Assessment of intimate partner violence by child welfare services

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Abstract

The purpose of this study was to describe policy and practice with respect to the assessment of intimate partner violence in a sample of child welfare agencies located throughout the United States and to examine the relationship of contextual characteristics and assessment practices. Telephone interviews were conducted with key informants from child welfare agencies. A snowball interviewing strategy was used to identify the best informant in each agency. Almost all of the participating agencies conducted some assessment of intimate partner violence, with most reporting that the majority of screening or assessment occurred during investigation of referrals. However, only 43.1% reported that all of the families referred to the child welfare system were assessed for intimate partner violence, and 52.8% indicated they had a written policy pertaining to screening and assessment of the problem. There was little relationship between county or agency characteristics and assessment practices. Additional research is needed to determine factors that influence assessment practices and to identify strategies to support and extend efforts to identify intimate partner violence and provide appropriate services for families in the child welfare system.

Introduction

Intimate partner violence affects the lives of significant numbers of women and children over the life course. A recent national survey reported that approximately one in five women have experienced physical assault and almost one in ten have experienced sexual assault by an intimate partner at some time in their lives (Tjaden & Thoennes, 2000). Children have been found to be over-represented in homes in which intimate partner violence occurs (Fantuzzo, Boruch, Beriama, Atkins, & Marcus, 1997), with estimates indicating that between 11% and 20% are exposed to such violence during childhood (Wolak & Finkelhor, 1998). In addition to observing violence between their parents or caregivers, these children are themselves often the victims of verbal, physical, and sexual abuse (Kerker et al., 2000, Ross, 1996, Straus and Smith, 1995, Tajima, 2000). A review of studies examining the relationship between adult intimate partner violence and child maltreatment found a median co-occurrence of 40% (Appel & Holden, 1998). Many children from families with intimate partner violence come in contact with the child welfare system due to the abuse they have directly experienced or because of their exposure to violence between their caregivers. Recent studies have reported that intimate partner violence is a common problem among families involved with this system, with findings suggesting that 30% to 40% are affected (Edleson, 1999, English et al., 2005, Hazen et al., 2004, Jones et al., 2002, Magen et al., 2001, Shepard and Raschick, 1999).

Recognition of the substantial overlap between intimate partner violence and child maltreatment and the high rates of intimate partner violence in families involved with child welfare has prompted several national organizations to recommend that screening for intimate partner violence should be standard practice in all stages of child protection cases (Carter and Schechter, 1997, National Association of Public Child Welfare Administrators, 2001, National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, 1999). Little is currently known about child welfare practice in assessing intimate partner violence, but recent research has suggested that the problem is not always identified in families who come in contact with this system. Using data from a nationally representative sample of families investigated for child maltreatment, Kohl and colleagues (Kohl, Barth, Hazen, & Landsverk, 2005) found that 31% of female caregivers reported that they experienced intimate partner violence in the preceding year but child welfare workers identified this violence in only 12% of the families. Caregiver and child welfare worker reports overlapped in 8% of the cases, and workers did not identify intimate partner violence when the caregiver reported it in 22%. Under-identification by child welfare workers was associated with the female caregiver's drug or alcohol abuse, with a family having prior contact with the child welfare system, and with the female caregiver having a childhood history of abuse or neglect. A small number of studies suggest that there are limitations in the assessment of intimate partner violence among families involved with child welfare. In a study of referrals investigated by child protective services in Washington State, 40% to 50% were not assessed for intimate partner violence (English, Marshall, Brummel, & Orme, 1999). Another study found that workers conducted an assessment of intimate partner violence in only 45% of opened child welfare cases (Shepard & Raschick, 1999).

Recent studies have indicated that families with intimate partner violence are likely to have multiple referrals to the child welfare system (English et al., 1999, Hazen et al., 2004, Kohl et al., 2005). They also appear to have a greater likelihood of experiencing a range of risk factors, including substance use, mental health problems, and criminal involvement compared to other families in the child welfare system without intimate partner violence (Hazen et al., 2004, Kohl et al., 2005). These findings suggest the importance of appropriate assessment and identification of intimate partner violence for improving family safety and well being.

The purpose of the present study was to describe policy and practice with respect to the assessment of intimate partner violence in a sample of child welfare agencies located throughout the United States and to examine the relationship of contextual characteristics and assessment practices.

Section snippets

Overview

Data for this study come from the Children and Domestic Violence Services (CADVS) study (Smith et al., 2005). The CADVS study was designed to collect contextual data at the state and local levels on child welfare policy and practice related to intimate partner violence and on the relationship between child welfare agencies and community domestic violence services. CADVS is a supplemental study of the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being (NSCAW), a national probability study of

Results

Key informants in 75 of the 92 PSUs (81.5%) provided information on CWS policies and practices related to the assessment of intimate partner violence. The 75 PSUs that participated in the study represented 72 different child welfare agencies. (One additional agency participated but was not included in the analyses due to the large amount of missing data, and two others were not included because the key informants reported that their agencies did not assess any families for intimate partner

Discussion

The goal of this paper was to examine policy and practice relating to the assessment of intimate partner violence among a sample of child welfare agencies in counties throughout the United States. Guidelines issued in recent years by national policy organizations (National Association of Public Child Welfare Administrators, 2001, National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, 1999) have suggested that screening or assessment for intimate partner violence should occur during all stages of

Acknowledgments

The work described in this paper was supported, in part, by the National Institute of Justice grant 2002-WG-BX-0014 (K.J.K.), National Institute of Mental Health Mentored Research Scientist Development Award K01-MH65454 (A.L.H.), and National Institute on Drug Abuse Mentored Research Scientist Development Award K01-DA15145 (C.D.C). We gratefully acknowledge the data collection efforts of staff at the Child and Adolescent Services Research Center and the assistance of Ms. Mary Mueggenborg with

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