The legal system's response to children exposed to domestic violence

Historically the legal system has not responded adequately, if at all, to c ases involving domestic violence. In the past two decades, U.S. courts and law enforcement agencies have increasingly acknowledged the seriousness of domestic violence and have developed responses to it. Unfortunately the leg al system has been slower to recognize the impact of domestic violence on c hildren. This article highlights four key areas of case law in which the co urts have begun, in varying degrees, to examine the effects of domestic vio lence on children: child custody and visitation, restraining orders, failur e to protect a child from harm, and termination of parental rights. A sun e v of appellate cases since 1990, though not representative of all cases, sh ows an ongoing need fbr mandatory judicial training on domestic violence an d its effects on children, greater clarity about how to interpret relevant laws, changes in the laws to better serve children, and the renewal of nati onal funding for legal aid programs. Courts and law enforcement agencies in some locales have implemented innovative programs to improve their interve ntions with children exposed to domestic violence. These programs include c oordinated court responses, child development training for police officers, multidisciplinary team approaches, and supervised visitation centers. Howe ver, few of these programs have been evaluated for overall effectiveness in improving outcomes for children. Better evaluation is needed, as is ongoin g funding for the replication of successful programs nationwide. A companio n article by Matthews in this journal issue examines federal laws and polic ies with regard to domestic violence and children, and reviews many of the state statutes on which the court decisions discussed here are based.