Effective Intervention in Domestic Violence & Child Maltreatment Cases: Guidelines for Policy and Practice

• NCJ Number: 221761
• Author(s): Susan Schechter; Jeffrey L. Edleson
• Date Published: June 1999
• Length: 6 pages
• Grant Number(s): 98-VF-GX-K002; 90-XA-00031-01; 90-CA-1627
• Sponsoring Agency: Johnson Foundation; US Dept of Health and Human Services; David and Lucile Packard Foundation; Office for Victims of Crime (OVC)
• Sale Source: NCJRS Photocopy Services; Minnesota Ctr Against Violence & Abuse (MINCAVA)
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Downloaded on February 27, 2008.

Annotation

This paper presents a summary of the principles and recommendations developed by the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, Advisory Committee for the Effective Intervention in Domestic Violence & Child Maltreatment Cases: Guidelines for Policy and Practice.

Abstract

The Advisory Committee was tasked, with support from the U.S. Department of Justice, Office for Victims of Crimes and U.A. Department of Health and Human Services, with offering a more comprehensive set of responses to eliminate or decrease the enormous risks that individual battered mothers, caseworkers, and judges must take on behalf of children. Effective Intervention focuses on three primary systems: the child protection system, the network of community-based domestic violence programs, and the juvenile or other trial courts having jurisdiction over child maltreatment cases. Principles and recommendations were developed by an Advisory Committee, under the direction of the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges for Effective Intervention and should be used by leaders of communities and institutions as a context-setting tool to develop public policy aimed at keeping families safe and stable. The foundation principles and recommendations summarized in this paper include: (1) collaboration for the safety, well-being, and stability of children and families; (2) expansion and reallocation of resources to create safety, well-being, and stability; (3) respect and dignity for all people coming before agencies and courts; (4) commitment to building internal capacity to respond effectively to families experiencing domestic violence and child maltreatment; (5) fact-finding and confidentiality; and (6) development of information gathering and evaluation systems to determine the intended and unintended outcomes of collaborative efforts. Additional principles and recommendations are presented in the areas of a guiding framework, child protection system, domestic violence services for families, and courts.