UCLA research highlights potential of collaborations between LA County and service partners.
A new study released today by the UCLA Pritzker Center for Strengthening Children and Families examines the trauma impacting survivors of domestic violence and the obstacles they encounter in child welfare cases. It also highlights how collaboration between Los Angeles County child welfare staff and domestic violence service providers can improve support for parent survivors of domestic violence and their children. The study endorses ongoing collaborations and offers specific recommendations to better support families experiencing domestic violence in the region.
“These findings present opportunities for reform to support survivors and their children experiencing domestic violence, said Taylor Dudley, Executive Director of the UCLA Pritzker Center. “We are inspired by Los Angeles County’s commitment to this work and look forward to ongoing shifts in practice that help families stay safely together.”
The new study, “Collaborative Reform in Child Welfare for Families Experiencing Domestic Violence in the Antelope Valley,” documents the experiences of parent survivors of domestic violence, domestic violence service providers, and child welfare staff. The study also reviews the collaborative efforts of Valley Oasis, a domestic violence service agency, and the Los Angeles County Department of the Department of Children and Family Services Lancaster Regional Office and evaluates their interventions.
The study makes clear that survivors of domestic violence struggle against numerous barriers in child welfare cases. The findings document the significance of complex trauma among parent survivors of domestic violence interacting with the child welfare system and the need to enhance domestic violence knowledge and intervention skills among child welfare workers. The study’s evaluation of collaborative interventions developed by DCFS Lancaster and their service partners suggests that collaboration between child welfare staff and domestic violence service providers improves support for parent survivors and their children. Training and consultation resulted in significant knowledge gains about domestic violence among service providers and enhanced the use of knowledge of domestic violence and the application of effective intervention strategies. The study’s findings support ongoing collaboration between DCFS Lancaster and Valley Oasis to address the needs of parent survivors and their children in the Antelope Valley.
“Domestic violence is a big issue impacting the lives of Los Angeles County residents—from childhood to adulthood. Our foster care system feels the impact of this challenge every day and needs new strategies that support families to keep them safely together,” said Los Angeles County 5th District Supervisor Kathryn Barger in comments on the study. “With novel research from the UCLA Pritzker Center, Los Angeles County’s safety net is primed to innovate. This boils down to proactively supporting domestic violence survivors and their children. We need to keep evolving our methods and work to meet today’s reality and needs.”
Keeping families safely together can be very challenging in situations involving intimate partner violence because these incidents can sometimes unintentionally endanger children in the home,” added Brandon T. Nichols, director of the Department of Children and Family Services. “What we’ve gleaned from this work is that family dynamics are deeply personal, human, and complex, requiring us to better understand and assess the risks posed to the children involved. With the insights we’ve gained, we are creating environments where survivors can feel safe and free of guilt, shame or a sense of responsibility for the abuse they’ve endured. Most importantly, with this new guidance, we hope to help survivors access services and resources they need to heal themselves and their children.”
The study offers specific recommendations for additional reforms for implementation across Los Angeles County to better support families experiencing domestic violence. The recommendations range from enhancing and increasing the scale of collaborative efforts and refining domestic violence referrals to expanding mental health service and childcare access and strengthening public transit in the Antelope Valley. The recommendations require collaboration across LA County departments, non-profit service providers, domestic violence advocates, and parent survivors.
“As a public institution, UCLA makes a concerted effort to join hands with philanthropy, government, and community-based organizations and the UCLA Pritzker Center is pleased to conduct this community-based research in the Antelope Valley,” said Tyrone C. Howard, co-director of the UCLA Pritzker Center and the Pritzker Family Endowed Chair in the UCLA School of Education and Information Studies. “This research examining domestic violence and foster care is one such example of coming together to enhance the social safety net for families in need. Sharing research relevant to the Antelope Valley has the potential to benefit all of LA County and other jurisdictions across the country.”
“The focus groups held for mothers who had experienced domestic violence and involvement with the Department of Children and Family Services provided a powerful platform for these women to share their personal experiences navigating systems as they began their journey toward recovery,” said Sarah Perry, CEO of Valley Oasis.
“These discussions not only gave mothers a voice but will also serve to provide valuable feedback to policymakers, social workers, and service providers, helping to inform more comprehensive and effective approaches to domestic violence support and reunification efforts.”
The study findings were presented by the research team, led by Dr. Brenda Tully, and project collaborators from Valley Oasis and the LA County Department of Children and Family Services. Comments on the work were provided by Supervisor Barger, Nichols, and others at a community event on Tuesday Morning, October 15, at the Lancaster Library. The study, “Collaborative Reform in Child Welfare for Families Experiencing Domestic Violence in the Antelope Valley,” was funded by the Blue Shield Foundation of California, Van Nuys Charities, and Pritzker Foster Care Initiative.
The research can be accessed on the UCLA Pritzker Center website. A video of the research presentation will be available Tuesday, October 16, on the Pritzker Center’s YouTube channel.
Above, top to bottom: Taylor Dudley, executive director, UCLA Pritzker Center for Strengthening Children and Families
Kathryn Barger, Los Angeles County Supervisor (5th District) Courtesy of Los Angeles County
Tyrone C. Howard, co-director, UCLA Pritzker Center for Strengthening Children and Families