One week into another Domestic Violence Awareness month, we are taking the time to share with you the work we are doing at the intersection of domestic violence and child abuse and neglect. We have long recognized that child abuse occurs in homes where domestic violence occurs. We also know that even when children in these homes are not directly injured they definitely witness and are aware of the dynamics between the parent causing harm and the parent being harmed. It effects everyone in the home where domestic violence happens. According to the National Resource Center on Child Protection and Custody in an estimated 30 to 60 percent of families in which either child maltreatment or exposure to adult domestic violence is occurring, the other form of violence also is being perpetrated.

Advocates from the domestic violence services and child welfare professionals struggle to work together in the best interest of the children and to help the families in these homes determine safety for adults and children. Often our philosophies and approaches differ in how to reduce harm and this leads to missed opportunities to really assist the families in finding the means to be safe.

ICADV has been a partner with the Illinois Department of Child and Family Services (DCFS), The Network: Advocating Against Domestic Violence, and Ascend Justice in a research project supported by Futures Without Violence. This project located a domestic violence agency advocate in a DCFS local office to provide support and consultation when domestic violence is identified as an issue in cases DCFS is investigating. If the adult who is also experiencing domestic violence in these cases chooses, they may be referred to the local domestic violence (DV) agency. The co-located DV advocate works with the DCFS professionals and the family to find the resources in the community to keep the child safe and hopefully keep them in the home and out of foster care. We have found in the two and a half years of doing this project it is not only possible but desirable to have the child be safe and stay with the family.

While we have only been able to conduct this research in two Illinois counties, we are very excited to look for opportunities to expand this model of service and safety across the state. Collaborating with other professionals that have the best interest of health and safety for all Illinois families has given us the chance to identify and develop community resources and collaborative approaches toward reducing violence.

In this edition you will read about one of the partners that has been instrumental in the development of this model. You will also read about the pilot site for the model and how it fits in so well with other services being provided to families. You will also get a perspective from ICADV Board member, retired Judge Robert Anderson who has long been active in creating better court responses to domestic violence.

Sometimes children can be an afterthought when we are discussing domestic violence. But they are often central and need to be considered from every aspect in order to prevent future generations from experiencing domestic violence. Please enjoy this edition of For Better Times and consider joining our efforts to end domestic violence in Illinois.

"When I think back to the day these pictures were taken at the launch of the Domestic Violence Co-Location Program two years ago, so much has transpired, so much uncertainty, so much change and so much progress. To be together in comfort and without masks foreshadowed how this program would embody the grounding principle that immense strengths exist amidst immense struggle. Gathering together that day with judges, DCFS administrators and leaders, survivors of domestic violence and the child welfare system, domestic violence agency partners, and the community, marked the first time in Illinois that the child welfare and domestic violence systems began a formal collaboration to better serve families experiencing domestic violence.

By locating domestic violence advocates in DCFS offices in Waukegan and Rockford, the co-located advocates have been working with child welfare workers to build their capacity to effectively respond while also supporting adult and child survivors, meaningfully engaging with the parent causing harm, and serving as a link to particularized services at the partner domestic violence agencies and other community based organizations. Through the multiple layers of partnerships - between collaborators, child welfare workers and the co-located advocates, and child welfare workers and families - a mother who had experienced severe and nearly-lethal domestic violence was not deemed neglectful, a mother who had experienced abuse and had previously been in foster care was provided shelter in a hotel with her children, seven siblings were able to enter a domestic violence shelter with their adult survivor parent rather than enter foster care, and a father agreed to participate in a batterer intervention program due to his desire to be a good father.

Amidst these promising outcomes, challenges persist. The COVID-19 pandemic increased the needs of families while support became less accessible.

The pandemic disproportionately impacted the same community of families that are often subject to child welfare interventions. The pandemic also further isolated families, leaving little space for reprieve from abuse.