Child protection and domestic violence: Training, practice, and policy issues

Abstract

This article traces the experiences of four of the five Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) recipients who received funding to provide domestic violence training to child welfare agencies in four areas of the United States.¹ The article begins with the developing research that documents the connection between child abuse and domestic violence and explores the fertile ground for tensions between battered women and their advocates and child protective service (CPS) workers. The article also presents findings from the experiences of the DHHS funded programs, their accomplishments, and the obstacles they faced in integrating domestic violence into child welfare practice with the ultimate goal of protecting the mother-child unit. Finally, it concludes with practice and policy recommendations for researchers and practitioners who are working at the intersection of these abuses.