The Greenbook Initiative Final Evaluation Report (pdf)
"The Greenbook national evaluation results are presented in three reports. The Greenbook Demonstration Initiative: Process Evaluation Report: Phase 1 focused on the planning and goal setting phase of the Greenbook initiative in the sites. This final evaluation report assesses the extent to which the Greenbook implementation activities facilitated cross-system and within system change and practice in the child welfare agencies, dependency courts, and domestic violence service providers."
A Coordinated Response to Child Abuse and Neglect: The Foundation for Practice
Written for new child protective services (CPS) caseworkers, professionals working with children and families, other professionals and concerned community members, this manual addresses the definition, scope, causes, and consequences of child abuse and neglect. It presents an overview of prevention efforts and the child protection process from identification and reporting through investigation and assessment to service provision and case closure.
This report offers an analysis and recommendations to address the impact of domestic violence and child welfare systems in communities of color. Six culture-specific organizations were partnered with to create a multi-dimensional analysis for this report. The Dialogues section offers analysis and describes some of the common findings and issues, while the Recommendations section addresses these issues. Thus, critiques and system changes go hand in hand, and are offered in the spirit of constructive engagement and strengthening communities
Advocacy Matters: Helping Mothers and Their Children Involved with the Child Protection System (pdf)
This publication gives domestic violence experts the information they need to deal successfully with child protection systems and to help battered mothers whose children have been removed from their care. Advocacy Matters includes general information and tips that help advocates better address the needs of battered mothers and their children.
ADVOCATING FOR COMPREHENSIVE ASSESSMENTS IN DOMESTIC VIOLENCE CASES
"Many jurisdictions handle domestic violence cases on a one-size-fits-all basis, with a presumption in favor of a finding of child neglect and removal when children are exposed to domestic violence. This author proposes that states develop a standard for both courts and child protective agencies that carefully examines each domestic violence case using an individualized factual analysis and attempt to mitigate the effects of a child’s exposure to domestic violence by means other than a presumption for or against removal (temporary or permanent) in every case."
This is a draft of these standards, which are presented for review by the ABA Center of Children and the Law.
American Indians and Crime (pdf)
"Reports rates and characteristics of violent crimes experienced by Native Americans and summarizes data on Native Americans in the criminal justice system."
Balancing the Harms - Protecting Children
The author addresses the need for change in the child protection system and the current means through which children are removed from the home in domestic violence situations. The page provides a short video clip from the author's work-in-progress which addresses actual cases.
Battered Women and Their Children
Battered Women and Their Children is a website devoted to a professional and scholarly examination of the connections between domestic violence (woman abuse) and child maltreatment (child abuse and neglect).
Battered Women's Reports of Their Partner's and Children's Cruelty to Animals (pdf)
"This research study describes how abuse of pets is a method employed by batterers to control their partners, contributes to the impact on children exposed to violence, and may also be related to batterers' lethality."
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."
"The domestic violence advocacy and family court communities have each grown dramatically over the last three decades. Although these professional communities share many values in common, they often find themselves at odds with one another on a host of issues. This article examines the practical, political, definitional, and ideological differences between the two communities and calls for them to join forces and collaborate on behalf of children and families."
Bringing the Greenbook to Life: a Resource Guide for Communities (pdf)
"This guide is designed for communities seeking to develop interventions that will improve their responses to families suffering both domestic violence and child maltreatment."
Building Bridges Between Domestic Violence Organizations and Child Protective Services
This paper provides both background information and a framework for collaboration with child protection agencies that will support the work of domestic violence advocates as they try to improve safety for women and their children.
Building Capacity in Child Welfare Systems: Domestic Violence Specialized Positions (pdf)
"The report seeks to assist policymakers and practitioners in developing specialist positions that are tailored to the circumstances of their communities and states. We offer observations about initial expectations for these positions and the evolution of the positions over time. We also set forth composite examples of each of the major types of specialized positions and lay out the components of each, including responsibilities, auspices and settings, competencies, and funding sources. By doing so, we highlight different approaches to improving understanding 2 of domestic violence and strengthening the likelihood of achieving safety for non-offending parents and their children."
Building Safety for Battered Women and Their Children into the Child Protection System (pdf)
This is a report based on three separate consultations by Praxis with communities wanting to explore the use of the Safety and Accountability Audit in child protection cases where there has been a history of domestic violence. This report shows how to use case files and focus groups to locate systemic problems in the handling of these cases. It is a preliminary examination of the problematic practices in working with battered women within a child protection case.
Canadian Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect: 2003 (pdf)
This report presents the major findings of the second cycle of the Canadian Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect (CIS-2003). In this initiative, data are collected every five years on child maltreatment reported to, and investigated by, child welfare agencies in Canada.
This article explains the importance of coordingating system change activities in child welfare agencies with many collaborative activities."
November 1997. This paper is meant to serve as a working document rather than the "last word," and it will be subject to revision as child welfare and domestic violence agencies on the vanguard of creating partnerships learn more about the link between child abuse and domestic violence, and how to best protect both children and their abused mothers. While the suggested practices and policies are by no means exhaustive, it is hoped that setting them out will save agencies from having to "reinvent the wheel," and will, at the same time, motivate them to add additional "spokes."
November 1997. This paper is meant to serve as a working document rather than the "last word," and it will be subject to revision as child welfare and domestic violence agencies on the vanguard of creating partnerships learn more about the link between child abuse and domestic violence, and how to best protect both children and their abused mothers. While the suggested practices and policies are by no means exhaustive, it is hoped that setting them out will save agencies from having to "reinvent the wheel," and will, at the same time, motivate them to add additional "spokes."
"This article examines common areas of misunderstanding between professionals and low-income Latino families concerning issues of physical abuse. It argues that low-income immigrant children deserve the same protection from harsh physical punishment as all other children. This article suggests culturally competent ways for counselors to work with Latino families to eliminate all forms of violence toward children including corporal punishment. Finally, this article argues that the systemic stresses on low-income Latino immigrant families must be acknowledged and reduced when addressing child discipline and abuse."
Child Protective Services for Children of Battered Women: Practice and Controversy
1995. A look at the difficulties that child protection workers face when trying to make a situation safe for children who witness woman abuse.
Child Welfare Outcomes 2003: Annual Report
Improved efforts are needed to ensure that child victims do not experience recurrence of abuse or neglect, according to this year´s annual report to Congress from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Children´s Bureau. While the overall performance of state child welfare services generally improved from 2000 to 2003, the 2006 report, Child Welfare Outcomes 2003: Annual Report to Congress, recognizes that particularly with regard to maltreatment of children, the reported data do not always include all instances of abuse or neglect. In measuring the recurrence of child abuse and neglect, the report notes that child victim rates varied considerably across states, ranging from 1.6 per 1,000 children in the state's population in Pennsylvania to 42.2 in Alaska, with a median of 10.6. In seven states, there were fewer than five child victims per 1,000 children (Arizona, Idaho, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Washington). In contrast, in six states, there were more than 20 child victims per 1,000 (Alaska, District of Columbia, Florida, Massachusetts, South Dakota, and West Virginia); in two of these six states (Alaska and Florida) there were more than 35 child victims per 1,000. The full report with state-by-state results plus nation-wide data can be downloaded from the Children's Bureau Web site above.
Child Welfare Practices for Cases with Domestic Violence (pdf)
This is the third edition of Child Welfare Practice for Cases with Domestic Violence, developed as part of an overall effort to increase the safety of adults and children through collaboration of domestic violence services and child protective services.
Child Welfare: Health & Human Services
This website provides a number of documents and related resources, particlarly for child welfare workers. Training resources and interventions are provided as well.
Children's Domestic Violence Assessment Tool (pdf)
"The purpose of this tool is to help assess safety, risk, strengths and needs. It may be used to assist in decision making and service planning during any stage of the CPS case (assessment through case planning and case management) in conjunction with required Structured Decision Making Tools. The tool is designed for use with the child(ren) in CPS cases involving domestic violence."
This ToolKit includes information and materials to assist in a creating a program for children who have experienced trauma. Its design lends itself to using components individually or in combination. It can easily be customized to meet individual program needs.
Children, Young People and Domestic Violence (pdf)
The author explores "the ways in which children and young people experience domestic violence," as well as the impact it has on child development and the response by professionals and the child protection system is also reviewed.
Collaborating for Family Safety: Results From the Greenbook Multisite Evaluation
"This special issue of the Journal of Interpersonal Violence features results from a multisite developmental evaluation of best practices at the intersection of child maltreatment and adult domestic violence."
This article explains the importance of collaborative efforts to responding to families experiencing domestic violence and child maltreatment. The Greenbook Initiative provided a framework for developing a multisystem collaborative approach to working with families.
Consensus and Difference Among Hospital Professionals in Evaluating Child Maltreatment
This article summarizes the findings revealed through multidisciplinary consultation assessing the severity of known child abuse cases, and reported their conclusions in survey-format. An exploratory factor analysis yielded five categories of maltreatment: physical abuse, sexual abuse, general failures in care, minor neglect/discipline, and lifestyles/values.
Crafting the Greenbook: Framers Reflect on the Vision, Process, and Lessons Learned
"As part of the evaluation of the Greenbook initiative, the evaluation team asked the national experts who helped frame the Greenbook to reflect on the processes used and the decisions that shaped the document. In addition, the experts were asked to describe their expectations for the systems and communities that implemented the recommendations, including anticipated challenges."
This article addresses the likely and realistic outcome regarding custodial care decisions during divorce battles. It would seem aparent 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.
Domestic Violence Against Women and Girls
"Highlights issues of abuse; femicide; forced prostitution; sexual abuse of children; sex-selective abortion, female infanticide and differential access to food and medical care; and, traditional and cultural practices that affect women's health and lives."
Domestic Violence and Child Welfare Services
Statistics and links to helpful resources and information related to child welfare and domestic violence are provided in this document.
Domestic Violence and Dependency Courts: The Greenbook Demonstration Experience
"This article focuses on the dependency court, where child maltreatment cases are heard, specifically court participation in collaborative activities and court practice improvements."
Domestic Violence as a Form of Child Abuse: Identification and Prevention
By looking at the ways child exposure to domestic violence manifests itself during the various stages of a child's life, the author documents ways to identify problems in exposed children and discusses specific intervention strategies.
Domestic Violence, Visitations and Custody Decisions in New York Family Courts (pdf)
The study reported here was designed to examine the extent to which visitation or custody was sought and granted in cases involving domestic violence, through a review of Family Court records in New York City.
This is part of a series that was created through a collaboration of the Vermont Network Against Domestic and Sexual Violence, the Vermont Department for Children and Families and the Vermont Center for Crime Victim Services. Part VI discusses actual and perceived conflicts of interest when service providers act in more than one role or relationship, providing recommendations on how to address these dilemmas/questions.
This 133 page publication addresses a number of issues relevant to family violence within the home and the community and specifically focuses on interventions.
EVALUATING CHILDREN’S ADVOCACY CENTERS’ RESPONSE TO CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE (pdf)
"With funding from OJJDP, researchers have now completed a four-site evaluation of CACs that, for the first time, contrasts them with comparison communities that did not have a CAC. This Bulletin presents an overview of the results. It examines how CACs affect forensic interviewing, child victim disclosures about abuse, children’s receipt of medical exams and mental health services, prosecution and conviction of offenders, removal of children from their homes, and family satisfaction with child abuse investigations."
This document examines the rates of child maltreatment in the United States and whether these rates differ by race, ethnicity and income level.
Fact Sheet: The Effects of Domestic Violence on Children (pdf)
"Addresses the impact of domestic violence on children and the likelihood that men who abuse their partners will also abuse their children. Lists statistics that reflect the most recent research concerning the effects of domestic violence on children."
Facts on Trauma and Homeless Children (pdf)
"This document gives a brief overview of homelessness, the impact of trauma on homeless children, and ways homeless shelter programs can provide services to homeless families who have been exposed to trauma."
Family Violence in the Military: A Review of the Literature
"This literature review critically reviews studies that examine child maltreatment and spouse abuse among military families and compares family violence in military versus nonmilitary populations."
This report summarizes the dialogues from the Women of Color Network (WOCN) focus groups on domestic violence and child welfare. Over one hundred (100) domestic violence and sexual assault activists of color participated in these focus groups. The report includes a set of recommendations and highlights from their conversations regarding issues and barriers for battered women with children from communities of color.
The guidelines describe model policies, practices, programs, and protocols that address the multiple needs of families and children affected by domestic violence and child maltreatment. They are based on recommendations contained in the Greenbook and on the thoughtful recommendations provided by public child welfare agency directors, domestic violence advocates, child advocates, and legal representatives.
Guidelines for Responding to the Co-occurrence of Child Maltreatment and Domestic Violence (pdf)
The purpose of these Guidelines is to provide direction to child protection staff when responding to situations in which child maltreatment and domestic violence are both occurring.
Health Care Costs Associated with Violence in Pennsylvania (pdf)
"Reports the impact of violence in Pennsylvania including interpersonal violence (homicide, aggravated assault, rape) domestic violence (partner, child and elder abuse) and self-directed violence (suicide and attempted suicide)."
Helping Children Cope with Violence: A School-Based Program That Works (pdf)
Violence is one of our most significant public health issues. Children exposed to violence frequently develop post-traumatic stress symptoms. They are more likely to have behavioral problems, poorer school performance, more days of school absence, and feelings of depression and anxiety. School officials are often willing to provide help at school. But these professionals face an important question: What works? There have been no randomized controlled trials of intervention effectiveness with which to answer this question. To fill this gap, a team of clinician-researchers from several institutions collaborated to develop, implement, and evaluate an intervention designed to help children traumatized by violence. The team included professionals from the RAND Corporation, the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), and the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD).
Helping to Prevent Child Abuse and Future Criminal Consequences: Hawaii's Healthy Start (pdf)
This is an October, 1995 paper posted by the National Criminal Justice Reference Service. This article discusses ways to prevent child abuse through a novel program in Hawaii. A focus on criminal consequences should child abuse continue to be ignored is also provided.
Immigration Reporting Laws: Ethical Dilemmas in Pediatric Practice
"This study assessed the potential impact of immigration reporting requirements on pediatricians' referrals to child protective services. The study concluded that Pediatricians, as mandated reporters of child abuse, will face ethical dilemmas if laws requiring reporting of immigration status is enacted."
This is a briefing paper prepared for a Wingspread Conference of a similar title. It discusses family violence, specifically against women and children, barriers to helping the victims, and the importance of collaboration to effect change.
Information Sharing in Collaborative Relationship: Domestic Violence and Child Protection (pdf)
This series was created through a collaboration of the Vermont Network Against Domestic and Sexual Violence, the Vermont Department for Children and Families and the Vermont Center for Crime Victim Services. Part III provides general guidance and possibilities for policy development regarding information sharing between systems and presents avenues for effective inquiry where these issues intersect.
Intersection of Child Abuse and Children's Exposure to Domestic Violence
"This review addresses research on the overlap in physical child abuse and domestic violence, the prediction of child outcomes, and resilience in children exposed to family violence."
Keeping Children Safe: OJJDP's Child Protection Division
8-page Bulletin posted by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP). This Bulletin describes CPD and its efforts to safeguard children by supporting research and programs on child victimization and exposure to violence; providing information and training and technical assistance to State, local, and community-based agencies; and developing and demonstrating effective child protection initiatives. The Bulletin also discusses the rationale for OJJDP's work in the areas of missing and exploited children and child maltreatment and describes the scope of the division's activities.
This document introduces voices of battered immigrant, refugee and indegenious women who were also involved in Child Protection Services. The document explores how community approach can enhance the physical, spiritual and mental health of individuals, families and communities and how this concept can be well utilized for policy and practice for social services.
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.
This series was created through a collaboration of the Vermont Network Against Domestic and Sexual Violence, the Vermont Department for Children and Families and the Vermont Center for Crime Victim Services. Part V describes the structure and purpose of child protection teams, provides guiding questions for domestic violence advocate members of such teams and highlights recommendations.
Online Victimization of Youth: Five Years Later (pdf)
"This second groundbreaking national survey of 1,500 youth aged 10 to 17 documented their use of the Internet and experiences while online including unwanted exposure to sexual solicitation, sexual material, and harassment. It was produced in cooperation with OJJDP and the University of New Hampshire’s Crimes against Children Research Center and includes recommendations to help make the Internet safer for children."
Preventing Delinquency Through Improved Child Protection Services (pdf)
2001 Bulletin examines a potentially powerful, yet often overlooked, delinquency prevention strategy: efforts to reduce the incidence of childhood maltreatment.
Prostitution of Children and Child-Sex Tourism: An Analysis of Domestic and International Responses (pdf)
"This paper addresses both domestic and international responses to the prostitution of children within the United States and abroad. The author highlights policy and practice issues regarding the legal system and social-service responses to prostituted children."
This 145 page article is a comprehensive review and critical discussion about the laws and child protection responses that have shown to be effective.
Reflections from the Field: Considerations for Domestic Violence Specialists (pdf)
"Domestic violence and child protection professionals from multiple states came together to discuss the complexity of systems-change work and the continued need for a social justice framework to guide these efforts. This document is a compilation of their stories and insights as people who have worked as or supported domestic violence specialists dedicated to helping families experiencing the co-occurrence of domestic violence and child maltreatment."
Responding to Child Maltreatment and Domestic Violence
This article discusses the ongoing debate between child protection workers and domestic abuse advocates. It also outlines the similarities between the two groups as they work towards similar goals.
Responding to the Co-occurrence of Child Maltreatment and Adult Domestic Violence in Hennepin County
In this report, Drs. Edleson and Beeman and their research assistants detail information collected from a variety of sources during the first half of 1999. Information collection included detailed reporting by child protection screeners and investigators in the Hennepin County Department of Children and Family Services (HCDCFS), consulting with national experts in this area, reviewing published materials on prominent demonstration projects from around the United States and Canada, and holding a series of stakeholder meetings throughout Hennepin County.
Returning Children Home: Clinical Decision Making in Cases of Child Abuse and Neglect
Interesting findings from this study conclude that race, type of injury (physical or non-physical), as well as class are all significant characteristics that determined whether or not a child was removed from the home and placed with a foster family.
Review of Research On Child Maltreatment and Violence in Youth
"This review addresses research regarding associations between child maltreatment and youth violence perpetration. The authors explore current findings on the direct effects of child maltreatment on later youth violence and possible gender and ethnic differences. The study concluded that the most consistent predictor of youth violence is physical abuse."
Sharwline Nicholson v. Nicholas Scoppetta - Appeals Decision
This document outlines the Appeals decision regarding the case of Nicholson (filed as a class action in federal court in 2001). This history of this decision is based on the class action lawsuit in which battered mothers and their children in New York City successfully challenged the City child welfare agency's practice and policy of removing children from battered mothers and charging the mothers with child neglect due to domestic violence. The federal court ruled that the practice is unconstitutional under federal law. The case went up on appeal.
Should Childhood Exposure to Adult Domestic Violence Be Defined as Child Maltreatment Under the Law?
Published as a chapter in Protecting Children From Domestic Violence: Strategies for Community Intervention (2004), this article reviews the research on childhood exposure to domestic violence and emerging laws aimed at protecting these children. The author concludes with an argument against assuming that childhood exposure to violence is automatically a form of child maltreatment and suggests the need to modify child protection services and the expansion of primarily voluntary community-based responses to these children and their families.
Strategies to Improve Supervised Visitation Services in Domestic Violence Cases
This Violence Against Women Online Resources commissioned document describes the evolution of supervised visitation services for domestic violence cases, notes legal trends in these cases, describes practice concerns, and presents strategies to improve the safety of participants when supervised visitation, due to domestic violence, is court-ordered.
This document displays the results of a comparative overview of the child welfare response within Canadian boundaries to child exposure to domestic violence. Implications for policy are discussed.
The Facts on Health Care & Domestic Violence (pdf)
"Statistics on dv incidents highlighting health consequences to the victim, children's health issues, hospital and other health service costs, identification and screening practices in health care settings, and domestic violence during and after pregnancy."
The New Welfare Law: Child Support Enforcement
This paper is the last in the series and provides a brief overview of family violence issues in the context of child support enforcement and the establishment of paternity.
The Relationship Between Domestic Violence and Child Abuse (pdf)
"Cites surveys and reports published between 1987 and 1996, briefly describing: what is domestic violence; what is child abuse; how does domestic violence affect children; and similarities/correlations between domestic violence and/or child abuse."
The Role of Educators in Preventing and Responding to Child Abuse and Neglect (pdf)
This manual, designed to examine the roles that teachers, school counselors, school social workers, school nurses, special education professionals, administrators, and other school personnel have in helping maltreated children, provides the basis for the involvement of educators in combating the problem of child abuse and neglect. It also may be used by other professionals involved in child abuse and neglect interventions, such as child protective services, mental health, law enforcement, health care, and early childhood professionals, to gain a better understanding of the role of educators in child protection.
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.
Training Child Welfare Workers on Domestic Violence
Final Report, June 1998. In October of 1995, the Columbia University School of Social Work (CUSSW) was awarded funds to train public child welfare workers to understand and intervene appropriately with families where there was concurrent child abuse or neglect and woman abuse. This objective was accomplished by designing, implementing, and evaluating a competency-based training curriculum on domestic violence for direct service workers in the New York City Administrationm for Children's Services (ACS). The training curriculum was designed to impact worker's attitudes toward domestic violence, provide them with knowledge and skills for assessing domestic violence, and enhance their practice with families in which there is woman abuse. This paper is the final report CUSSW's project.
Understanding and Protecting Your Children from Child Molesters and Predators
"This packet provides information about child molesters and some of the things you, your family and community can do to help keep children safe."
United Nations Report on Violence Against Children
The report describes the scope and nature of violence against children and its impact, approaching its subject from the perspectives of human rights, child protection, and public health. The report is available in 8 languages.
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.
What About Me? Coping with the abduction of a brother or sister (pdf)
"This booklet is based largely on input from eight children who have experienced the abduction of a brother or sister by a nonfamily member. It is designed to provide help, support, and guidance to children who are going through this type of trauma. "
What Can I Do to Prevent Harm to Children? A Resource Guide for Mandated Reporters
Designed to help you better understand Minnesota's mandated reporter statute and to outline appropriate action to take if you know of or suspect abuse or neglect to a child. Includes reference material.
When Battered Women Stay... Advocacy Beyond Leaving
"This paper raises the key issues, questions, and dilemmas regarding advocacy with battered women who stay in their relationships. It discusses the limitations of safety strategies for leaving, and frames the issues central to the expansion of advocacy beyond leaving, including: 1) safety planning and advocacy with victims who stay; 2) ending violent and controlling behavior; and 3) knowing what children need to be OK."
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.
Working with Children Towards a Healthy & Non-Violent Future
"This Special Collection provides a unique perspective on working with children (younger than 13 years of age), focusing on theories and strategies for raising respectful, non-violent people. Resources included here discuss child development and how to utilize this knowledge when implementing primary prevention strategies that foster healthy attitudes and behaviors"