Using the Safe & Together Model™ to Enhance Advocacy for Child Welfare Involved Clients David...

Using the Safe & Together Model™

to Enhance Advocacy for Child Welfare Involved

ClientsDavid Mandel, MA, LPC

David Mandel &Associates, LLCMay 9, 2013

Discussion Question

What does a focus on domestic violence perpetrators mean for advocates?

© 2013 David Mandel & Associates LLC Do not reproduce or distribute without permission

Articulating a Perpetrator’s Pattern is

Critical to Seeing Survivors’ StrengthsPerpetrator’s pattern

of coercive control and actions taken to harm the children

Interfere with

/sabotage

survivor’s

parenting

Survivor•Safety plans

•Parenting strengths•Supportive behaviors

Survivor’s strengths

Children•Healing experiences

•Needs met•stability•safety

Impa

ct c

hild

ren’

s sa

fety

and

wel

lbei

ng

crea

te c

haos

and

inst

abili

ty


Assessing Survivors’ StrengthsRelated to Children

• Parenting

• Supporting the children’s day-to-day needs

• What her own safety planning does for her children

• Safety planning with children

• Giving children what they need after witnessing DV:o Safetyo The opportunity to talk about what happenedo Stability


What Children Exposed to Batterers Need

Stability

Talk about what

happened

Safety

• What does the survivor do to provide for these needs?

• Can we help child welfare decipher between how survivors provide for these needs versus how perpetrators provide for them?


Making a Report to CPS

About a Perpetrator’s Risk to Children

About a Survivor’s Behaviors


• Articulate perpetrators’ choices to harm children

• Articulate safety concerns for children

• Share information, if possible, about survivors’ strengths and safety plans

• Make the referral with the survivor (if she’s willing)

• Provide clear information about survivors’ behaviors

• Give context, if applicable, of how perpetrators’ choices have interfered with survivors’ functioning/parenting

• Share information about survivors’ strengths, including that she’s asking for help

• Make the referral with the survivor (if she’s willing)

Practice Tips

• Advocates can ask child welfare workers what their concerns are about the perpetrator’s behaviors

• Advocates can ask child welfare workers what their expectations are for the perpetrator

• Assisting child welfare in understanding a batterer’s behaviors can help child welfare better intervene with perpetrators… without this, child welfare may focus solely on survivors© 2013 David Mandel & Associates LLC Do not reproduce or distribute without permission

Confidentiality• Privileged communication between a battered

woman and her advocate is paramount

• Releases can be as limited or as broad as is useful to the survivor

• Releases can be specific to providing:o Batterers’ patterns of coercive controlo Survivors’ strengthso Impact of domestic violence on children


Using Safe and Together™ to Enhance

DV Advocacy • Building confidence through honest validation of

strengthso Her capacity to protect the childreno Her parenting despite the violence and controlo Her hopes and fearso Her reaching out for assistance/counseling/supporto Her efforts to keep her children well, stable and happy

• Supporting self advocacy for survivorso Articulating her strengths, parenting, needs and protective capacities

for CPS and other systems

• Lessen misdirected self-blame/guilto Focusing on perpetrators’ choices alleviates survivors’ sense of

responsibility


Using Safe and Together™ to Enhance DV Advocacy,

cont.• Use the “critical components” to guide work with

CPS, GALs, CASAs, family court, evaluators, criminal court, other providerso Help advocate within systems to keep the survivor and the children

safeo Help articulate for systems the active role perpetrators take in harming

childreno Help articulate perpetrators’ histories and the risk those pose to

children long term

• Use the Safe and Together™ principles to guide collaborative practiceo Routinely, ask community partners what they’re doing to intervene

with perpetratorso Ask community partners about their efforts to partner with survivors


Discussion Questions• As a percentage, how much of your

education/communication with child welfare focuses on:o The barriers a survivor faces in leaving the relationship?o DV dynamics/DV 101?o The survivors parenting strengths?o How your services, especially those for the survivor, help children?

• Where does talking to child welfare about their case plan/expectations for the perpetrator fit in with your advocacy for the survivor?

• What steps are taken within the criminal court process to address the perpetrator’s parenting responsibilities?


Using the Safe & Together Model™ to Enhance Advocacy for Child Welfare Involved Clients David...

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