Promoting Safety for Abused Children and Battered Mothers: Miami-Dade County's Model Dependency Court Intervention Program

Abstract

The judiciary has a unique opportunity to play a central role in a coordinated community response to domestic violence and child abuse. In practice, however, most courts fail to assess for multiple forms of family violence,, which in the worst cases can revictimize and jeopardize the safety of both parents and children who have suffered from abuse. The Dependency Court Intervention Program for Family Violence is a unique project that is located in Miami-Dade County's Juvenile Court and collaborates with the judiciary in an effort to enhance the community's response to families in which child maltreatment and domestic violence co-occur. This article describes the structure of the Dependency Court Intervention Program, as well as its primary goals, assessment strategies, interventions, and research methods. In addition, some of the most important challenges to the project, including creating collaborations among child protection and domestic violence workers, are discussed.

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