STRICTLY LIABLE: GOVERNMENTAL USE OF THE PARENT–CHILD RELATIONSHIP AS A BASIS FOR HOLDING VICTIMS LIABLE FOR THEIR CHILD'S WITNESS TO DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

Studies estimate that between three and ten million children in the United States witness domestic violence annually. Although studies have demonstrated a co‐occurrence of domestic violence and child abuse, there is no concrete evidence to support the assumption that a child's exposure to domestic violence increases the risk to the child of abuse or neglect. Recently the New York State Court of Appeals determined that a child's witness to abuse does not suffice, in and of itself, to show that removal of the child is necessary or that removal is in the “best interests” of the child. Programs which have developed alternatives to presumptive removal understand the importance of viewing the interests of the battered parent and children as being in accord with each other rather than in opposition. Private and government sponsored programs have demonstrated some success in protecting the parent‐child relationship, ensuring the safety of both parent and child, and increasing accountability of batterers while reducing the necessity for removals. Alternative programs are less costly to the state than foster care, and emotionally less costly to the families.     

School-based child sexual abuse prevention programs

Early prevention education training has been advocated by scholars and practitioners to intervene with children and youth who have been or are being sexually abused as well as to prevent sexual abuse from occurring. This study identified and surveyed major school-based child sexual abuse prevention programs in the country. Results obtained from 126 prevention programs indicated that most programs are conducted at a local level; that together they reach hundreds of thousands of students, parents, teachers, and other school staff; and that they offer a prescribed curriculum and resource materials. Nearly two-thirds receive state funding assistance, with less than a third charging the schools. Most were established in the early and mid 1980s and have well-educated staff. Further, most work to meet the needs of disabled students and provide means for disclosure of sexual abuse. Training format, duration, and materials vary.This study was supported by Grant #5083B80014, Womens Educational Equity Act Program, U.S. Department of Education.     

INTERPARENTAL CONFLICT AS A RISK FACTOR FOR CHILD MALADJUSTMENT: Implications for the Development of Prevention Programs

This article reviews research on the effects of interparental conflict on children and examines its implications for divorce education programs designed to reduce conflict after divorce. Basic research indicates that prevention programs for parents will be most effective in fostering children's adaptation to divorce if they can reduce the level of destructive conflict that children are exposed to, foster good parent–child relationships, and keep children from being caught in the middle of parental tensions and disagreements. Programs for children are likely to be most helpful if they help children learn ways to cope with situations in which they feel pressured to side with one parent against the other and avoid feeling responsible for parental problems. Although psycho-educational programs are widely available and often court-mandated, evaluation studies are rare and support for their efficacy is mixed.     

Project SafeCare: Improving Health, Safety, and Parenting Skills in Families Reported for, and At-Risk for Child Maltreatment

Project SafeCare was a 4-year, in-home, research and intervention program that provided parent training to families of children at-risk for maltreatment, and families of children who were victims of maltreatment. Parents were trained in treating children's illnesses and maximizing their own health-care skills (Health), positive and effective parent–child interaction skills (Parenting), and maintaining low hazard homes (Safety). The effectiveness of these training components was evaluated as the change in the parents' scores on roleplay situations for child health problems, hazards present in the home, and the frequency and quality of parent–child interactions during activities of daily living. Statistically significant improvements were seen in child health care, home safety, and parent–child interactions.     

Consumer Evaluation of an Ecobehavioral Program for Prevention and Intervention of Child Maltreatment

This study was conducted to evaluate parental satisfaction and acceptability of Project SafeCare, an intensive parent training program to prevent and treat child abuse and neglect with a focus on three areas of intervention: (1) home safety, (2) infant and child health care, and (3) bonding and stimulation. Social validation questionnaires were employed to evaluate the acceptability, the effectiveness, and the outcome of treatments based on parents' perspectives. The questionnaires were divided into four categories: outcome measures, process and procedures, staff performance, and training modes. Overall, Project SafeCare was reported to be very successful and parents reported high satisfaction with all three training programs. Parents rated the procedures, staff, and outcomes very positively. Although parents liked the videos and rated them positively, they seemed to prefer training by counselors to training by video. Data were collected on 45 families and the training was conducted over 15 weeks.     

LESSONS LEARNED FROM A CHILD PROTECTION MEDIATION PROGRAM: If At First You Succeed and Then You Don't…

This article discusses the U.A.L.R. child protection mediation program as well as several other child protection mediation programs in order to examine what makes a program a continuing success. Child protection mediation programs have gone through a period of tremendous progress and growth over the past 20 years in the United States and Canada. Numerous studies have shown that child protection mediation helps families and courts by lowering the amount of time that children spend in foster care and the amount of costs for courts and agencies. Child protection mediation is an essential tool for juvenile courts and the families that have cases there. This article addresses the development of child protection mediation programs, their importance to juvenile courts, and some reasons that these programs succeed or fail. Although many of these programs have early accomplishments, they have not always been able to maintain their growth or to continue to exist. The U.A.L.R. Mediation Project has not sustained its early levels of cases or referrals from court for numerous reasons. Using the techniques of other thriving programs, we will attempt to restart and re-energize the program. It has been established that the people who have a role in the establishment of a program, the funding sources and especially the commitment of the parties to the program all have a significant long-term impact. This article points out how programs should begin and proceed if they are to be a long-term success.     

Using the role-play at the lectern: developing “work-ready” and confident professionals

As Waters notes, the role-play is not traditionally used as a teaching technique in law schools. Educators utilise role-play in many disciplines, including health, business, psychology, economics and literature; yet apart from clinical settings or for teaching practical legal skills, the role-play seems to be underutilised in legal education. An empirical study of 67 law students from the University of Western Australia (UWA) Law School set out to investigate the utility of the role-play as a device for instilling confidence in students and assisting them to prepare for professional practice. Although the classroom and class size were large and teaching took place in a lecture theatre, the role-play worked effectively. Students reported greater knowledge, understanding, confidence and skill with conducting themselves in a professional practice context. The study shows the need to embrace the role-play as an experiential learning technique that can work as effectively in an intensive, large-class setting as it does in smaller or clinical classrooms. The study revealed that the role-play technique worked very well and that the role-play is a versatile and very much “alive” pedagogical technique of value to any law school.     

A FOCUS ON EMOTION IN MEDIATION TRAINING

Trainee mediators must learn to understand their own emotions and the emotional reactions of mediation participants to intervene effectively in conflict. Training techniques developed for family and divorce mediation may also apply to training for other types of conflict. Visualization and observation exercises developed a "meta-perspective" on the dynamics of conflict, which can help traines manage their own emotional reactions and think strategically at the same time. Responding to videotaped or role-played emotional reactions from participants can desensitize trainees to conflict. Directing trainees toward information available on the process of divorce or other prolonged conflict can help them respond with more empathy to participants. Attention paid to these emotional issues in mediation training may prevent mediator stress and burnout.     

Developing a Capacity for Self-Preservation and Emergency Management Among Battered Families

A study of families' responses to emergency situations was conducted. Participants included 5 single mothers, and their children, who had been victims of domestic violence. During baseline, families' survival skills were assessed in role-play scenarios involving threatening intruders, fire, and medical emergencies. Subsequently, family members were instructed in ways to manage these emergencies. Components of training were individualized on the basis of each family's situation (e.g., whether they possessed working automobiles, telephones). Results indicated all participants mastered these survival skills and maintained them during follow-up observations.     

SENSITIZING PARENT EDUCATION PROGRAMS TO DOMESTIC VIOLENCE CONCERNS: The Perspective of the New York State Parent Education Advisory Board

Education programs for divorcing and separating parents are a valuable vehicle for providing to parents the awareness, knowledge, and skills that can lead to a smoother transition and healthier outcomes for their children. Attention to safety concerns in referral guidelines, administrative protocols, and curriculum content is integral to the efficacious and responsible delivery of parent education. This article examines the recent experience of New York State in developing guidelines for safety and quality assurance in parent education programs.     

Teaching without authority

This article seeks to examine the roles played by authority within the classroom in the legal education context and its potential impact on the models of pedagogical practice. Among the pertinent factors fuelling the changing demographics of the law student body is the perceived attraction of practising law in the United Kingdom which increases the popularity of graduate conversion routes into the profession both by qualified legal practitioners from other jurisdictions and by mature students with experience in other areas. This raises a number of potential difficulties for junior law teachers in so far as this changing student body demographic is capable of challenging the teacher's real or perceived authority in the classroom which was hitherto considered a crucial tool to the educator. This article discusses the effects of the closing gap of knowledge and experience between the teacher and the student body and how the adoption of different models of pedagogy may alleviate certain difficulties that arise, perhaps to the extent of transforming this weakness into strength. In the end, however, whether to use different pedagogical models to compensate for a lack of relative authority in the classroom may hinge upon whether legal training should primarily be academically oriented or more akin to training for the practice of a trade, raising questions regarding the appropriate form and function of legal education.     

Social-cognitive skills training with a sexually abused and abusive child psychiatric inpatient: Training,generalization, and follow-up

This paper describes the clinical application of a social-cognitive skills training program for an 11 1/2-year-old child psychiatric inpatient with a history of sexual abuse and neglect who was referred for hospitalization after sexually molesting a neighborhood girl. The content and procedures of the program are outlined in detail to facilitate replication. Results indicated that improvements were found on analogue role-play scenarios administered during training-which then generalized to several specific and general measures of social adjustment/competence on the inpatient unit. A 1-year follow-up assessment revealed the maintenance of these therapeutic gains. The implications of this therapeutic approach with maltreated children and need for more rigorous empirical outcome studies are discussed.     

Classroom training in sexual victimization awareness and prevention skills: An extension of the Red Flag/Green Flag people program

This study is an extension of a previous evaluation of a program (Red Flag/Green Flag) in which children, parents, and teachers were exposed to a workbook and film designed to teach personal safety strategies for preventing sexual victimization or encouraging adult assistance through disclosure of such incidents. In the current investigation, only children and their teachers received this didactic training program. Children and teachers from neighboring schools were assigned to a Training or Control group. Self-reports from children, teachers, and parents, as well as guidance counselor incident reports, were obtained to evaluate outcome. Results indicated greater gains in general knowledge and prevention skills at post-training and 6-month follow-up for trained than control children. Some improvements were made by trained teachers and parents of trained children. Child reports of personal experiences and guidance counselor incident reports were in accord with the assistance component of the program. However, the pattern of reports across sources is difficult to interpret. The findings are discussed in light of salient issues regarding the content of training, child disclosure, and methodology.     

New York State of Mind: Parental Incarceration and Children's Visitation in New York State

The incarceration of a parent has a variety of negative effects on a child's psychological, academic, and developmental success. Children can end up in foster care as a result of the state terminating parental rights due to the parent's incarceration. Despite imprisonment of their parent(s), maintenance of visitation with the parent(s) is still important for their children. However, not all prisons have visitation programs that are suitable to visiting children. This Note proposes a model state statute that will recognize the importance of visitation, implement “child friendly” visitation programs, facilitate training for prison staff, and provide transportation for children in major cities to the prison facilities.     

NECESSARY MEASURES AND LOGISTICS TO MAXIMIZE THE SAFETY OF VICTIMS OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE ATTENDING PARENT EDUCATION PROGRAMS

This article suggests measures that should be taken to ensure, as much as possible, the safety of victims of domestic violence. Because victims and perpetrators of domestic violence will inevitably be attendees at parent education programs, such programs must be sensitive to the safety concerns of these victims. Only when victims of domestic violence are safe will their children be safe and able to benefit from what their parents learn at these education programs. This article concludes that, by weaving common-sense logistical, administrative, and curricular recommendations into the fabric of every parent education program, the safety of victims and children will be prioritized as it must be, while all attendees still receive the maximum benefit from these valuable programs.     

How the Framework of Implementation Science Guided an Evidence‐Based Dependency Parenting Program Initiative in Florida

In Florida, like most states, many of the parenting programs that are being utilized with families in the dependency system are non‐evidence based, and fail to provide quantifiable data on parent progress during and after completion of the programs. Providing pertinent information in court on parents’ progress in a parenting program, as opposed to simply monitoring attendance, is a growing need voiced by dependency judges and child welfare case management professionals. Clear, reliable information related to parenting skills acquisition and insight can help to ensure that families involved in the child welfare system have access to quality services that improve outcomes for their children. The purpose of this paper is to detail how a statewide initiative to increase the number of Florida circuits providing evidence‐based parenting programs to their clients utilized implementation science to guide their process, and the degree to which the participating circuits achieved full implementation of evidence‐based parenting programs.     

Association for Conflict Resolution Guidelines for Eldercaring Coordinators

On November 6, 2014, the AFCC Board of Directors endorsed the Association for Conflict Resolution (ACR) Guidelines for Eldercaring Coordination, including ethical principles for Eldercaring Coordinators, training protocols, and court pilot project template. The collaboration between Task Forces created by ACR and the Florida Chapter of AFCC, composed of twenty U.S./Canadian and twenty Florida‐wide organizations, produced both an overarching guide to assist in the development of programs and a more detailed model addressing state/province‐specific needs and characteristics. Eldercaring coordination is a dispute resolution option specifically for high‐conflict cases involving the care, needs, and safety of elders.

Key Points for the Family Court Community:
• There are currently no dispute resolution options for parties involved in high‐conflict cases regarding the care, needs, and safety of an elder.
• The ACR Guidelines for Eldercaring Coordination address the discrepancies between dispute resolution options available for parents in conflict regarding their minor children and mature families with unresolved concerns about the care, needs, and safety of an elder.
• The ACR Guidelines for Eldercaring Coordination provide information regarding the ethical practice of eldercaring coordination including a specific definition, recommended qualifications, ethical practices, grievance procedures, training protocols, and a court pilot project template.
• The practice of eldercaring coordination will address the influx of court cases expected as baby boomers continue to age, reducing delays in court hearings, as parties will have the opportunity to resolve their concerns without continuous court attention.
• As of June 2015, five states began Pilot Projects on Eldercaring Coordination, which will be studied by an independent research group to enhance the progress of the process and to develop the best practices for initiating the programs elsewhere.

     

When parents kill their young children: Detroit 1982–1986

The population of 36 parents or parent figures arrested for killing their children or charges, who were under the age of 6 years in Detroit, Michigan, between 1982 and 1986, are described in the context of their deadly acts. This profile of parent-on-child homicide includes demographic and social characteristics of offenders and victims, circumstances of offense, andarrest and court dispositions.     

How I met your mother: Mitigating forced marriage in the United States

Forced marriage in the United States is a hidden issue for a growing number of children and young people. Being trapped in a marriage severely impacts a person's well-being, with long-term psychological and physical ramifications. Forced marriage increases the likelihood of domestic violence and sexual abuse, depriving victims of autonomy. To lessen the number of forced marriages, this Note proposes emulating a United Kingdom statute. The statute provides a comprehensive approach with tailored programs and services to serve the needs of victims of forced marriages. Adopting this statute will create uniform law, making forced marriages illegal federally.     

Evaluation of a sexual abuse prevention program for preschoolers

Many sexual abuse prevention programs have no research basis to support their claims of effectiveness. The Sexual Abuse Prevention Program for Preschoolers (SAPPP) was developed by modifying a popular prevention program to include behavioral training and rehearsal, and evaluation components. Children were taught to identify different types of touch, to say “no,” and to “tell others.” Each of the six SAPPP lessons included a topic introduction, stories related to the topic, target behavior rehearsal: This was followed by class discussion. Four university preschool children, three females and one male, between the ages of 3 and 4 participated in the program. All of the children showed improvement from pretest to post-test. The improved post-test scores were the result of correct verbal responses. Correct behavior demonstration responses did not increase for any child. A successful child sexual abuse prevention program should train children to demonstrate appropriate preventive behaviors. Suggestions for improving preventive behavior skills demonstrations and increasing the number of children in future research are discussed.