One Organization’s Approach to Balancing Survivor Empowerment with Mandated Child Abuse Reporting

Abstract

There is a long-standing history of tension between the domestic violence and child welfare fields. Domestic violence advocates, whose mission is to empower individual experiencing domestic violence, are often placed in the role of gatekeeper to the child welfare system as they decide whether or not to report potential child abuse and neglect to the state. This commentary serves to open a dialogue concerning how domestic violence organizations can build capacity to bridge the gap between the domestic violence and child welfare fields. Utilizing Goodman et al. (2019) framework highlighting the inward-facing, survivor-facing, and system-facing strategies used by domestic violence advocates, we offer a parallel, organizational approach to bridging the gap between domestic violence and child welfare services. We cannot create opportunities for safety for all families until we can create integrated approaches in which multidisciplinary teams work collaboratively to leverage strengths and skills from the domestic violence and child welfare fields, united by a single vision, to support all members of the family in safety and healing.