The Safe Start Center supports the Safe Start initiative by developing, coordinating and disseminating information and resources for practitioners, policy makers, administrators, researchers, and trainers working to reduce the impact of violence in the home, school, and community on children and their families.
The Safe Start Center is funded by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice.
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Welcome to the first issue of the bi-monthly Safe Start Center e-Newsletter. Our goal is to raise awareness of programs and resources that help communities implement evidence-based practices to address the effects of family and community violence on children. For more information about the Safe Start initiative and the Safe Start Center, visit our website at www.safestartcenter.org. We value your comments and suggestions. If you have feedback about our e-Newsletter, information about resources and programs, or would like us to link to your national organization, please contact us at info@safestartcenter.org.
Updates
Current news related to the impact of exposure to family and community violence on children and their families
From the Field
Spotlight on a community initiative to prevent and reduce the impact of domestic and community violence on children
Research to Practice
Using research to guide service delivery and policy
Featured Resource
A publication, video, curriculum, or other resource that supports evidence-based practice for children exposed to violence
Publications
Print and media resources for professionals and families
Related Links
Safe Start initiative partner organizations
Contact Us
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 October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month
Domestic Violence Awareness Month evolved from the first Day of Unity, which was observed in October 1981 by the National Coalition against Domestic Violence. The day's intent was to connect battered women's advocates from across the nation. Today, various advocate's groups conduct a range of activities at the local, state, and national levels.
For a list of domestic violence resources, see the Related Links section below. To download a Safe Start Domestic Violence Awareness poster, visit the Safe Start Center website at www.safestartcenter.org.
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Web Forum on domestic violence held October 25
On October 25, the Office of Justice Program’s Office of Victims of Crime (OVC) hosted a Web Forum on children exposed to domestic violence. The Web Forum was co-hosted by Dr. David Finkelhor and Betsy McAlister-Groves.
To access the Q & A postings from this forum, and for instructions on how to participate in future OVC Web Forums, visit http://ovc.ncjrs.gov/ovcproviderforum/.
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Safe Start Promising Approaches cross-site meeting held in August
Staff from the 15 Safe Start Promising Approaches pilot sites gathered from August 24-25, 2006 in Washington, DC for their second national meeting. The meeting marked each site's completion of an evaluation design intended to measure two-year outcomes of their collaborative service model, the implementation of which is scheduled to commence this fall. At the meeting, each site shared information about its unique intervention approach in an effort to build a learning community centered around peer support and advancing the national Safe Start initiative. The meeting's agenda included presentations by two researchers, Mary McKay, Ph.D. and Renee McDonald, Ph.D., on evidence-based strategies for increasing engagement and retention in services for vulnerable children and their families.
To view power point presentations from the meeting, visit http://www.safestartcenter.org/meetings.htm.
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Safe Start Center to host national telephone conferences
Beginning in November 2006, the Safe Start Center will host a series of national telephone conference calls on topics related to implementing evidence-based practices for identifying, assessing, and treating children and families exposed to domestic and community violence. The conference calls will bring together nationally recognized experts and staff of Safe Start Promising Approaches pilot sites. Their goal will be to review different approaches toward dealing with domestic and community violence issues as well as problems related to program implementation. They will discuss these programs' key elements, goals and outcomes, and recommended resources.
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Seminars to educate about child traumatic stress
The National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN) is sponsoring free Master Speaker seminars to increase clinicians’ ability to identify, assess and treat traumatic stress reactions in children. The long-distance learning sessions are provided through toll-free conference calls. Each session includes time for questions and answers with participants. CEUs are provided free of charge.
The next seminar will take place on November 6, 2006, from 2:00pm – 3:30pm EST. The invited speaker is Michael De Arellano, who will speak on the topic of Trauma and Culture.
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Studies show Children's Advocacy Centers make a difference and save money
In 2005, Children's Advocacy Centers (CACs) provided services to more than 160,000 children, the majority due to allegations of child sexual abuse. Two recent studies show that CACs have been successful in bringing police, child protection, and medical and mental health professionals together to help families where child maltreatment is suspected. Furthermore, communities with involved CACs have realized cost savings of more than $1,000 per case.
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Miami Safe Start
The University of Miami's Linda Ray Intervention Center, a Promising Approaches pilot site, has expanded existing collaborations with the Miami-Dade County Juvenile Court, the child welfare system, Early Head Start and community providers to deliver clinical treatment and training aimed at children ages birth to 5 in the Miami-Dade County area who have been exposed to, or the victims of violence. Beginning in 2006, the Linda Ray Center clinical staff provide child-parent psychotherapy for young children and their parents at domestic violence shelters and transitional housing sites. Following the child-parent psychotherapy model utilized in its initial Safe Start Initiative (Tier 2) funding cycle from OJJDP, the Center, in collaboration with Louisiana State University’s Joy Osofsky, Ph.D., provides up to 25 weeks of treatment and assessments to the target group of families at two sites, as well as providing assessment and case management services to a third comparison site. In addition to helping develop appropriate parenting skills, the clinical model focuses on helping mothers respond more empathically to their child's needs and support their emotional development, sometimes healing relationships that have had child neglect, abuse and/or abandonment at the core, as well as exposure to violence.
In addition, this Consortium for Children in Crisis provides training for shelter and community childcare program staff about the effects of violence on young children. The training includes information on warning signs to look for in children under the age of three who have been exposed to violence and the referral processes for assessment and treatment within the CCC project. The RAND Corporation is conducting a process and outcome evaluation of this multi-component program as part of the Safe Start Promising Approaches national outcomes research.
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Increasing engagement and retention of children in services
Numerous reports and research studies have highlighted the fact that many children with mental health difficulties do not receive any type of mental health care. Over the last decade, researchers have gone beyond examining child, family, and environmental characteristics such as concrete obstacles (time, transportation, competing priorities), attitudes concerning mental illness, and scarce mental health resources to uncover the most important reasons for this reality. Their studies focus on the impact of adult caregivers' perceived barriers, and indicate that perceptual barriers are critically important to both engagement and the development of a therapeutic relationship.
Using these research findings, Dr. Mary McKay and her colleagues at Mount Sinai have begun focusing on actively engaging clients in mental health services. Some of their strategies include (1) examining intake procedures and developing interventions to target specific barriers to service use; (2) providing training and supervision to mental health service providers that focuses on increasing family engagement in the first face-to-face meetings; and (3) considering new service delivery options with input from consumers about the types of services offered.
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Keeping Our Children Safe: Reference and Resource Guide
This pocket-sized guide presents information compiled from various sources and provides an accessible framework that can help service providers understand and respond to the needs of children impacted by domestic violence. Topics covered by the guide include overviews of laws defining family violence, warning signs of domestic violence and child abuse, impacts of exposure to violence on children, appropriate responses to suspected violence or abuse, and contact information for resource organizations. The Guide is published by the National Center for Children Exposed to Violence (NCCEV).
For copies of the Guide, contact NCCEV at www.nccev.org.
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Juvenile and Family Court Journal, Winter 2006, Vol. 57, No. 1 – Special Issue on Child Trauma.
This special issue examines the traumatic effects upon children of exposure to maltreatment, sexual abuse, or intimate partner violence. Article topics include the impact of trauma on child development, pathways from child maltreatment to delinquency and their implications for juvenile courts, and trauma interventions and systems change in rural areas. Published by the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges.
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The Prevention Researcher, Volume 12 , Number 2005 (November 2005), Domestic Violence and Youth.
This issue explores the research on various aspects of adolescents' exposure to domestic violence, including behavioral consequences, and presents implications of this research for practitioners. Topics include common reactions among adolescents to witnessing violence between parents as well as school and community interventions designed to promote the formation of healthy relationships. Published by Integrated Research Services.
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Facts on Trauma and Homeless Children. 2005.
This fact sheet provides a brief overview of the sources of trauma in the lives of homeless children and families. It lists concrete ways to create safe, supportive shelter environments and promote recovery. Published by the National Child Traumatic Stress Network.
Download a copy
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Please contact us with your comments and suggestions at info@safestartcenter.org or 1-800-865-0965.
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The Safe Start Center e-Newsletter is distributed by the Safe Start Center under Contract No. GS-10F-0285K with the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. Information and points of view quoted in this newsletter do not imply endorsement by OJJDP, OJP or DOJ, or the Safe Start Center.
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