Judges' group releases guidelines for protecting victims of family violence.

Family violence erupts in a home. A woman is battered. Her children witness the abuse. One child is struck and bruised. A neighbor calls the police, who arrest the batterer. The family enters the court system. What happens next?

Critics of the current response system say that too often several different courts and social service agencies offer a disjointed and ineffective set of interventions and treat adult domestic violence and child maltreatment as unrelated phenomena. In worst-case scenarios, the children are taken from the battered mother, who is blamed for allowing the children to be exposed to violence.

In June, leading judges and experts on family violence and the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (NCJFCJ) released recommendations for changes to improve the way courts and social service agencies protect victims of abuse.

"Because of the tragic incidents of violence in our schools, America may be more focused on violence prevention now than ever before," said Meredith Hofford, director of the family violence department of the NCJFCJ, based in Reno, Nevada. "There is a connection between violence in the home and violence on the streets. Today, our system is broken. Social service agencies lack resources, judges lack information, and in the end, too many victims do not get the help that they need.

"Adult domestic violence and child maltreatment often occur together, with the same assailant responsible for both. Our system needs to acknowledge that fact. This new report is a badly needed blueprint for constructive change."

Effective Intervention in Domestic Violence and Child Maltreatment Cases: Guidelines for Policy and Practice offers communities a framework for improving the way they handle family violence. Its recommendations include:

* Every community should cross-train service providers who help families experiencing domestic violence and child maltreatment on identification, assessment, referral, and safety intervention. Agencies and courts should build staff capacity to better help clients from diverse communities and income levels.

* Juvenile courts should collaborate with other courts, including criminal, civil, and family courts, that may be dealing with family members and others involved in the case.

* Petitioners in child protection proceedings should allege in petitions or pleadings any domestic violence that has caused harm to a child. The juvenile court should remove the abuser before removing the child from the battered mother. The court should work with child welfare and social service agencies to ensure that separate service plans are developed for the perpetrator and for the victim of domestic violence.

* Child protection service agencies should screen all family members confidentially to find out if they have been victims of domestic violence. The agencies should provide help to them if necessary.

* Policies of child protection services agencies should state when children can remain safely with nonabusing parents; what assessment is required to determine safety; and what safety planning, services, support, and monitoring are required.

Copies of the report are available from the National Resource Center on Domestic Violence: Child Protection and Custody at [phone].