NoVA Research-Improvements in Child Protection

As part of our commitment to ending violence and abuse, the Non-Violence Alliance is committed to research that will advance the field of batterer intervention. Working independently and with research partners like Dr. Emily Rothman, Matrix Public Health Consultants, and EncompassGroup, we are currently involved in research on batterers as fathers, improvements in the child protection, effectiveness of batterer intervention programs in correctional settings, and program outcomes and screening for batterers in medical settings.

• Theoretical Framework for Thinking About Batterers and Child Protection
• Six Month Interim Report Children and Batterer Accountability Initiative
• Children and Batterer Initiative Uses New Tools to Measure Child Protection Practice & Worker Attitudes Towards Batterers
• Preliminary Results from New Child Protection Domestic Violence Investigation Protocol

Preliminary Results from New Child Protection Domestic Violence Investigation Protocol

For over two years, the Non-Violence Alliance has worked closely with the Department of Children and Families' Mary Solera to design and pilot a new domestic violence investigation protocol. The effectiveness of the new protocol was measured through a research design that compared three conditions: (1) workers who received new training but used the old protocol, (2) workers who received the new training and the new protocol and (3) workers who received the new training, the new protocol and regular case consultation to help with the implementation of the protocol and handling of cases.

The new protocol which was developed collaboratively by domestic violence victim advocates, child protection workers and supervisors and a batterer intervention expert from the Non-Violence Alliance highlighted the importance of workers (a) collaborating with the court to hold batterers more accountable, (b) better articulating the impact of the domestic violence on the children and (c) better identify victims' strengths, prior safety planning and critical resources.

With significant support from Bridgeport's Safe Start project and researchers from Yale's Consultation Center, data was collected through training evaluations, focus groups, ratings on case records and the Department of Children Family information system. The preliminary analysis of the data appears to indicate that the new protocol and training had a positive impact on worker practice and case outcomes, particularly when it came to working with the perpetrator. Workers valued the training modules on the court system and perpetrators the most. One worker, in the focus group, said the training led to "more of a thrust to involve Dad, more a thrust to hold Dad accountable." Other portions of the data appear to indicate that using the new protocol may decrease the number of new domestic violence substantiations than cases using the old protocol. One possible explanation for this difference is that the new protocol aided investigators in creating more effective case plans.