Lead child advocates, health professionals, policy makers and law enforcement deliberated over solutions to assist children impacted by domestic violence in Connecticut at a forum held this week at the Legislative Office Building in Hartford. The event entitled, "Domestic Violence Through the Eyes of a Child," hosted national expert Betsy McAlister Groves, Founder and Executive Director of the Child Witness to Violence Project at Boston Medical Center. The event was co-hosted by the Connecticut Coalition Against Domestic Violence (CCADV), Connecticut's Commission on Children and the Office of the Child Advocate.
Groves stressed that a continuum of programs to help children heal from the trauma associated with experiencing family violence must be approached from both a prevention and intervention standpoint and by means of a coordinated systematic response. According to event panelist Janice Gruendel, PhD, Med, Deputy Commissioner for the Department of Children and Families (DCF), the agency serves an average of 27,500 children in Connecticut on any given day. A total of 40% of these children have domestic violence as a significant and identified factor in their lives. Karen Jarmoc, Interim Executive Director for CCADV, said that she is not surprised. "Here in Connecticut, more than 1,000 children and 1,300 mothers are sheltered annually in one of the state's 18 domestic violence safe homes," she said. "Coupled with that number are thousands more children and teens out in communities who experience violence in the home and in teen dating relationships."
According to Connecticut's Domestic Violence Fatality Review Report which was issued in July 2011, in all but one case of homicide reviewed by the committee over the past ten years, there were children present when the fatality occurred, including children who were not related to the family. Policy recommendations offered up by panelists include increased training for judges, prosecutors, and law enforcement in regard to the impact of family violence on a child and how to respond.
CCADV works at the state and national level to create and implement policy changes to strengthen Connecticut's response to domestic violence. Each of CCADV's 18-member agencies offer free and local help 24-hours-a-day. Connecticut's statewide domestic violence hotline is 888-774-2900.
A link to the taping of the forum will be on the CCADV website later this week along with McAlister's power point presentation. You may learn more at www.ctcadv.org.
