Pritzker Center Report on Domestic Violence Cited by CalMatters
UCLA researchers found that more than half of LA County’s foster care cases involve domestic violence.
A report by the UCLA Pritzker Center for Strengthening Children and Families has been featured in a recent CalMatters article on California’s “failure to protect” laws which allow child welfare agencies to remove children from households that are environments of domestic violence. Although meant to protect children, research has shown that the separations can deepen a family’s trauma. In addition, California’s criteria for taking children out of abusive homes is vague in comparison to other states, and the threat of being separated from their children often discourages the abused parent from reporting domestic violence.
The Pritzker Center report has revealed that in 2020, more than half of Los Angeles County’s 38,618 foster care cases involved domestic violence. The Center calls for California to consider legislative reforms and for better training in the complexities of family violence for all child welfare workers, court officers and such mandated reporters as teachers and coaches.
Visit this link to read the full article in CalMatters.