Futures Without Violence Leads Cooperative Effort to Address Domestic Violence and Child Maltreatment

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MEDIA CONTACT:
Tracy Tierney, Futures Without Violence
ttierney@futureswithoutviolence.org
415.678.5619

Futures Without Violence Leads Cooperative Effort to Address Domestic Violence and Child Maltreatment

The five-year project aims to improve outcomes for children and families that experience domestic violence and are involved in the child welfare system

SAN FRANCISCO (March 16, 2017) – Futures Without Violence (FUTURES) announced today that it is leading a five-year effort to research, analyze, and identify best practices for improving how child welfare agencies, domestic violence programs and other partners work collaboratively to improve outcomes for families experiencing domestic violence. The collaborative project—the National Quality Improvement Center on Child Welfare Involved Children and Families Experiencing Domestic Violence (QIC-CW/DV)—is funded by a grant from the Children’s Bureau of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

FUTURES will lead the cooperative alongside a group of partners: The Center for the Study of Social Policy, the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, the University of Kansas School of Social Welfare, and the Center for Health & Safety Culture at Montana State University. A National Advisory Committee (NAC) comprised of experts in child welfare and domestic violence research, practice, and policy along with judicial leaders and those experienced in tribal law and practice, racial equity, and early childhood will provide strategic guidance at key points as the QIC-CW/DV is implemented.

“Our ultimate goal is to improve the safety, permanency and well-being of children and their parents who are also experiencing violence.” said Lonna Davis, Director of the Children & Youth Program at FUTURES. “Thanks to our strong coalition of partners, we feel confident the QIC-CW/DV will be smart and strategic, and engage the multiple stakeholders needed to effectively serve families who experience domestic violence.”

Over the next five years, the QIC-CW/DV cooperative will gather, develop, test, and disseminate data on interventions that:

• Improve the safety, permanency and well-being of families that are experiencing domestic violence and are involved in the child welfare system
• Promote and strengthen collaboration among stakeholders such as child welfare staff, domestic violence advocates, batterer intervention service providers, court professionals, mental health and substance abuse providers, early childhood staff, and law enforcement personnel
• Enhance identification and assessment of domestic violence, risk assessment, and decision-making processes within child welfare systems
• Identify opportunities and challenges within child welfare systems to enhance capacity in order to sustain changes in practice and policy.

About Futures Without Violence

Futures Without Violence is a health and social justice nonprofit leading groundbreaking educational programs, policies, and campaigns that empower individuals and organizations working to end violence against women and children around the world. Providing leadership from offices in San Francisco, Washington, D.C., and Boston, FUTURES has trained thousands of professionals and advocates—such as doctors, nurses, judges, athletic coaches, and other community influences—on improving responses to violence and abuse. The organization was a driving force behind the passage of the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act in 1984 and the Violence Against Women Act of 1994—the nation’s first two comprehensive federal responses to the violence that plagues families and communities.

QIC-CW/DV National Advisory Committee Members

Christine Calpin, Managing Director, Public Policy, Casey Family Programs

Jacquelyn Campbell, Ph.D, RN, FAAN, Anna D. Wolf Chair, Professor, Johns Hopkins School of Nursing

Julie Collins, VP Practice Excellence, Child Welfare League of America

Karma Cottman, Executive Director, National Center on Violence Against Women in the Black Community

Diane DePanfilis, MSW, Ph.D. Professor, Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College

Anita Fineday, J.D., Managing Director of Indian Child Welfare Program, Casey Family Programs

Megan Holmes, MSW, Ph.D, Assistant Professor, Case Western Reserve University

Esther Jacobo, Chief Assistant for Operations, Miami-Dade State Attorney

Alicia Lieberman, Ph.D, Director, Child Trauma Research Program, University of California, San Francisco

The Honorable Katherine Lucero, Supervising Judge, Juvenile Justice Courthouse, San Jose, CA

Fernando Mederos, Practitioner, Researcher & Consultant

Allison Metz, Ph.D, Director, National Implementation Research Network

Jessica Nunan, MSW, Executive Director, Caminar Latino, Inc.

Joan Pennell, Ph.D, Director, Center for Family and Community Engagement, NC State University

Joy Ricardo, J.D., Managing Attorney, East Bay Children’s Law Offices

Kristen Selleck, MSW, Independent Consultant on Domestic Violence and Child Abuse

Chris Sullivan, Ph.D, Professor, Michigan State University

Annette Wisk Jacobi, J.D. Director, Family Support & Prevention Service Oklahoma Public Health

Isa Woldeguiorguis, Executive Director, The Center for Hope and Healing, Inc.

Joyce Yedlosky, Team Coordinator, West Virginia Coalition Against Domestic Violence

Terri Yellowhammer, J.D., Indian Child Welfare Center and Appellate Justice for the Mashpee Wampanoag