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Date: April 30, 2024 Tue
Time: 2:49 am
Time: 2:49 am
Results for domestic violence (north carolina)
1 results foundAuthor: Wasilewski, Yvonne Title: Identifying and Responding to the Needs of Children in Domestic Violence Shelters: Final Report June 1, 2008 Summary: The Domestic Violence Shelter Screening Project (DVSP) was a collaborative effort between the Center for Child and Family Health, the Center for Child and Family Policy, and six North Carolina domestic violence shelters located in Caldwell, Guilford, Halifax, Robeson, Vance, and Wilson counties, which served as pilot sites. The project was funded jointly by The Duke Endowment and the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation. The purpose of the pilot project was to develop, implement, and evaluate the effectiveness of a training protocol that improves the capacities of domestic violence shelter staff to screen, intervene, and refer child shelter residents experiencing distress related to their exposure to violence and other adverse events. Shelter staff was trained on the appropriate, reliable, and valid use of three screening tools to assess child and adolescent posttraumatic stress, psychological symptoms, psychosocial functioning, and child development milestones. Staff also received education in child traumatic stress, behavior management, and techniques to support effective parenting. As a first step, a needs assessment was conducted with shelter directors to identify current shelter practices related to children, facilitators of and barriers to providing mental health services for child residents, and to inform the development of the training curricula. The quality of the training sessions, level of engagement and response to training were evaluated using staff and facilitator process evaluation questionnaires, conference call notes, and through focus groups conducted with shelter staff at each site after training. Project impact in the form of changes in: (1) staff knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs about domestic violence and its effects on children; (2) staff use of behavioral management strategies to help parents and children; and (3) staff self-efficacy and ability to assess, score, and make appropriate referrals to community agencies was evaluated using pre and posttest questionnaires and an instrument developed to monitor the implementation of the screening measures. Key findings from the project were: It is feasible to train staff working in domestic violence shelters to systematically evaluate children entering shelter using standardized screening tools addressing broad psychosocial functioning, developmental status, and traumatic stress symptoms. During the pilot, 40% (range 18%-71%) of eligible children were assessed using at least one of three screening measures. However, the fact that the majority of children were not screened highlights the difficulty of obtaining consistent implementation of such a procedures. Through the use of standardized screening tools, shelter staff was able to identify mental health concerns among sheltered children, as well as concerns related to developmental status. Consistent with expectations, the assessments revealed significant levels of psychological distress, functional impairment, and developmental risk among a substantial number of child shelter residents. Almost half (45%) of children who received the screening scored in the clinically significant or at-risk range on at least one of the three screening measures. Staff viewed the screening tools as a positive strategy for engaging, educating, and supporting parents. Staff was able to identify both risk and resiliency factors in children and apply newly learned skills in behavioral management when teaching parents and interacting with children. Details: Durham, NC: Center for Child & Family Health; Center for Child and Family Policy, Duke University, 2008. 102p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed on January 29, 2012 at http://www.childandfamilypolicy.duke.edu/pdfs/pubpres/EvalServ_Final_Report_DVS_071608.pdf Year: 2008 Country: United States URL: http://www.childandfamilypolicy.duke.edu/pdfs/pubpres/EvalServ_Final_Report_DVS_071608.pdf Shelf Number: 123864 Keywords: Crisis SheltersDomestic Violence (North Carolina)Evaluative StudiesJuvenile Victims |