IN THIS ISSUE:

• Co-occurrence of Child Abuse and Domestic Violence
  Witnessing violence is severely traumatic for children, and can result in devastating consequences.
  Highlight from MCC's "State Call to Action: Working to End Child Abuse and Neglect in Massachusetts"
• DSS Social Worker Funding Remains Uncertain
  House has not yet voted on Supplemental Budget H4857; Massachusetts' children are at risk
  
• Legislative Clearinghouse February 15
  "Bumping Up Human Services as a Priority: What Do We Have to Do?" *Newly-appointed DSS Commissioner Harry Spence is scheduled to speak at the Children's Issues Workshop*
  
• New York City Lawsuit Resolved
  The recent ruling on the case against NYC's Administration for Children's Services could have sweeping implications for battered women and their children across the country.
• KIDS COUNT Data and Other Public Health Data is Online
  Access the MassCHIP database on the Web
• New Report Tracks Trends in Healthy Births
  "The Right Start for America's Newborns," A Report from Child Trends and KIDS COUNT
• Charting Global Progress Towards Ending Corporal Punishment of Children
  July 2002 Conference being planned by EPOCH-USA
  

 

Co-Occurrence of Child Abuse and Domestic Violence
Witnessing violence is severely traumatic for children, and can result in devastating consequences.

A Highlight from MCC's "State Call To Action: Working to End Child Abuse and Neglect in Massachusetts"
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Independent of one another, child abuse and domestic violence can endanger children, impair development and lead to long-term negative outcomes. The co-occurrence of domestic violence and child abuse, however, can compound even further the negative effects children are likely to experience over their lifetime.

Health and Mental Health Risks for Children of Domestic Violence Victims
The health risks for children of parents engaged in domestic violence can begin even before birth. Estimates are that as many as 20 percent of pregnant women experience personal violence. The direct trauma or stress of abuse during pregnancy can lead to low birth weight, premature birth, fetal distress, fetal injury, and death.

Children's physical, emotional, behavioral and psychological development can be impacted on both a short and long-term basis. Mothers who are stressed and burdened by being victimized are also at an increased risk of neglectful parenting. Mothers experiencing abuse may also be less available to provide care and emotional support to their children.

Long Term Effects on Children
Long-term consequences to children can include higher rates of mental illness, drug abuse, and criminal justice involvement as an adult. Children exposed to domestic violence are at greater risk for sexual abuse outside the home, as well. In fact, their risk of sexual abuse is seven times greater than for children not exposed to domestic violence. Most distressing is that domestic violence constitutes the "single, major precursor" for child maltreatment fatalities.

Children growing up in abusive homes are also at risk of developing violent behaviors, and repeating the cycle to become abusers themselves. Of children that witness domestic violence, it is estimated that 30 percent later become perpetrators of violence, as compared to a rate of 2 to 4 percent in the general population.

Trauma and Witnessing Domestic Violence
Children suffer through both the trauma of experiencing violence, as well as the horrors of witnessing violence against a loved one. Researchers now know that children who see or hear a parent being battered can experience the same level of trauma as children who themselves are beaten. In one study, 93 percent of children witnessing domestic violence were diagnosed with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

Problems of Intervention
Despite the growing research pointing to the devastating emotional effects on children of witnessing violence, the controversy over whether to screen these cases in for protective custody on the grounds of emotional abuse is still not resolved. In an attempt to address this issue in Massachusetts, the current Governor's Commission on Domestic Violence is reviewing DSS protective intake policy. Although universal screening for domestic violence is warranted, it is extremely difficult to ascertain which cases require child protection intervention that might lead to emergency shelter care and court involvement, and which cases would be better served through a referral to community supports and treatment.

Mothers often fail to seek help because they fear a referral to DSS will be made and that their children will be removed if they choose not to leave their abusive spouse or partner. Further compounding their dilemma is the fact that the "clinical and legal mind-set" in Massachusetts has not shifted sufficiently towards holding batterers accountable. Many battered women report that batterers repeatedly violate orders of protection, or gain access to severely traumatized children through court-ordered evaluations that reflect bias against the protective parent or ignore the clinical needs of the child.

FOR MORE INFORMATION about children living with domestic violence, MCC's recommendations for change, and source reference notes for the above summary, please see "A State Call To Action: Working to End Child Abuse and Neglect in Massachusetts," Section II, Chapter 3, Children Living in Homes With Domestic Violence [http://www.masskids.org/cta/cta_ii_ch03.html]

The complete report is available online at http://www.masskids.org/cta/

 

DSS Social Worker Funding Remains Uncertain
Massachusetts House has not yet voted on Supplemental Budget H4857; Children are at risk.
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The Commonwealth gave notice on February 4 of significant cuts in services which translate into increased risk to abused children. At a meeting with SEIU Local 509 officials, DSS said that because of insufficient funding DSS would cut 215 direct line social service staff positions, mostly social workers.

On January 16, 2002, the House of Representatives Committee on Ways & Means called for the passage of supplemental budget H4857. This contains DSS line items, which increase funding for child protection social workers as well as foster care and residential treatment for abused children. If passed, the layoffs and service reductions would be avoided. The money to fund this is in a reserve account.

"It is time to choose," said Local 509 President John Templeton. "Services for Massachusetts abused and most needy children or a tax cut that was passed with promises of no cuts in services. The House needs to act."

Many reforms put forth by the 1993 Governor's Special Commission on Foster Care have still not been implemented. Both the Special Commission and Massachusetts Citizens for Children have noted that licensing and organizational management have often been substituted for a systemic commitment to proper staffing. According to the Special Commission, "So long as that situation persists (poor staffing which places children at risk), any policy, managerial, or structural amelioratives will be doomed to fail." To change these outcomes, Massachusetts must do whatever is necessary to stabilize the staff assigned to at-risk children.

If the layoffs occur DSS' ability to investigate reports of child abuse and to provide protective intervention to at risk children and families will be seriously compromised.

There have been two Post Audit Committee reports and Two Special Gubernatorial Commissions appointed to review DSS since it was created. All of them have criticized the failure to staff DSS at a level that would allow the social workers the time (caseload) to do their job. Despite the declaration of an emergency in 1993, DSS remains understaffed. With the layoffs expected, if the House continues to refuse to act, DSS social workers will once again be faced with an impossible task.

Many of MCC's subscribers and Campaign for Children members have already contacted their Representatives to let them know how important the Supplemental Budget is to the children of the Commonwealth. We thank you! Unfortunately this has not been enough, and we urge any of you who have not acted, please do so. Urge your Representatives to pass Supplemental Budget H4857.

TO TAKE ACTION: Call the House Ways and Means Committee and tell them you support H4857.
House Ways and Means Committee: (617) 722-2990
Massachusetts State House Switchboard: (617) 722-2000

Contact your Representatives and urge them to support passage of H4857! Call your Representative's office, or send an email from the Massachusetts Citizens for Children's ONLINE ADVOCACY CENTER.

Go to http://capwiz.com/pca/ma/issues/alert/?alertid=78185&type=ST You can find your Representative and send an email online, just by entering your zip code.

Or go to www.masskids.org and follow the link under: Take Action For Kids!!

Legislative Clearinghouse Friday, Feb. 15
"Bumping Up Human Services as a Priority: What Do We Have to Do?" *Newly-appointed DSS Commissioner Harry Spence is scheduled to speak at the Children's Issues Workshop*
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On Friday, February 15, 2002, the Massachusetts Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) will be hosting their annual Legislative Clearinghouse at the State House to address important human services issues such as:

• What have we learned from the FY02 Budget debacle?
• How can we advocate better for Human Services in the FY03 budget?
• What are the crucial human services bills in the current session and how do we get them passed?

The Keynote Speaker will be Robert Reich, US Secretary of Labor from 1993-1997, Professor of Social and Economic Policy at Brandeis University, and Founder and National Editor of "The American Prospect."

A panel discussion and workshops will follow, addressing such topics as children's issues, health, mental health, housing, welfare, immigration, and workforce issues. The conference qualifies for social work CE credit hours.

Of special note is the Children's Issues Workshop, where Massachusetts Senator David Magnani will discuss childcare; Harry Spence, the new Commissioner of DSS, will talk about child protection; and Nora Sjoblom Sanchez, Esq., Director of Policy and Research at Massachusetts Citizens for Children, will discuss child abuse prevention and present updates on MCC's "State Call To Action." Jetta Bernier, Executive Director of Massachusetts Citizens for Children, will be moderating the Children's Issues Workshop.

The Legislative Clearinghouse will take place on Friday, February 15, from 9am to 1:30pm, at the State House in the Gardner Auditorium. It is being presented by the NASW and the Massachusetts Human Services Coalition.

For further information, please contact NASW at 617-227-9635,ext. 2, or visit them online at www.naswma.org and follow the links to their Calendar.

Or, this link will take you directly to NASW's information page: http://www.naswma.org/social/default.asp?contentID=452&topicID=3

 

New York City Lawsuit Resolved
The recent ruling on the case against NYC's Administration for Children's Services could have sweeping implications for battered women and their children across the country.
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Attorneys and advocates around the country are studying Federal Judge Jack B. Weinstein's recent ruling in "Nicholson v. Scoppetta." Judge Weinstein ruled on December 21 that New York City's Administration for Children's Services (ACS) is violating the constitutional rights of mothers and their children by removing children from mothers simply because the mothers are victims of domestic violence. Already the case is leading to policy changes in New York City. It could have sweeping implications for battered women and their children across the country.

Judge Weinstein's injunction is similar to a draft he circulated for comment in November. It orders ACS to stop its policy of separating battered women from their children. Although it acknowledges improvements in ACS policies, it orders ACS to adopt new policies and practices to further improve its response to families experiencing domestic violence. The federal class action lawsuit was brought against ACS by a group of battered women who claimed that ACS took their children away simply because the women were victims of domestic violence.

Judge Weinstein is expected to issue an "extensive explanatory" memo sometime soon to further clarify his decision.

"The lawsuit was a success because of the level of attention it brought to domestic violence and child welfare issues. It promoted a more sophisticated understanding of how children are affected by domestic violence," said Jill Zuccardy of Sanctuary for Families, one of the attorneys who represented the class of battered women in the case. "During the trial, rather than just challenging existing practices, we promoted best practices. Expert witnesses on both sides shared the opinion that holding a mother liable for exposing her child to violence is not an effective response. The focus needs to shift to the batterer and away from the victim."

"The women who brought this lawsuit had tremendous courage," said Pamela Whitney, Director of Domestic Violence and Family Support Services for the Massachusetts Department of Social Services. "The challenge is to do this work in a way that is thoughtful, not punishing to battered women, and that still protects children. I believe the injunction will have far-reaching implications. In Massachusetts, we have a ten-year history of doing this work. We know that it is possible for child protective services agencies to approach battered mothers in partnership with domestic violence agencies. But the kind of lasting change that is needed takes time."

Preliminary Injunction
The case addresses an issue that child welfare and domestic violence advocates across the country are facing how to work together more effectively to help families experiencing violence. The New York City case is the first of its kind. But Zuccardy says that it has drawn a response from advocates around the country. Representatives from battered women's advocacy groups, child welfare agencies and other organizations have contacted Zuccardy for information about the case and for copies of Judge Weinstein's injunction.

Judge Weinstein issued the injunction to ensure that "battered mothers who are fit to retain custody of their children do not face prosecution or the removal of their children solely because the mothers are battered." The injunction focuses on the ACS practice of removing children from mothers who are victims of domestic violence for the reason that the mothers 'engaged in' domestic violence by being victims and allowing their children to witness the abuse. The injunction finds the practice unconstitutional. "Practices and policies of ACS violate the constitutional rights of both mothers and children. Parents and children have a constitutional right not to be separated by the government unless the parent is unfit to care for the child. The evidence to date overwhelmingly demonstrates that the defendants have violated these constitutional rights," it states.

The injunction holds that the "government may not penalize a mother, not otherwise unfit, who is battered by her partner, by separating her from her children; nor may children be separated from the mother, in effect visiting upon them the sins of their mother's batterer."

It orders ACS to stop immediately the policy of removing children from their mothers without a court order "solely because the mother is the victim of domestic violence except in cases where the child is in such imminent danger." The injunction also includes detailed and specific instructions for ACS to improve its response to families experiencing domestic violence. Among other things, the injunction calls on ACS to:

• Make "every reasonable effort" to separate a batterer from his victim and her children, and provide them with "reasonably adequate protection." This includes helping the family find a shelter or other safe haven and obtain a protective order against the batterer.
• Inform mothers of their rights and those of their children before taking any action to separate children from mothers who are victims of abuse. This includes developing a pamphlet explaining these rights in English and Spanish.
• Implement a training and supervision program to inform ACS employees and contractors of the provisions in the injunction and prepare them to implement the changes it outlines.
• Include a domestic violence specialist in each clinical consultant team it establishes.
• Establish a five person Review Committee to "assist in the enforcement of and compliance with" the terms of the injunction. The Committee will include representatives from New York City and state, and from plaintiff groups in the lawsuit.
• Report to the court once a month beginning next month. Copies of the reports will be distributed to parties in the lawsuit, and others.

Engaging in Domestic Violence
Before the trial, in some cases, ACS policy recommended removing children from homes where domestic violence was present and charging battered women with engaging in domestic violence if their children witnessed or experienced violence as well. The preliminary injunction specifically targets this policy, ordering the agency to "refrain from alleging against the mother as a grounds for finding of abuse or neglect" that a mother has been a victim of abuse or has "engaged" in domestic violence.

During the trial, through testimony and evidence, the plaintiffs presented the stories of 15 women who had their children removed by ACS because they had allegedly "engaged in domestic violence."

One plaintiff, Sharwline Nicholson, had her two young daughters taken from her after the father of one of her daughters attacked her. Although this was reportedly the first violent incident, and neither of Nicholson's children witnessed the attack, ACS placed the children in foster care.

Another plaintiff, Ekaete Udoh, was victimized by her abusive husband for years, although she sought help from city services. After her husband hit one of their children, Udoh's children were taken from her and placed in foster care. ACS charged Udoh with "engaging in domestic violence," although she was a victim herself.

There was a dispute during the trial over how many times ACS has removed a child because the mother was the victim of domestic violence, reports the "New York Law Journal." Lawyers for the plaintiffs claim that removal of children in these cases occurs hundreds of times a year. But, former ACS Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta testified that, in the vast majority of cases, other factors such as a mother's substance abuse or psychiatric problems led to removal of a child from the home. However, Judge Weinstein's injunction concludes, "ACS has engaged in a practice of removing children of battered mothers for the reason that mothers 'engaged in' domestic violence by being victims of such violence."

ACS Improves Its Policy
During the course of the trial, ACS continued to improve its response to domestic violence. In July, the agency developed drafts of a new Domestic Violence Protocol and Casework Practice Guide. In August, it officially changed its policy of charging battered women with "engaging in domestic violence." ACS issued an internal memo stating that the term would no longer be used. However, some battered women's advocates charge that ACS staff members have not adhered to the new policy.

The Judge told former Commissioner Scoppetta that he recog- nized the improvements in agency policy with regard to domestic violence, but still found that ACS had acted improperly in removing some children from their homes. "The federal court intercedes with regret," the injunction states. "It recognizes the enormous strides the State and City of New York have made in ameliorating and addressing problems of domestic violence. After this suit was commenced. ACS began to attempt remediation of the grave deprivations and threats of deprivations of plaintiffs' constitutional violations. These initial moves by ACS, while praiseworthy, have not yet cured the constitutional violations."

The injunction grants ACS a six-month stay to give the agency sufficient time to adjust its practices to comply with the Judge's decision, as well as "the opportunity to implement further changes that secure and protect plaintiffs' constitutional rights without unnecessary interference by the court." ACS has appealed the Judge's decision.

[Reprinted with permission from "Policy Talks," Vol. 1, Issue 1; a newsletter of the Family Violence Prevention Fund (FVPF). For more about Policy Talks, FVPF, or to learn more about family violence prevention policy, news, and research, please see their website, www.endabuse.org.]

 

Massachusetts KIDS COUNT Data and Other Public Health Data is Available Online
Access the MassCHIP database on the web
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MassCHIP is the Massachusetts Department of Public Health's publicly available on-line interactive data warehouse. It contains 25 key public health related data sets including data on health behaviors, vital statistics, hospital- izations, cancer, school enrollment/dropouts, children in foster care, reports of child abuse/neglect, unemployment, communicable diseases, MDPH program data and physician distribution by specialty.

Users have the option of accessing web-based preformatted reports of creating their own queries. Information is available at the city/town level and at higher aggregates, such as county. The system provides counts of events, basic statistics, charting and mapping, and allows results to be saved as text files which are exportable to Excel, SAS or other programs.

For more information, visit the MassCHIP web site. It is accessible as a link from the MCC home page, www.masskids.org, or go directly to the MassCHIP site, http://masschip.state.ma.us.

 

New Report Tracks Trends in Healthy Births
"The Right Start for America's Newborns,"
A Report from Child Trends and KIDS COUNT
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An online report released February 5 presents state-by- state data for each year from 1990 through 1999, the latest year for which data are available. The fifty states varied widely on eight measures of a healthy birth during the 1990's, including such measures as births to women who smoked during pregnancy, births to teens, and births to mothers who did not receive timely prenatal care.

Statistics for Massachusetts and the other states are reported in "The Right Start for America's Newborns: A Decade of City and State Trends (1990-1999), an online report from Child Trends and KIDS COUNT. Funded by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, this report tracks eight measures of a healthy start to life. The decade of data highlighted in this report is a gauge of how well children will fare in their first years of life.

--Some Massachusetts Data Highlights--

• Massachusetts is among the ten best states in six of eight measures of a healthy start to life. These include teen births, repeat teen births, births to unmarried women, births to mothers with low education, births to women receiving late or no prenatal care, and preterm births.
  
  
• Births to teens slightly decreased, and Massachusetts' rate is lower than the U.S. average.
  
  
• Repeat teen births were less than the national average. In 1999, 16 percent of Massachusetts teen births were to young women who were already mothers, compared with the national average of 21 percent.
  
  
• Births to women with low education were significantly lower than the U.S. average. In 1999, 13 percent of Massachusetts births were to women who received less than 12 years of education, compared with the U.S. average of 22 percent.
  
  
• Births to smokers continue on a downward trend. Between 1998 and 1999, the percentage of births to women who smoked during pregnancy slightly decreased from 12 to 11 percent, continuing Massachusetts' decade-long downward trend.
  
  
• Preterm births continue to increase, but remain lower than the U.S. Average. Between 1998 and 1999, the percentage of births that were preterm in Massachusetts continued its decade-long upward trend by slightly increasing from 9.8 percent to 10.1 percent. The U.S. average in 1999 was 11.8 percent.

"These statistics are an important tool for health care providers, policymakers, and others who work to give every baby the right start to life," said Richard Wertheimer, Ph.D., senior research associate at Child Trends and author of the report. "Whether amother smokes, whether she receives prenatal care, how much education a mother has, and her age when she gives birth have all proven to be valuable indicators of children's futures."

"The nation as a whole made modest progress in improving birth outcomes during a very prosperous decade," added William O'Hare, Ph.D., who runs the KIDS COUNT program at the Annie E. Casey Foundation. "Now, states face the challenge of improving birth outcomes in a more difficult economic period."

Child Trends, a nonprofit and nonpartisan research center, compiled and updated the report from data provided by the National Center for Health Statistics. The goals of the report are to improve public understanding of the life circumstances of America's children, and to inform and improve public policy-making with reliable data and quality research.

The report is available online at: http://www.aecf.org/cgi-bin/rs2002/rightstart2002.cgi?action=profile&area=Massachusetts or go to www.masskids.org and follow the link for "The Right Start for America's Newborns" on the home page.

 

Charting Global Progress Towards Ending Corporal Punishment of Children
July 2002 Conference being planned by EPOCH-USA
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A briefing conference on progress in eliminating corporal punishment of children will be held July 6th and 7th, 2002, immediately before ISPCAN's l5th Congress on Child Abuse and Neglect, at the Congress venue, the Adams Mark Hotel, Denver, Colorado.

Sponsored by EPOCH-USA (End Physical Punishment of Children), Save the Children Sweden, and the Global Initiative to End All Corporal Punishment of Children of London, the conference will brief participants on progress towards ending corporal punishment of children and will share ideas and strategies for speeding up the process throughout the world. Several international speakers and researchers are expected to participate in the program.

There is no charge for the conference but participants will be responsible for their own travel and accommodation arrangements. For registration information, contact Nadine Block at EPOCH-USA at nblock@infinet.com or (614)221-8829. Details of the ISPCAN conference are available at www.kempecenter.org.

For more information on EPOCH, a program of the Center for Effective Discipline, visit their web site, www.stophitting.com.

 

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The Massachusetts Campaign for Children is a program of Massachusetts Citizens for Children. Its mission is to build and maintain a statewide, grassroots membership organization, which can then become a powerful voice for the children of our state. The Campaign's goal is to engage in non-partisan electoral and legislative actions at the local and state levels that promote the well-being of all Massachusetts children, youth, and their families, and help us move children's issues to the center of every political arena.

We believe that all our children have the right: to be free from poverty; to get the medical and preventive care they need; to learn in quality child care and school settings; to be safe from abuse, neglect, and violence; and to live in caring families and healthy communities.

Please share this newsletter with your friends and colleagues, and urge them to join with us to become a powerful voice for the children of our state. We urge you, too, to join with us, or renew your membership if you are already a member. The Campaign for Children is a non-profit independent advocacy organization, and we receive no state or federal funding. We rely entirely on the generosity of our members and donors. Please visit www.masskids.org to join online; or call 800-CHILDREN for a free information packet.

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Massachusetts Campaign for Children
14 Beacon Street, Suite 706 . Boston, MA 02108 . 617-742-8555 . campaign@masskids.org

Deborah Ferreri, Campaign for Children Coordinator . deborah@masskids.org
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To subscribe to this newsletter please visit our web site at www.masskids.org, or send an email to subscribe@masskids.org. To unsubscribe please send an email to unsubscribe@masskids.org.