Abstract
This paper examines the typical responses and approaches our child welfare agencies and juvenile courts take when handling dependency cases involving families experiencing domestic violence that fall under California Welfare and Institutions Code section 300(b). All too often, when a child is exposed to domestic violence, their mothers, survivors of the domestic abuse, are adjudged to have acted negligently for “failing to protect” their children adequately from domestic violence. Unfortunately, jumping rashly to this jurisdictional finding results in the removal of countless children from their battered yet otherwise fit mothers, and, in some instances, can ultimately lead to the termination of the mothers’ parental rights.
To prevent both unnecessary removals and the revictimization of battered women, this paper calls for an excavation of the “Greenbook,” a project initiated by the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (NCJFCJ) to develop practice and policy guidelines for cases where domestic violence and child maltreatment overlap, to serve as a guide once more. The hope is that child welfare agencies and juvenile courts can adhere to the Greenbook’s relevant recommendations when determining whether juvenile court jurisdiction is in fact necessary in the context of domestic violence. Ultimately, this paper sets forth a comprehensive, but not all-inclusive, risk assessment tool that establishes different tiers for intervention, considering the dynamics of domestic violence, the level of the child’s exposure to domestic violence, as well as any present protective and lethality factors. Perhaps this tool may assist child welfare agencies and dependency courts in determining when intervention is necessary, leading to better long-term safety outcomes for mothers and their children.
Recommended Citation
Nikki Viavant,
Reviving the Greenbook In the Context of Failure To Protect: Assessing Risk of Harm In Domestic Violence Situations To Best Assist Battered Mothers and Their Children,
35 Hastings Women's L.J.
(2024).
Available at: https://repository.uclawsf.edu/hwlj/vol35/iss1/6