CHILD PROTECTIVE AGENCIES

Child Protective Agencies

Child Protective Agencies

Introduction

The issues of child maltreatment and adult domestic violence have separately received extensive public attention in recent years. It is only in the past five years, however, that the relationship between child maltreatment and adult domestic violence has been discussed and studied nationally. Over 30 studies of the link between these two forms of violence show a median co-occurrence of both forms of violence in 40% of families studied with the range in the majority of studies varying from 30% to 60% of families (Appel & Holden, 2008, Edleson, 2007a).

Concern exists not just for the women and children who are maltreated in these families but also for the children who witness adult violence but are not themselves the victims of physical abuse. Several recent reviews of the research show that children exposed to adult domestic violence may experience a variety of negative developmental outcomes, the severity of which depends on the existence of various risk and protective factors in their environment (Edleson,2007b; Holtzworth-Munroe, Smutzler & Sandin, 2007; Margolin, 2008; Peled & Davis, 2008).

Available Alternatives

National Models on Domestic Violence and Child Maltreatment: Increasingly, states are defining children's exposure to domestic violence as a problem. Some states, such as Utah, have new laws that make the commission of adult domestic violence in the presence of a child a separate criminal offense from the assault itself. In California, the presence of children brings enhanced criminal penalties in adult assault cases. The Minnesota Legislature recently expanded the definition of child neglect in the Reporting Law to specifically include exposure to adult domestic violence. This change acknowledges what has long been the practice in many county child protection agencies of accepting certain reports of children's exposure to adult domestic violence as child neglect.

These new laws are part of a larger movement that, over the past 10 years, has resulted in a number of small, dispersed new efforts to intervene with battered women and abused children. Adding new criminal penalties or screening in more cases is problematic given the data on children's exposure to domestic violence (see Edleson, 2007b). The literature reveals a broad continuum of child exposure and shows that many children exposed to domestic violence do not show negative developmental outcomes. It is likely that expanded community services and support are what is needed, not enhanced laws or involvement of the child protection system.

The National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (NCJFCJ) Resource Center on Domestic Violence, Child Protection, and Custody has recently published two lengthy documents reviewing the best of these efforts and suggesting policy and practice guidelines for child welfare agencies, domestic violence programs, and the courts. The first is Emerging Programs for Battered Mothers and Their Children (NCJFCJ, 2008), which showcases 36 programs selected from over 200 that were identified in the United States. A brief summary of some of these programs appears in Appendix B. The second is Effective Intervention in Domestic Violence and Child Maltreatment Cases: Guidelines for ...