1. Using the Safe & Together Model™ to Enhance Advocacy for Child Welfare Involved Clients David Mandel, MA, LPC David Mandel &Associates, LLC May 9, 2013

2. Discussion Question What does a focus on domestic violence perpetrators mean for advocates? © 2013 David Mandel & Associates LLC Do not reproduce or distribute without permission

3. Articulating a Perpetrator’s Pattern is Critical to Seeing Survivors’ Strengths Perpetrator’s pattern of coercive control and actions taken to harm the children Interfere with /sabotage survivor’s parenting Survivor Safety plans Parenting strengths Supportive behaviors Survivor’s strengths Children Healing experiences Needs met stability safety Impact children’s safety and wellbeing create chaos and instability © 2013 David Mandel & Associates LLC Do not reproduce or distribute without permission

4. Assessing Survivors’ Strengths Related to Children Parenting Supporting the children’s day-to-day needs What her own safety planning does for her children Safety planning with children Giving children what they need after witnessing DV: o Safety o The opportunity to talk about what happened o Stability © 2013 David Mandel & Associates LLC Do not reproduce or distribute without permission

5. What Children Exposed to Batterers Need Stability Talk about what happened Safety What does the survivor do to provide for these needs? Can we help child welfare decipher between how survivors provide for these needs versus how perpetrators provide for them? © 2013 David Mandel & Associates LLC Do not reproduce or distribute without permission

6. Making a Report to CPS About a Perpetrator’s Risk to Children About a Survivor’s Behaviors © 2013 David Mandel & Associates LLC Do not reproduce or distribute without permission Articulate perpetrators’ choices to harm children Articulate safety concerns for children Share information, if possible, about survivors’ strengths and safety plans Make the referral with the survivor (if she’s willing) Provide clear information about survivors’ behaviors Give context, if applicable, of how perpetrators’ choices have interfered with survivors’ functioning/parenting Share information about survivors’ strengths, including that she’s asking for help Make the referral with the survivor (if she’s willing)

7. Practice Tips Advocates can ask child welfare workers what their concerns are about the perpetrator’s behaviors Advocates can ask child welfare workers what their expectations are for the perpetrator Assisting child welfare in understanding a batterer’s behaviors can help child welfare better intervene with perpetrators… without this, child welfare may focus solely on survivors © 2013 David Mandel & Associates LLC Do not reproduce or distribute without permission

8. Confidentiality Privileged communication between a battered woman and her advocate is paramount Releases can be as limited or as broad as is useful to the survivor Releases can be specific to providing: o Batterers’ patterns of coercive control o Survivors’ strengths o Impact of domestic violence on children © 2013 David Mandel & Associates LLC Do not reproduce or distribute without permission

9. Using Safe and Together ™ to Enhance DV Advocacy Building confidence through honest validation of strengths o Her capacity to protect the children o Her parenting despite the violence and control o Her hopes and fears o Her reaching out for assistance/counseling/support o Her efforts to keep her children well, stable and happy Supporting self advocacy for survivors o Articulating her strengths, parenting, needs and protective capacities for CPS and other systems Lessen misdirected self-blame/guilt o Focusing on perpetrators’ choices alleviates survivors’ sense of responsibility © 2013 David Mandel & Associates LLC Do not reproduce or distribute without permission

10. Using Safe and Together™ to Enhance DV Advocacy, cont. Use the “critical components” to guide work with CPS, GALs, CASAs, family court, evaluators, criminal court, other providers o Help advocate within systems to keep the survivor and the children safe o Help articulate for systems the active role perpetrators take in harming children o Help articulate perpetrators’ histories and the risk those pose to children long term Use the Safe and Together™ principles to guide collaborative practice o Routinely, ask community partners what they’re doing to intervene with perpetrators o Ask community partners about their efforts to partner with survivors © 2013 David Mandel & Associates LLC Do not reproduce or distribute without permission

11. Discussion Questions As a percentage, how much of your education/communication with child welfare focuses on: o The barriers a survivor faces in leaving the relationship? o DV dynamics/DV 101? o The survivors parenting strengths? o How your services, especially those for the survivor, help children? Where does talking to child welfare about their case plan/expectations for the perpetrator fit in with your advocacy for the survivor? What steps are taken within the criminal court process to address the perpetrator’s parenting responsibilities? © 2013 David Mandel & Associates LLC Do not reproduce or distribute without permission