programs work and how mothers can prepare themselves and their children for the experience."
The Future of the Grave Risk Of Harm Defense in Hague Cases
This article discusses the future of the grave risk of harm defense in Hague Convention international child abduction cases. It provides an interpretation of the Hague Convention in the traditional view as well as in the context of domestic violence. Examples of court rulings are provided which evaluated the nature of abuse and the likelihood of legal protection in the country to which the children are being returned.
The Troubling Admission of Supervised Visitation Records in Custody Proceedings
This document, originally published in Vol. 75, No.2 of the Temple Law Review, explores the purpose of supervised visitation programs and the legal community's call for their development. At the core of this document is an examination of the standards and guidelines of these programs, as well as the issues surrounding the use and admissibility of observation reports used by these programs.
The Use of Expert Testimony on Intimate Partner Violence (pdf)
"This Applied Research paper presents an overview of the uses of expert testimony, the qualifications and roles of experts, the literature on the use of testimony on the effects of battering, and considerations for future research."
Violence Against Women Document Library
A huge variety of information and resources are categorized by topics relating to children and domestic violence, including information about advocacy, child custody and protection, and criminal justice responses.
When Children Experience Domestic Violence: Expert Opinion
This document includes a summary of a ruling made by a New York Judge to stop removing children from battered women because children of such women are exposed to domestic violence.