Helping Children Exposed to Domestic Violence: Law Enforcement and Community Partnerships, Final Report

• NCJ Number: 193416
• Author(s): Barbara E. Smith; Laura B. Nickles; Darlanne H. Mulmat; Heather J. Davies
• Date Published: March 2001
• Length: 148 pages
• Grant Number(s): 98-IJ-CX-0069
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored
• Publication Type: Survey

Annotation

This study was designed to identify promising strategies for helping children exposed to domestic violence by community-oriented police departments that were working with community partners.

Abstract

A mail survey provided a national perspective on how law enforcement departments were responding to children who were exposed to domestic violence. Telephone surveys with police departments and service providers in select communities provided greater details about their approaches to such children. Site visits to five communities provided insight into the coordinated response between police and service providers to help children exposed to domestic violence. The mail survey found that nearly 75 percent of the departments surveyed had a policy, protocol, and/or law that required officers to investigate whether any children had been exposed to domestic violence being investigated by the police. The most common type of outreach by officers to such children was to make a referral to child protective services or another service agency. It was less common for the service providers to accompany an officer to the scene of the domestic violence in order to begin intervention immediately for any children. Recommendations were derived from the telephone surveys and the site visits. First, communities should recognize that children exposed to domestic violence often suffer short-term and long-term effects that require special services. Second, police should play a pivotal "gatekeeping" function in referring children exposed to domestic violence to services. Third, proactive responses to children exposed to domestic violence require substantial commitment from the community and service providers. Fourth, coordination of efforts and rapport-building between police and service providers should be implemented to serve children exposed to domestic violence. Fifth, resources should be dedicated to effectively serve children exposed to domestic violence. Sixth, evaluation is required to determine "best practices" for serving children exposed to domestic violence. 3 tables and 37 references