Strategies & Skills to Address Domestic Violence in Child Welfare

Wednesday, October 15, 2014 9:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.

38th Annual Governor’s Conference for the Prevention of Child Abuse & Neglect

Wichita, KS

Conference Institute

This grant project is funded or partially funded by the State General Fund as administered by the Kansas Governor’s Grants Program. The opinions, findings and conclusions, or

recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Office of the Kansas Governor.

Documentation Activity

3

About KCSDV

• Statewide network working to prevent and eliminate sexual assault (SA), domestic violence (DV), dating violence and stalking in Kansas.

• 29 member agencies that provide direct services to survivors (victims) of DV, SA, and stalking in all 105 Kansas counties.

Kansas DV/SA Programs

Project Timeline

• 1999 – Family Violence Option • 2002 – Policy Analyst to look at intersection of OARS,

EES and CFS • 2002 – Safe at Home Committee (SAH) formed • 2003 – Safety & Accountability Assessment

conducted of state child welfare

Project Timeline, 2005 - 2012 • Federal grant

– Positions at KCSDV and SRS CFS – Expert Involvement – SRS CFS Contract (2007 - 2011) – Committee work

– Safe at Home Committee – Safe Families Advisory Group – Parent-Child Advocacy Advisory Group

Learning Objectives • Identify the dynamics of domestic violence. • Describe the impact of battering behavior on the relationship

between protective parents and their children. • Identify risk and dangerousness factors of batterers. • Identify safety and protective actions that adult victims use to keep

their children safe. • Hold batterers accountable through interviewing, assessment, and

documentation. • Apply appropriate interventions for families experiencing domestic

violence. • Craft appropriate case plans that hold batterers accountable and

enhance child and victim safety. • Utilize the Domestic Violence Manual for Child Welfare

Professionals to apply best practices when working with families experiencing domestic violence.

Domestic Violence

Domestic Violence (DV)

• DEFINITION: Domestic violence (battering) is a pattern of abusive and coercive behavior used to gain dominance, power, and control over an intimate partner. – It includes the use of illegal and legal behaviors

and tactics that undermine the victim’s sense of self, free will, and safety.

– Battering behavior can impact other family members and can be used in other family relationships.

Video & Discussion http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9dZOgr78eE

Ellen Pence, Co-creator of the Power & Control Wheel

When is Violence Abuse?

• Must distinguish between different uses and contexts of violence, by considering:

– The perpetrator’s INTENT.

– The MEANING of the violence to the victim(s).

– The EFFECT of the act on the victim(s).

National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (NCJFCJ)

What do we know?

• DV crosses all class, race, lifestyle, and religious lines. The only clear distinction is gender.

– Women are at significantly greater risk of

domestic violence than men. (According to the National Institute

of Justice, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Bureau of Justice Statistics)

– 1 in 4 women have been the victim of severe physical violence by an intimate partner. (CDC,

National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (NISVIS), 2011)

Prevalence

• At least 60% of victims of DV are also victims of sexual violence.

• Nearly 1 in 5 women have been raped in their lifetime (CDC, 2011)

• Approximately 1 in 5 female high school students reports being abused by a boyfriend. (Silverman, 2001)

Kansas • About 1 in 4 murders are DV-related

– 16% occurred in rural communities

• In 2012, DV incidents reported to law enforcement were the highest Kansas has seen in 20 years (24,373)

• In about 54% of reported incidents is the offender arrested

Kansas • Nearly 1 in 10 adult Kansas women have

experienced rape (2011, Kansas Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System)

• Majority of perpetrators are intimate partners

• In about 20% of reported incidents of rape is the offender arrested (2012, KBI Report)

Rape & Kansas Teens

• About 1 in 13 Kansas high school students reported being physically forced to have sexual intercourse when they did not want to (2009 & 2011, Kansas Youth Risk Behavior Survey)

• More than 10,450 Kansas youth (enough youth to fill more than 186 school buses)

Role Play

Group Activity

• Initial thoughts about this family?

• What could be going on?

• What do we want to know?

• Is there any indication of domestic violence?

• What are the next steps in investigating this case?

• Who do we want to talk with?

Interviewing 13 year old

• What are some questions you might ask?

• What do you need to know from the boy?

• How can your DV manual help you here?

Interviewing 13 year old

• What are our current safety concerns?

• What is your next step in this investigation?

Interviewing 8 year old

• What additional information did we get?

• What is your next step in this investigation?

Safety Considerations for Working with the Survivor

Identifying Domestic Violence

Questions to Ask

What Really Happened at Dinner

Discussion Questions

• What did you see happening in the this scene?

• What is your next step in the investigation?

Preparing for the Interview with the Batterer

The Interview

Batterer Interview

• What happened?

• What did you notice?

• What tactics were used?

What do you think Sarah should do?

“I can be empathetic to a victim to a point, and I don’t want to re-victimize her BUT my

bottom line is the safety of the child.”

“Why don’t you tell the judge about your shrink?”

Video & Discussion

Video: “Why don’t you tell the judge about your shrink?” Domestic Abuse Intervention Project (DAIP)

Impacts of Stalking Behavior

• Increased safety risk/ escalation in tactics;

• More safety strategies in place for being in public;

• Never knowing when batterer might be watching;

• Batterer may be aware of survivor’s access to services and resources;

• Batterer may use this information in ‘subtle’ ways to send messages of threats to survivor.

Document Batterer Responsibility

Survivors as Parents

• Research suggests that despite the tremendous barriers and obstacles women who are battered face, they continue to nurture their children and build better lives for themselves and their families. (Sullivan, et. al., 2000)

• Being a victim of domestic violence does not equate to being a neglectful parent. (Goodmark &

Rosewater, 2008)

In what ways has the survivor provided for her safety or the safety

of her children?

Protective Strategies

Group Discussion

In what ways have you seen

survivors protect their children?

Protective Strategies Note: This is not an exhaustive list or a “checklist” of things the survivor

needs to do

• Reaching out for help

• Staying active in children’s lives

• Leaving the relationship

• Staying in the relationship

• Seeking legal assistance

• Maintaining family traditions

• Maintaining children’s routines

• Trying to find help for the batterer

Understanding Protective Strategies

• Reasoning

• Working Around

• Attempting to Leave

• Challenging

• Inviting Intervention

Adapted from Praxis International

DV

Probe

for info

Child abuse

Exposure

Abuse

pets Undermine

parenting

efforts

Threaten to

take children

away

Target child

Telling about

abuse

Send outside/to

room to play

Deflect

attention

from kids

Discipline

by Mom

Age-

appropriate

play Seeks

Intervention

Leaves

Rel’t

Stays in Rel’t

Safety plan

with kids

Complies

Parental

alienation

Parentified

Non-

compliance

Uncooperative

Sides with

batterer

Lack of

Supervision

Angry

Refusing

Services

Needy

Nothing

Upper

hand in

custody

No financial

support

Maintain

routine

Challenges

batterer

Co-

dependent

Aggressor

Putting kids at

risk

Crazy

Lacks self

esteem

Isolate

“The emotional recovery of children

who have been exposed to domestic violence appears to depend on the

quality of their relationship with the non-battering parent more than on any

other single factor.” -Bancroft and Silverman

Developed by Praxis International

Case Planning

Case Plans

• Research indicates that the most effective way to protect children is to keep their mothers safe.

• Ensuring the safety of the survivor requires promoting change in and holding the batterer accountable.

National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, 2011

Case Plans, cont’d

• The key to change is stopping old behaviors and replacing them with respectful new ways of interacting with survivors and children.

• Document and report the batterer’s controlling and abusive behaviors toward the survivor and children as these behaviors are important indicators of whether change is occurring in the batterer.

National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, 2011

Do the batterer and survivor have separate and individualized case plans and service requirements?

Are the plans generally appropriate for families experiencing domestic violence?

Safety and Service Needs

• Prioritize removing the batterer before removing the child.

• Permanent separation of the survivor and the batterer is often unrealistic and should not be viewed as the only acceptable case plan and outcome.

“Why doesn’t she just leave?” vs.

“Why does he batter?”

Group Discussion

Changing Beliefs

Separation Risks and Realities

• Intended and unintended consequences

• Life-generated risks

• Batterer-generated risks

What are the risks?

Risks in Leaving

• Physical violence

• Risks to children

• Financial losses

• Risks to family/friends

• Legal risks

• Life-generated risks

Risks in Staying

• Physical violence

• Risks to children

• Financial losses

• Risks to family/friends

• Legal risks

• Life-generated risks

Adapted from: Jill Davies, Building Comprehensive Solutions to Domestic Violence: A

project of NRCDV in collaboration with Greater Hartford Legal Aid (2009)

Separation Violence • Many batterers’ motivation to intimidate and control

the mother through the children increases after separation, due to loss of other control tactics.

• Leaving is dangerous: – Victims are most likely to be killed when attempting to

report or leave.

– 65% of DV homicide victims had separated from their abusers prior to their deaths. (NCJFJC, 2005)

– Separation violence may happen when the survivor is preparing to leave, when she is leaving, or for many months or years after leaving.

Case Plan Considerations • Avoid provisions or directives for the survivor

that only the batterer can be responsible for or held accountable for ensuring.

• Focus on the batterer for the abusive and violent behaviors and appropriate interventions.

• Ensure each item in the plans have a positive effect on the safety of the survivor and the child.

• Protect confidential safety strategies employed by the survivor.

Case Plan Considerations, cont’d

• Ensure the case plans directly address the issues that brought the family to the agency’s attention.

• Make sure services are: – Available and accessible – Provided by those with knowledge on domestic

violence – Tied to an identified need – Safe – Useful to the family – Culturally and linguistically appropriate

Batterer Case Planning Does the case plan:

• Address the safety concerns of the survivor and children?

• Hold the batterer accountable for his actions and not hold the survivor responsible for his actions?

• Include a method for maintaining close communication with other service providers?

• Allow for assessment of behavioral changes?

• Require participation in BIP?

See DV Manual pgs. 38-41

Survivor Case Planning Does the case plan:

• Not hold the survivor accountable for the batterer’s behaviors and actions?

• Increase the children’s safety by increasing the survivor’s safety?

• Build on protective factors and strategies?

• Allow for voluntary participation in domestic violence advocacy services?

See DV Manual pgs. 42-43

Compliance?

• Consider safety first.

• Don’t assume that this means the survivor’s parenting is not protective or appropriate.

• Talk with the survivor about her compliance and progress away from the batterer.

• Find out if and how the batterer interfered with the survivor’s compliance with the requirements.

Documentation Activity

Revisited

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Resources • Local domestic violence & sexual assault

programs – http://www.kcsdv.org/find-help/in-kansas/dv-sa-

services.html

• KCSDV – www.kcsdv.org

• Kansas Crisis Hotline – 1-888-END ABUSE (1-888-363-2287)

• National Domestic Violence Hotline – 1-800-799-SAFE (7233)

KCSDV 634 SW Harrison Topeka, KS 66603

www.kcsdv.org 785-232-9784

coalition@kcsdv.org

Kathy Ray, MSW kray@kcsdv.org

Kristina Scott, LMSW

kscott@kcsdv.org

Contact Information