July 29, 2008

NCCU's Legal Program at the Center for Child and Family Health Participates in Statewide Study of the Needs of Children in Domestic Violence Shelters.

This week the report "Identifying and Responding to the Needs of Children in Domestic Violence Shelters" (June 1, 2008 Final Report) was released statewide.  This collaborative project funded by The Duke Endowment and the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation brought together the expertise of a multidisciplinary team from the Center for Child and Family Health (CCFH) and the Duke University Center for Child and Family Policy.  The training team included Jennifer Brobst, who as a faculty member at NCCU School of Law also serves as the Legal Director at the CCFH.  Housed in the Mutual Building in downtown Durham, CCFH is a consortium of NCCU School of Law, Duke University and UNC Chapel Hill, with over 60 staff providing direct community outreach, prevention and mental health services to children and families who have experienced a traumatic event.  CCFH also provides professional training and expertise related to child trauma services on a state, national, and international  level (see www.ccfhnc.org).

The Domestic Violence Shelter Screening Project sought to develop, implement and evaluate the effectiveness of a training protocol that improves the capacities of domestic violence shelter staff to screen, intervene, and refer child shelter residents experiencing distress related to exposure to domestic violence.  Domestic Violence shelters have traditionally focused on mental health services for the adult residents, but not for child residents.  Without adequate recognition and identification of the impact on infants and children exposed to domestic violence, children remain at risk for significant traumatic stress.  In addition to exposure to violence by the abusive adult, children in shelters may also be exposed to maternal depression and neglect, parental substance abuse, the stresses accompanying poverty, and the significant disruption to their living situation.  

The Project provided training and a feasiblity assessment for improving shelter services to children at domestic violence centers across the state of North Carolina.  Although most of the training content addressed mental health referrals, Prof. Brobst provided the portion of the training and materials addressing legal resources for families and taking care to avoid the unauthorized practice of law in the referral process.  The series of multiple training sessions were provided to six pilot sites over a period of several months during 2006. 

The evaluation results of the Final Report indicated that the most useful aspects of the training program were in the following areas:  information on the impact of domestic violence on child trauma and child development, behavioral management strategies, and the provision of information about the law and domestic violence.  In its conclusion, the Report acknowledged the courage of shelter residents and staff who face each day the challenges of working and living in a shelter environment, as well as the tremendous needs of children in that environment: 

"Staff strives to increase their effectiveness with both parents and children and now recognize the significance of identifying and addressing the mental health needs of children early.  But, their frustration is palpable as they try to keep staff in place and provide quality services.  In this regard, the precarious position of the shelter mimics the precarious position of the clients who frequent it."

For more information about this project, including a full copy of the report, as well as information on other work conducted by the Legal Program at CCFH, please contact:

Jennifer Brobst, J.D., LL.M.
Assistant Clinical Professor
North Carolina Central University School of Law Legal Director Center for Child and Family Health
411 W. Chapel Hill St., Suite 908
Durham, NC  27701
(919) 419-3474 ext. 401
jbrobst@nccu.edu