After years of partnership, the DCF Domestic Violence Program Office and FCADV possess a clear understanding that early involvement of domestic violence advocates in cases where child abuse and domestic violence co-occur can reduce risk to children by providing immediate resource and referral information and safety planning for the non-offending parent and their children. The ultimate goal of the CPI project is to bridge the gap between child welfare and domestic violence service providers to enhance family safety, create permanency for children, reduce removals of children from non-offending parents, and hold batterers accountable. The co-located advocates work from an empowerment-based philosophy; therefore, they are skilled at identifying strengths. Advocates’ expertise in this area assists survivors of domestic violence/non-offending parents to increase protective factors already existing in the home. The co-located advocates assist Child Protective Investigators (CPIs) and case managers in clearly identifying batterers’ patterns of coercive control, gathering information to address harmful batterer behaviors, and assess the impact of that behavior on the children.

In 2015, FCADV was allocated additional funding by the Legislature to expand the CPI Project to all 67 counties in Florida. There are currently a total of 40 certified domestic violence centers that participate in FCADV’s CPI Project, Serene Harbor is proud to be one of them.