Children Living in Homes With Domestic Violence

Estimates are that between 3.1 and 10 million children witness acts of domestic violence each year.[71,71] Currently, about 43,000 children in Massachusetts are exposed to domestic violence annually, and an even greater number of cases are unreported. [73] In a 1994 report, the Department of Social Services reported that an average of 32 percent of its cases involved domestic violence. Five years later it revised its figures upward to 40 to 60 percent, or 22,000 of its open protective cases.

Research indicates that 30 to 60 percent of children from homes where domestic violence is present are also victims of abuse themselves.[74] In a 1995 national survey of over 6,000 American families, Strauss and Gelles[75] found that 50 percent of the men who assaulted their wives also frequently physically abused their children. In Massachusetts, a 1991 Boston City Hospital study found 59% of mothers of abused and neglected children had medical records suggesting they were victims of domestic violence.[76]

Co-occurrence of Child Abuse and Domestic Violence

Independent of one another, child abuse and domestic violence can endanger children, impair development and lead to long-term negative outcomes.[77] The co-occurrence of domestic violence and child abuse, however, can compound even further the negative effects children are likely to experience over their lifetime.[78]

The health risks for children of parents engaged in domestic violence can begin even before birth. Estimates are that as many as 20 percent of pregnant women experience personal violence.[79] The direct trauma or stress of abuse during pregnancy can lead to low birth weight, premature birth, fetal distress, fetal injury, and death.[80]

Children’s physical, emotional, behavioral and psychological development can be impacted on both a short and long-term basis. Mothers who are stressed and burdened by being victimized are also at an increased risk of neglectful parenting.[81] Mothers experiencing abuse may also be less available to provide care and emotional support to their children.[82]

Long-term consequences to children can include higher rates of mental illness, drug abuse, and criminal justice involvement as an adult. Children exposed to domestic violence are at greater risk for sexual abuse outside the home, as well. In fact, their risk of sexual abuse is seven times greater than for children not exposed to domestic violence.[83] Most distressing is that domestic violence constitutes the “single, major precursor” for child maltreatment fatalities.[84]

Children growing up in abusive homes are also at risk of developing violent behaviors, and repeating the cycle to become abusers themselves. Of children that witness domestic violence, it is estimated that 30 percent later become perpetrators of violence, as compared to a rate of 2 to 4 percent in the general population.[85]

Children suffer through both the trauma of experiencing violence, as well as the horrors of witnessing violence against a loved one. Researchers now know that children who see or hear a parent being battered can experience the same level of trauma as children who themselves are beaten. In one study, 93 percent of children witnessing domestic violence were diagnosed with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).[86]

Despite the growing research pointing to the devastating emotional effects on children of witnessing violence, the controversy over whether to screen these cases in for protective custody on the grounds of emotional abuse is still not resolved. In an attempt to address this issue in Massachusetts, the current Governor’s Commission on Domestic Violence is reviewing DSS protective intake policy. Although universal screening for domestic violence is warranted, it is extremely difficult to ascertain which cases require child protection intervention that might lead to emergency shelter care and court involvement, and which cases would be better served through a referral to community supports and treatment.

Mothers often fail to seek help because they fear a referral to DSS will be made and that their children will be removed if they choose not to leave their abusive spouse or partner. Further compounding their dilemma is the fact that the “clinical and legal mind-set” in Massachusetts has not shifted sufficiently towards holding batterers accountable.[87] Many battered women report that batterers repeatedly violate orders of protection, or gain access to severely traumatized children through court-ordered evaluations that reflect bias against the protective parent or ignore the clinical needs of the child.

 

Integrating Child Welfare and Domestic Violence in Massachusetts

Few public policies nationwide have provided guidance on how child welfare and domestic violence organizations can best address these issues when they co-occur in families. Yet collaborative responses between these fields appear to be the best way to keep mothers with their children while keeping children safe.

The Massachusetts Department of Social Services was the first public child welfare agency in the country to initiate programs to address both child abuse and domestic violence. It began in the late 1980s, initiating programs to assist DSS in helping mothers to seek safety and support for themselves and their children.[88]

Battered women’s shelters that received a majority of their funding from DSS began to complain that DSS was victimizing children by removing children from mothers and forcing them to seek restraining orders. DSS workers argued that programs for battered women were overlooking the needs of children witnessing or experiencing violence at the hands of an abuser.

In 1990, as a first step toward addressing some of these concerns, DSS moved to integrate battered women’s advocates into the child welfare setting. A pilot program with two sites (one urban and one rural) was developed. Utilizing a multidisciplinary approach, the pilots sought to coordinate child welfare and domestic violence practice by examining the impact of domestic violence throughout the life of the DSS case. The pilot sites received specialized trainings in safety planning, risk assessment, intervention and treatment. Funds were also awarded to these sites to provide intervention programs for batterers.

Two years after this successful pilot was launched, it became evident to women’s advocates that the philosophy underlying their work could become an integral part of child welfare practice if enough time, training, staff support, and resources were provided to DSS staff and their clients.

In 1994, DSS harnessed the support of the Massachusetts Coalition for Battered Women’s Service Groups and secured legislative funding to expand their domestic violence program. The current Domestic Violence Program at DSS includes a continuum of care including: services for battered women and their children, coordination, batterer intervention, emergency response, and prevention. In addition, training in domestic violence is now agency-wide.

One of the most effective components of the DSS Domestic Violence Program is the role of its 14 Domestic Violence Specialists. Each Specialist covers two to three local DSS Area Offices. Their duties include individual case consultation with direct line workers, sharing information on available services, and direct advocacy for women and children.

One of their primary goals is to educate and support DSS staff. Since the area of domestic violence is a complex and evolving one, caseworkers constrained by high caseloads and emergencies cannot be expected to keep abreast of rapidly changing developments in the field. The Specialists can provide that expertise. Also, working with domestic violence cases can pose risks for social workers. The Specialist is an important resource in assisting the social worker to develop her own safety plan and address her concerns about safety for all involved in the case. Specialists also participate in DSS multidisciplinary teams, providing insight at the assessment level, and proposing effective interventions in cases in which child abuse and domestic violence co-occur.

Other noteworthy initiatives within the Domestic Violence Program include:

Shelters for Substance Abusing Battered Women
These shelters provide comprehensive services to substance abusing battered women and their children for six months, with follow-up services for up to one year. The programs work with DSS to reunify mothers with their children when appropriate.

Visitation Centers
Currently, 16 Visitation Centers are located throughout the state to provide safe and supervised visitation services to children and families that have separated due to domestic violence. The Centers also serve as neutral pick-up and drop-off points when supervision of visits is not mandated.

Specialized Clinical Assessment
Traditional clinical assessments have not adequately addressed the presence of partner abuse in the home and the effects of witnessing violence on children. Children’s Charter, a private organization, works with DSS to provide evaluation and ongoing clinical services to families where children have witnessed violence.

DSS also funds 35 battered women’s programs across the state to provide shelter, intervention, support, advocacy and transitional living services to battered women and their children. A statewide telecommunications network links these programs so that data and immediate information on bed availability can be provided.

RECOMMENDATIONS

1. Address local DSS Area Office gaps in assessments, services and advocacy in cases where child abuse and domestic violence co-occur.
   The success of the Massachusetts domestic violence and child welfare model was the result of strong DSS Central Office leadership and the commitment and support of battered women’s programs, communities, and local DSS direct service staff who have worked effectively with Domestic Violence Specialists. Though a 1997 study showed that 62 percent of DSS Supervisors had consulted a domestic violence specialist five times or more,[89] the commitment to this casework resource today is still not uniform across the DSS system. DSS Area Office Directors and Program Managers must be further exposed to the benefits and success of this model so that children and families in every part of the state can take advantage of better assessments, services, and advocacy when abuse and domestic violence occur in their lives.
2. Increase the number of Domestic Violence Specialists.
   In the first three months of 1998, Specialists provided 1,519 consultations involving 1,210 families,[90] of which 670 were new families. These numbers demonstrate the widespread need for Domestic Violence Specialists in current DSS practice. Currently, Specialists balance their time among two or three Area Offices that are often 50 miles apart. In addition to providing individual case consultation and advocacy, Specialists network with community agencies and also provide them with critical training and technical assistance. These activities are creating a well-trained and coordinated network of community services to meet the needs of battered women and their children. They must be more widely supported.
3. Expand specialized treatment for child victims of domestic violence.
   Some child victims who witness violence require specialized treatment. The state is making some progress in developing new interventions in this area. For example, special DSS funds help support the Children’s Charter in Waltham and the Child Witness to Violence Program at Boston Medical Center where new approaches are being developed to help these vulnerable children. These efforts, however, are still in the developing stage, and providers say there is an “overwhelming” shortage of specialized care. Overall, the scarcity of qualified counselors and personnel is striking in view of the reported increases in family violence.[91]
4. Expand training about domestic violence for child welfare providers, school personnel, providers of medical care for women and children, and juvenile, family and criminal court personnel.
   In order to identify mothers and children being victimized by domestic abuse, providers of care to children and families need to be trained to identify signs of this problem. Training must include the dynamics of family violence and the significant impact witnessing violence has on the child. Knowledge of effective and culturally responsive interventions, including safety planning, is crucial. Training should be provided within state, as well as private, non-profit agencies that work with women and children so that the response to children living with domestic violence is consistent and universal.
5. Address gaps in services for victims of domestic violence at the community level.
   The child protection system sees the most serious cases of domestic violence. However, many other women and children who require assistance have not been referred to the child protection agency. As a result, community-based responses are necessary to address the needs of battered women and their children regardless of the point of referral. Family support programs can assist victims and their children by providing transportation, respite, childcare, and other services. These programs can also focus on family violence prevention. Community-based justice programs can offer neighborhood crime watches, ensuring that restraining orders against batterers are enforced and that batterer accountability remains a priority. These programs can provide a continuum of services and prevention responses for the population of domestic violence victims and their children who are not served by the child protection agency.

 
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