Child witness, star witness.

Despite our natural, gut-level response to the thoughts of such violence and the horror for the children involved, our systems are designed to serve adult victims of domestic violence. The potentially devastating emotional and physical effects of domestic violence on children have been addressed poorly, if at all. Furthermore, their value as witnesses in these cases has largely been ignored.

The Child Advocacy Center (CAC) of Lane County's Domestic Violence Witness Project in Eugene, Ore., is a multidisciplinary effort to help children caught up in domestic violence.

The project's intent is to interview children in a child-friendly atmosphere that will lessen trauma to the child. The center operates on the theory that the stronger the case, the more likely the defendant is to plead guilty. If this occurs, the child does not have to testify in court.

A Human Service Approach to Gathering Evidence From Children

Lane County has 4,610 square miles, with 328,150 people. The CAC, a partnership between the District Attorney's Office and the nonprofit Friends of the Child Advocacy Center, was designed to help children who are victims of sexual and physical abuse and interacting with the judicial process. Before the CAC opened in 1994, child victims had to provide details about their alleged abuse over and over again in a variety of institutional buildings to a parade of officials with varying levels of skills in relating to children in trauma. By the time the interviews were complete, many children were frustrated and exhausted. The CAC implemented a national model locally to replace this process with one in which victim advocates and trained interviewers provide support to the child and non-offending family members in a comfortable, homelike setting and help obtain key information to help the judicial process.

Changes in 1997 to Oregon law and practice spurred Lane County's child abuse Multi-Disciplinary Team (MDT) to develop a plan for extending CAC services to child witnesses to domestic violence. The Lane County Juvenile Court was the first court in the country to make a finding that domestic violence in the presence of children is abusive. Subsequently, the Oregon Legislature changed state law to codify the Lane County precedent--when a child in Oregon witnesses domestic violence, the crime is upgraded from a misdemeanor assault to a felony assault. As a result, children who witness domestic violence are acknowledged as victims of child abuse and are critical witnesses in the felony judicial process. The Lane County MDT, which is required to address child abuse cases, decided to extend center services to children witnessing domestic violence, and the CAC became the first in the nation in 1999 to offer these children the same support and services they offer other child abuse victims.

The cornerstone of the CAC's approach is the digital video disc--recorded interview. Once a report of abuse by a child is made to the authorities, a child may be brought to the center for an interview. A team of trained staff from the center, domestic violence advocates, child protective service workers from the Department of Human Services (DHS), and a domestic violence investigator work with a child interview specialist. Interviews are held in a comfortable room equipped with a video camera. Only the trained interviewer interacts directly with the child. Other team members observe the interview in the taping room and provide additional questions to the interviewer.

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The DVD recording reduces the need for multiple interviews and is done in a nonthreatening way. If appropriate, the child is examined by a physician in a child-friendly medical room. The exam helps determine the child's medical and emotional needs and gathers evidence for the judicial process and safety planning for the child and the parent victim.

Victim assistance is offered to all children and nonoffending family members who are referred to the center. A trained CAC victim advocate and a volunteer advocate from Womenspace, the local women's shelter program, provide support and guidance to the child and his or her nonoffending family members beginning at the center and continuing throughout the judicial process. Because it is important to begin the healing process immediately, the advocate makes sure the child and supportive family members get information and referral services to help with legal, financial, mental, and physical health needs. The advocate works with the child protective service staff and the parent to develop a safety plan. In addition, Womenspace provides an advocate as the link to shelter and the other community services. A "Latina" advocate is available to help with the growing Hispanic population in the county.

The domestic violence investigator collects critical information to help prosecuting attorneys. He assists with the child interview process and uses the opportunity to interview the adult victim, take photos, and get medical releases signed. The investigator works closely with the DA Victim Services Program to support the DV victim and make additional service referrals.

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Collectively all the team members--CAC staff, DHS child welfare worker, law-enforcement, DV investigator, system and shelter advocates, and the Latina advocate make up a subset of the child abuse MDT. They ensure that the victim and her children are protected.

Recording the Child's Interview

Because misdemeanor domestic violence cases are typically handled at the patrol level, the usual detective link between the child abuse victims and center services often is missing for these cases. Therefore, law enforcement officials responding to domestic disputes where children are present request that the victim bring her children to the CAC the following business day at 1:30 p.m. to be interviewed. They fax a copy of their report to the center by noon the next business day and the coordinator alerts the team. Once the victim and her children arrive at the center, they are greeted by a team of professionals.

Children are interviewed by a DHS/child welfare protection worker who is also a trained child forensic interviewer. The interview is recorded on DVD from a control room across the hall. Access to the video control room is limited to law enforcement, child protective services, and center staff. The children are aware that their statements are being recorded and they are told who is in the control room listening to their interview.

A DVD-recorded interview does not eliminate the need for a child to testify in court should the case go to trial. But by having their statements recorded as part of the initial investigation, fewer and fewer children have to testify in trial due to the strong evidentiary value the DVD recording offers to the case and the DA's ability to negotiate a change of plea with the offender.

Does the CAC Make a Difference?

A research study done by the CAC of all 2002 domestic violence cases supports striking prosecutorial outcomes. This study compared outcomes between the number of domestic violence cases involving children witnesses coming into the DA's Office and those cases where children were interviewed and received services at the CAC. Results show that the DA's Office received 257 referrals for domestic violence cases. Eighty-nine cases were referred to the CAC for child interviews. This resulted in a case filing rate of 96 percent for cases where CAC interviews were completed. In comparison, the overall rate of filing in Assault 4 Felony cases for the DA's office was 66 percent.

Additionally, the conviction rate in domestic violence cases increases significantly when children are interviewed at the CAC. The District Attorney's Office overall conviction rate on these cases for 2002 is 53 percent vs. a 93 percent conviction rate on those cases where children were interviewed at the CAC.

Funding

Startup funding came for the DV Witness Program from a combination of federal funds. Since the CAC opened in 1995, increases in founded cases of child abuse, increased use of the center by CAC's partners, and the introduction of the new service to child DV witnesses have led to a steady increase in the number of child victims served by the CAC.

Unfortunately, despite a strong startup phase and the growth in demand for CAC and DV Witness services, Oregon and Lane County have suffered a radical downturn in the economy. State and local budget reductions over the past few years for all of the partner agencies have put the collaborative DV Witness Program at risk. To maintain and enhance the program, the CAC applied for and was awarded a $500,000 Rural Domestic Violence Child Victimization Grant by the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs Office on Violence Against Women.

Tina Morgan is director of victim services for the Child Advocacy Center of Lane County and manages the DV Witness Program. Susan Sowards is a principal planner for Lane Council of Governments in prevention and criminal justice.