October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. During this month, I would like for you to take a moment and consider the impact of domestic violence on children. Over the course of this year, the NEST has been developing a program to meet the needs of children who witness domestic violence in our community. We are working with the Victim's Response Unit and RENEW to identify these children and provide an immediate response. So far, this year we have intervened in approximately 57 cases where children have witnessed domestic violence.
Research suggests that  approximately 55% of children exposed to domestic violence are, also, being abused. Please contact me if you would like to hear more about how we plan to improve the system's response to intervening in these cases.

Domestic Violence is a pattern of behavior used to establish power and control over another person through fear and intimidation, often including the threat or use of violence, when one person believes they are entitled to control another.

 

Effects of exposure on children: Children who witness domestic violence show significantly higher rates on all measures of childhood distress including behavioral and physical health problems such as depression, anxiety, and peer violence.

 

The effects of batterer behavior are shaped by various factors:

·        Severity and frequency of abusive and/or violent incidents

·        Children's perception of the threat to their personal safety

·        Children's perception of their ability to control abusive/violent incidents

 

Resilience: The #1 factor in determining resiliency and healing of children has been found by research to be an attached relationship to a caring adult.

 

Intervention: There is strong evidence that safety and support can reverse the negative impact of batterer behavior on children.

 

Repairing the damage to the Mother-Child relationship caused by batterers behavior

·        Assist a battered mother in understanding the dynamics of abuse and the impact on her children

·        Assist a battered mother in understanding the behaviors a child will exhibit as a result of being exposed to a battered

·        Assist with safety planning so children can feel that their mother can now protect them

·        Assist children in understanding their experience and their mother's experience to help them recover respect for her

·        Acknowledge, recognize and bear witness to each child's pain and support children in being close to their mother

 

Promising practices involve...

·        Timely response

·        Safe, therapeutic relationships in the family

·        Developmentally appropriate approaches

·        Multidisciplinary assessment of child and family needs

·        Ongoing advocacy and case management

·        Counseling and other support services for caregivers

·        Stability and social support for households

If you would like more information about the impact of domestic violence on children, please feel free to give us a call or stop by and pick up one of our brochures.

Sincerely,