Background
Domestic violence is a problem facing families across the world. In the United States, domestic violence often elicits a response from the child welfare system when children are in the home. In Los Angeles County, this response has been increasingly challenged, specifically on the grounds that “failure to protect” does not accurately portray the reality of survivors subject to child welfare investigations.
In 2020, a sustained, collaborative initiative was launched to examine the intersection of domestic violence and child welfare system involvement. The effort brought together domestic violence organizations and survivors, government stakeholders, child and family advocates, the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS), philanthropy, and the UCLA Pritzker Center. Van Nuy Charities provided early philanthropic support and essential technical assistance within its cohort of domestic violence organizations. The Blue Shield of California Foundation subsequently supported and sustained this work for the last five years.
In 2021, Phase 1 of the work involved a landscape study outlining the connections between domestic violence and child welfare system involvement. In 2023-2024, Phase 2 built upon the landscape study by conducting a pilot in the Antelope Valley, in partnership with DCFS and Valley Oasis, a domestic violence services organization. Phase 3, resulting in this brief, documents progress, examines potential applicability of pilot findings to other areas of LA County, and the ongoing need for reform at the intersection of child welfare and domestic violence.
