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Grantee Agency: Colorado Department of Human Services
Collaborating Agencies: Colorado Domestic Violence Coalition, American Humane Association
ACF/OCS Grant No(s).: 90-EV-0050
Project Period(s): September 1994 through September 1996
Address: 1575 Sherman St., 2nd floor, Denver, CO 80203
Contact(s): Mary Ann Ganey, Project Coordinator
Telephone: (303) 866-2855
Fax: (303) 866-4214
Email: ganeymaryann@state.co.us
Primary Reason(s) Applied for OCS' DV/CPS Collaboration Grant: In 1991, a 2-day conference funded with NCCAN funds addressed the relationship between domestic violence and child abuse. The conference identified the need for cross-training front-line workers in both systems. In addition, a new child abuse and neglect risk assessment tool implemented in 1993 included domestic violence as a factor and an informal evaluation identified the need for training in specific intervention skills for child protective services workers serving cases involving domestic violence. Because of the independence of Colorado's county-administered child welfare system, State administrators felt they needed to develop a "model," and, without a strong State presence, local counties would not implement the necessary changes for collaboration.
Grant Project Goals: Goals for the project included developing a cross-training curriculum manual; conducting five pilot cross-trainings across the State; involving a wide range of professionals in an advisory capacity; printing and distributing the manual statewide; and developing a plan for integrating the training materials into State training for all child protective services workers.
Implementation: The State modified the National Curriculum developed by the Family Violence Prevention Fund to reflect Colorado's needs. Implementation included five 2-day pilot trainings across the State in which a total of 65 domestic violence staff, 100 child protective services workers, 15 child protective supervisors, and 15 other professionals were trained. The 2-day cross-trainings were attended by both child protective and domestic violence staff, and administrators felt this cross-over was essential for breaking down barriers between the two groups of front-line workers. Local sites were responsible for selecting participants for training so levels of expertise and experience of workers and supervisors varied greatly at each training session. Both national and local child welfare and domestic violence experts were involved in the development of the training curriculum. However, trainings were conducted by local experts in order to discuss "real life" examples, available services, and county-specific issues. Copies of the final curriculum manual were distributed to child welfare supervisors as well as the social services department directors in each of the 63 counties in the State. During an extension period, five additional 2-day trainings were conducted. The original plan called for law enforcement to be included in the training but administrators later felt this would be too complex.
Lessons Learned and Impact on DV/CPS Relationship: Overall, administrators felt that the project increased the knowledge base and coordination between front-line child protective services workers and domestic violence workers. In hindsight, the project director felt that they could have provided a better blueprint for the future to county supervisors who may have perceived training was all that was needed for collaboration. State administrators had known that training was only the starting point and that individual counties would need to initiate additional coordinating activities between the two systems. Although some communities are continuing collaborative types of activities between domestic violence and child welfare workers, the project director felt that more staff time was needed to make these connections happen.
Ongoing Activities/Future Plans: The training developed during this grant project is being continued. A consulting firm adapted the curriculum to include three sets of trainings each year that are optional for child welfare workers. State administrators are working to ensure that the trainings become mandatory for all workers. The project director felt that supervisor training is essential as, without supervisory support, front-line workers will not be able to apply what they learned during trainings. Due in part to the different "climate" produced by this grant project, domestic violence workers have been placed in TANF offices in Denver and El Paso counties. This out-stationing of domestic violence workers could have a spill-over effect on child welfare as the TANF offices are based in the same building as the child welfare division. In each year following this grant, the project director has coordinated panels on domestic violence at the annual statewide child protection conference.
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Primary Reason(s) Applied for OCS' DV/CPS Collaboration Grant: Rhode Island applied for the collaboration grant for several reasons. First, the Domestic Violence Coalition had become increasingly aware that the clients' children's needs were not being met. In addition, a training subcommittee of the Rhode Island Supreme Court identified goals for ongoing training and communication between the domestic violence and child welfare systems.
Grant Project Goals: Project goals included developing and implementing a "Train the Trainers" program and developing a 3-day curriculum for child welfare trainers. Other project goals included developing recommendations for strengthening the State law requiring domestic violence be considered in child custody cases; recommendations for safe visitation process in cases involving partner abuse; and drafting policies and protocols for effective intervention strategies in these cases. One of the goals of the project was to establish a statewide network through development of regional coordinating committees to ensure local communication and collaboration among domestic violence and child welfare workers.
Implementation: An advisory committee was responsible for planning and implementing the project. A "Train the Trainers" program, initially developed for a 1996 law enforcement training on domestic violence, was modified for this grant. Twenty local domestic violence and child welfare experts participated in the "Train the Trainers" program. In total, 25 child protective investigators and social workers were trained at each of four regional trainings for a total of 100 child welfare workers. A manual was completed and provided to each training participant. Each full-day training session was team-taught and addressed the following topics: dynamics and myths surrounding domestic violence, control tactics used by abusers, barriers to leaving an abusive relationship, lethality assessment, trauma, warning signs, links to other forms of abuse, and options for victims of domestic violence. Though not part of original implementation, this project provided the foundation for the cross-training of domestic violence workers.
In part, as a result of advocacy work by the advisory committee, the State law was strengthened with regard to consideration of domestic abuse in child custody cases. In addition, though not a direct result of the grant, a law was passed that provides for stricter penalties for domestic violence offenders when children witness the crime. One activity not implemented was the establishment of a statewide network through developing regional coordinating committees. The advisory committee recommended not pursuing this activity primarily because most shelter staff work with one child welfare office, and having a statewide network would not facilitate collaboration. Instead, the advisory committee suggested informal meetings between child welfare staff and domestic violence staff.
Lessons Learned and Impact on DV/CPS Relationship: Overall, this project had a positive impact on the relationship between child welfare workers and domestic violence specialists in the State. The project advisory committee consisted of professionals from both systems, and, through the development of the training curriculum, relationships were formed. Prior to the project, there was no formalized mechanism of communication and coordination. As noted above, the project established the foundation for training for domestic violence workers also. It was through the development and implementation of the training of child welfare workers that domestic violence professionals realized their own need for training on child abuse issues.
Ongoing Activities/Future Plans: Starting in January 1999, staff from all six member agencies of the Rhode Island Coalition Against Domestic Violence are to be trained on child welfare issues. These cross-training activities are expected to become part of the annual in-service training sessions coordinated by domestic violence agencies for their staff and volunteers. The State also plans to initiate training for judges on domestic violence issues. The advisory committee also was a strong advocate for the need for a supervised child visitation center in the State. An additional accomplishment was the establishment of a statewide commission on Child Abuse, Domestic Abuse, and Animal Abuse. The Coalition Executive Director serves on this commission and views it as a means of continuing efforts to collaborate and to cross-train professionals on these issues.
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Grantee Agency: Center for Child Protection and Family Support, Inc.
Collaborating Agencies: DC Children and Family Services, DC Coalition Against Domestic Violence
ACF/OCS Grant No.: 90-EV-0119
Project Period: February 1997 through June 1998
Address: 714 G Street, SE, Washington, DC 20003
Contact(s): Joyce Thomas, Project Director
Telephone: (202) 544-3144
Fax: (202) 547-3601
Primary Reason(s) Applied for OCS' DV/CPS Collaboration Grant: The grant project was a direct outgrowth of a roundtable forum convened several years prior to the start of this grant period. The roundtable discussion focused on collaboration between the child welfare and domestic violence service systems and highlighted training needs of both front-line workers and supervisors in both types of organizations.
Grant Project Goals: The goals of the grant project were to: establish a cross-discipline steering committee consisting of human service representatives, U.S. attorney's office staff, and staff from the D.C. Coalition on Domestic Violence; revise and adapt an existing curriculum on dual abuse (child abuse and substance abuse) training; reflect domestic violence and child abuse knowledge and strategies; conduct culturally competent training sessions on domestic violence and child abuse knowledge and strategies; and reconvene a roundtable for cross-discipline domestic violence and child welfare managers and administrators to plan for systemic incorporation of the concepts and strategies of collaboration.
Implementation: Upon notification of award, a steering committee was established that worked to develop a detailed implementation plan for the training project. The training curriculum was developed and revised from several existing curricula, the Family Violence Prevention Fund curriculum, the Center's curriculum on child abuse/drug abuse, and the People of Color Leadership Institute curriculum. In May 1997, the first draft of the curriculum materials was assembled, and a small pilot test was completed. Based on feedback from 10 front-line workers, the curriculum was revised.
The Center implemented two, 3-day training sessions. The first training session was held
July 30-August 1, 1997, and the second was held April 14-16, 1998. Over 110 front-line workers and supervisors participated in the training. In addition to child welfare and domestic violence staff, several law enforcement officers were also present. In addition, trainees from different jurisdictions (MD, VA) participated. On February 4, 1998, the roundtable was convened. There was representation from Victim Services within the U.S. Attorney's Office, the Youth Division of the Metropolitan Police Department/Child and Family Services Administration, the Office of the Corporation Counsel, Georgetown University Law School's Emergency Domestic Relationships Project, and the Center for Child Protection and Family Support.
Roundtable members were to set an agenda and to facilitate future discussion for collaboration between domestic violence organizations and child welfare agencies. Themes that emerged from the meeting included a need for safety and protection of children in the domestic violence system; systems collaboration as an essential part of good case management; ongoing training of workers; whenever possible, keeping abused women and their children together; professional ethics as the foundation of practice; and advocacy for women and children.
Lessons Learned and Impact on DV/CPS Relationship: Many challenges face the agencies working for abused women and children in Washington, D.C. Rapid administrative changes occurred as the result of the child welfare agency being under receivership, and citywide fiscal constraints implemented early in the grant period led to less participation by child welfare professionals in the cross-training than had been originally anticipated. Prior to the end of the project period, no direct action was taken concerning the needs and priorities identified by the roundtable members. The training sessions no doubt increased the knowledge of all participants; however, the degree to which domestic violence workers and child welfare workers interact and coordinate services is not known.
Ongoing Activities/Future Plans: No grant activities are ongoing; however, funds from the U.S. Attorney's Office have enabled the Center to continue work on a citywide protocol for domestic violence/child protective services collaboration and intervention. In addition, Victims of Crime grant funding has provided mental health services to abused children who need treatment in order to overcome the trauma. Also, TANF funding has provided opportunities to train welfare workers on domestic violence.
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Primary Reason(s) Applied for OCS' DV/CPS Collaboration Grant: While both children's protective services (CPS) and domestic violence programs were administered by the same department, there had not been a partnership in efforts. It was believed that the two communities needed to understand one another's perspective and share problems if families were to be best served.
Grant Project Goals: Training was to be provided for over 400 CPS workers and supervisors and 50-100 domestic violence practitioners. The Department was to contract with an expert in domestic violence who could provide consultation to a special interest committee (domestic violence, child protective services, regional training center trainers, survivors of domestic violence and/or child abuse, and others) in the review of core curriculum in order to identify needs related to domestic violence. Working Memoranda of Understanding were to be developed between individual domestic violence shelters and child protective services agencies. An evaluation consisting of a pre- and post-test completed by trainees, a client satisfaction survey, the review of child protective services case records and domestic violence shelter reporting, and coordination of services was to be conducted to measure the success of the grant activities.
Implementation: The curriculum was written by Susan Schecter, a national expert in the domestic violence field. A 2-day training for Montgomery and another southeast rural county was held. Ms. Schecter also conducted a 2-day "Train the Trainer" session. Participants then went out and conducted between one and two regional trainings each. No cross-training for domestic violence staff occurred.
Lessons Learned and Impact on DV/CPS Relationship: There are no quick fixes to these complicated issues. Building a partnership between the two service systems is a lengthy process that requires overcoming differences in individual belief systems. Individual workers' belief systems must be considered before developing protocol or policy changes if institutionalization is to occur.
Ongoing Activities/Future Plans: Due to staff turnover in the Department, all activities of the project have ended. The curriculum that was developed is still being used informally by the DV community.
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Grantee Agency: Westchester County Office for Women
Collaborating Agencies: Westchester County DSS
ACF/OCS Grant No.: 90-EV-0073
Project Period: November 1996 through September 1998
Address: 150 Grand St., 6th Floor, White Plains, NY 10601
Contact(s): Beverly Houghton
Telephone: (914) 285-5972
Fax: (914) 285-5054
Email: bdh1@oss.co.westchester.ny.us
Primary Reason Applied for OCS' DV/CPS Collaboration Grant: Families, where both domestic violence and child maltreatment were occurring, were not receiving adequate services because the two communities were not talking with each other. There was a need to dialogue on how best to help families confronting both domestic violence and child maltreatment and how to better identify and change policies and practices that hindered effective safety planning for these families.
Grant Project Goals: The project's goals were to develop a curriculum and provide trainings for child protective services, mandated preventative services, foster care, and emergency services staff. The trainings were to be followed by seminars to address additional training needs on an ongoing basis. The training was to be evaluated. Follow-up seminars were to involve a core of six staff at each site who would become resident domestic violence resource people. They were to attend all six monthly domestic violence seminars, and other staff could attend as needed. It was anticipated that seminars would involve 10-15 participants. A panel of consultants would meet bi-weekly for 3 months to develop curriculum and protocols, and review policies.
Implementation: Over 200 workers at all levels of child protective services, mandated preventative services, foster care, and emergency services were trained. Each worker attended one all-day seminar. The seminar was divided into five different topics dealing with domestic violence identification and intervention, and each worker received a packet of domestic violence materials relevant to the worker's specific job. Attendees evaluated the trainings. Overall, 58 percent of participants found the trainings to be very useful (N=182; 86% return rate). Workloads and mandatory worker training for new computer case tracking system made it impossible for all workers to attend every month, but follow-up seminars were held with an average of 8-10 participants. Seminars lasted 90 minutes and focused on cases brought in by CPS, MPS, emergency services, and foster care staff. A notebook manual was developed that included information on domestic violence issues and a listing of local domestic violence resources for Children's Services staff. Three follow-up meetings were held between the consultants that provided the training and Children's Services Directors. The intent of the meetings was to establish an ongoing forum for discussion of cases with a goal of identifying gaps in service systems and to make further policy recommendations to counties.
Lessons Learned and Impact on DV/CPS Relationship: Domestic violence staff gained an understanding of how challenging child protective services work can be and the "tightrope" that staff have to walk in making decisions regarding the safety of children. Project staff found it very difficult to achieve consensus within the domestic violence community on what should be included in a curriculum for training. It was also observed that younger staff in Children's Services were more receptive to training content but less experienced in identifying domestic violence accurately. Flexibility in scheduling and the length of time that the project took were key in dealing with workload and priorities of Children's Services staff.
Ongoing Activities/Future Plans: Notebook manuals on domestic violence for children's services staff, which include a listing of local resources and a guide to the local systems in Westchester county, were printed in September 1998 and will be distributed at on-site seminars throughout the county in Spring 1999.
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Grantee Agency: Women's Center and Shelter of Greater Pittsburgh
Collaborating Agencies: County of Allegheny Children and Youth Services
ACF/OCS Grant No.: 90-EV-0061
Project Period: September 1995 through February 1997
Address: P.O. Box 9024, Pittsburgh, PA 15224
Contact(s): Janet Scott
Telephone: (412) 687-8017 ext. 332
Fax: (412) 687-3315
Email: scottjan@sgi.net
Primary Reason(s) Applied for OCS/ DV/CPS Collaboration Grant: Prior to the grant, there were a number of conflicts between children, youth and family services (CYF) and the domestic violence community. Sometimes when an abused woman would go to the shelter, the child welfare worker would divulge confidential information to the batterer (e.g., location of woman). Because of this breach of confidentiality, shelter staff stopped sharing information with CYF staff on families that came to the shelter. There was a need to educate child welfare workers about the dynamics of domestic violence and what they could do to help the mother protect her child.
Grant Project Goals: Goals of the project included mandating documentation of domestic violence in case records and developing of new protocols. A curriculum was to be developed, and 250 new caseworkers were to be trained on identification, intervention, and prevention of domestic violence.
Implementation: Eight trainings for 137 new caseworkers were provided as part of the core orientation training for new workers. A training manual, a participant manual, and audio/video tapes were produced. Monthly meetings were held to refine procedures and policies, but a formal protocol was not implemented due to the lack of staff time and resources.
Lessons Learned and Impact on DV/CPS Relationship: The relationship between CYF and the domestic violence community was improved as a result of the project. High staff turnover requires a need to formalize procedures and policies or training efforts often become lost. Without formal protocols and policies in place, the knowledge gained in training was not transferred as readily to day-to-day practice with clients. Formalization of practice and policy provides clear accountability for providing proper intervention once victims of domestic violence are identified.
Ongoing Activities/Future Plans: Additional funding from Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, continued collaboration efforts. Training of all new and veteran caseworkers occurs four times a year, and a domestic violence specialist from the Women's Center and Shelter is now on-site at CYS regional offices to consult with caseworkers 4 days a week. Work with the social work students at the University of Pittsburgh to address issues of domestic violence and child protective services is ongoing. A 24-hour hotline has been established to provide counseling, information and referral services, emergency shelter information, legal advocacy, and children's services information.
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