Transcript Domestic Violence and Child Endangerment

Child Endangerment and
Domestic Violence
Vicky O. Kimbrell
Georgia Legal Services Program
www.GLSP.org
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“The
battered mother has to worry that if
she leaves, the abuser will take her
children, and if she doesn’t, that the
government will.”
Jill Zuccardy, attorney in Nicholson v. Williams
Why doesn’t she just leave?
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FEAR - #1 reason
Safety
Lack of money
Threats to children
Promises
Lack of enforcement
Frequency/Severity of
abuse
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Her childhood
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Isolation
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Beliefs about
marriage and/or
men
STATE INTERVENTION IN
FAMILY VIOLENCE CASES
 “My three month old woke up in the middle of the night
with an ear infection and temperature. My husband
screamed, ‘Shut the baby up, I’m trying to sleep.’ I was
trying to comfort her, but nothing worked. He got up,
took her and whacked her. She had a black and blue
rear end. Now what should I do? If I take her to the
doctor, they’ll take her from me because I’m the mother
and I allowed this. My husband told me. ‘No matter
what you say, I’m going to tell them that you did it.’”
Effective Intervention in Domestic Violence &
Child Maltreatment Cases – National Council of
Juvenile & Family Court Judges, p. 11.
What would you Do?
What would be the Consequences?
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Call police.
Call DFCS.
Go to doctor.
Call your family.
Call a friend.
Call a lawyer.
Call a shelter.
Leave.
The Child Endangerment
Statute - Cruelty to Children
 O.C.G.A. Sec. 16-5-70
 Second Degree - Such person, who is the primary
aggressor, intentionally allows a child under the
age of 18 to witness the commission of a . .
.family violence battery
 Such person, who is the primary aggressor, having
knowledge that a child under l8 is present and sees
or hears the act, commits family violence battery.
Legal Requirements before
Removal
 Continuation in the home contrary to the welfare of
the child
 Reasonable efforts by DFCS to prevent or eliminate
the need for the removal - 15-11-58
 Such findings shall be made at every subsequent
review
 Child’s health and safety is paramount - 15-1158(a)(1)
 Parents have right to zealous and competent
representation. Indigent parents have right to
appointed counsel
Principles for an Effective and
Humane CPS System -Greenbook
 Safety, well-being and stability for
children and families
 Children in care of non-offending
parent
 Community service system with many
points of entry
 Differential response to families
Principle I: Courts, lawyers, child protective
agencies, domestic violence agencies must
intervene to create safety, enhance well-being,
and provide stability for children and their
families.
 Domestic violence perpetrators do not victimize
only adults.
 Where women are abused, their children are also
often maltreated.
 Services must be provided for the parent-victim
to protect children.
Erom: Effective Intervention in Domestic
Violence & Child Maltreatment Cases – National Council of Juvenile & Family Court
Judges - Greenbook
Principle II: To ensure stability and
permanency for children, courts and
communities must try to keep children in the
care of their non-offending parent.
 Historically, mothers have been held responsible
for batterer’s violence – failure to protect;
 Shortsighted to remove children from care of their
battered mothers rather than remove the batterer;
 Link the safety of the children to safety of the
mother;
 Communities must develop a broad range of
services and interventions for family violence –
Natl. Assn. Of Public Child Welfare
Administrators (1999) Guidelines for a Model
System.
Principle III: Responsibility for Family
Violence Must be Placed Where it Belongs
– On the Abuser
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Criminal Responsibility
Civil Responsibility
Financial / Economic Responsibility
Batterer Intervention Programs
Parenting Training
Supervised Visitation
Drug/Alcohol Abuse Intervention – Not excuses,
not causes of abuse.
DV ToolKit - Tools to Effectively Intervene
in DV Cases Where Children are at Risk
 Do’s and Don’ts
 Caseplans
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TPOs
DV Shelters
Separation from Batterers
Evaluations
Counseling
Separation from Batterer
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Educate Victims on
Separation resources Places, shelters
Financial resources,
• Child Support
Public Benefits
• TANF, Food Stamps
• Medicaid, Peachcare
• SSI/SSD
• Public/Subsidized Hsg.
• PUP funds
• Victims Compensation
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Make Victim
Responsible for
Separation
Mandate Separation
- More women are
killed leaving than
staying. 75% of
homicides during
separation
Proposed Child Support
Changes - HB221
 High/Middle Income
Family
 NCP earns $4,500/CP
earns $3,500
 Two Children - 120
nights of visitation
 Current - $1050.00
 HB221 - $456
 Low Income Family
 NCP earns $900/CP
earns $950
 Two children
 Currently - $225 per
month
 HB221 - $57 per
month
Evaluations
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Offer Services
Relevant to the Safety
Needs of the Victim
and Children
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Order evaluations
because “everybody”
gets them - parenting
classes won’t keep
anyone safe
Drug testing, mental
health - being beaten is
not a mental condition
Joint Case Plans Put Victims &
Their Children in Danger
 Make each party responsible only for the actions
they can control. “Ms. Jones will not participate
in domestic violence.”
 If he knows where and when her
classes/evaluations/tests/services are scheduled,
she’s in danger - and the case plan put her there.
 FVIPS are never appropriate for victims
Temporary Protective
Orders
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Advise Client of
Options
Refer Client to Legal
Services, Private
Attys,Legal Advocate,
Vic Asstc, SAAGs
Realistically explain
benefits and risks of
TPOs
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 Mandate TPOs
 TPOs can Anger
Batterer
 Mutual TPOs
 Uses your authority
to control victim
 Victim has more
information than you
upon which to make
decisions
Domestic and sexual
violence
...threaten survivors’ employment and
economic security, which in turn
creates and sustains women’s poverty.
A cruel irony, this economic instability
then becomes one of the most
formidable barriers to survivors
escaping abuse.
Economic Abuse
 Court cannot use lack of economic
resources as a basis for taking children
from parents.
 Court has held that “by harm, the court
means either physical harm or
significant, long-term emotional harm;
we do not mean merely social or
economic disadvantages.” Clark v.
Wade, 273 Ga. 587 (2001)
What can lead to economic
abuse?
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Lack of child support in TPOs
Lack of property awards in TPOs
Injuries requiring medical attention
Debts - Credit abuse
Lack of Enforcement
Custody and Batterers
 Batterers are twice as likely to seek
sole physical custody for their
children than are non-violent fathers.
 When batterers do press for custody,
they are awarded it at the same rate
of non-batterers, 50% of the time.
Forced Joint Custody
Forcing joint physical
custody on unwilling
parents results in high
levels of parental
conflict and re-litigation,
leaving children with
two tense and angry
parents.
Standards on Awarding Custody when FV OCGA 19-9-1 (a)(2) – “In a proceeding awarding
custody/visitation when family violence is found:”
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Court shall consider as primary the safety and wellbeing of the child and parent who is the victim of
family violence;
Court shall consider the perpetrator’s history of
harming another;
If one parent is absent or relocates because of family
violence such shall not be deemed abandonment of the
child;
Court can order supervised visitation.
Visitation - OCGA 19-9-1 (a)(2) – in a proceeding
awarding custody/visitation when family
violence is found:
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Court shall consider as primary the safety and wellbeing of the child and parent who is the victim of
family violence;
Court shall consider the perpetrator’s history of
harming another;
If one parent is absent or relocates because of family
violence such shall not be deemed abandonment of the
child;
Court can order supervised visitation.
Visitation Centers
Alternatives
Safety Planning
 With the Adult
 With the Children
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Shelter Advocates - Experts in this area
Are Advocates on Case Panels in your
community?
How Can We Hold the Batterer
Accountable for the Violence - Not the
Victim?
Separate Caseplans for Perpetrators
Batterer Case Plans
 Perpetrator will:
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Commit no acts of violence;
Commit no intimidating acts, threats or
verbal abuse
Remove all weapons
Comply with all court orders
Attend and comply with all Batterer
Intervention program recommendations
Not use physical violence against
children
Batterer case plans
 Acknowledge past abuse
 Comply with substance abuse
recommendations
 Comply with mental health
recommendations
 Pay child support as ordered
“The total length of separations of mothers and children
[that NY CPS] has caused is measured in years. The
suffering and trauma it has caused cannot be measured.”
Judge J. Weinstein, Findings of Fact, Nicholson v. Williams