COALITION RELEASES PROTOCOL ADDRESSING CHILDREN WHO WITNESS DOMESTIC HOMICIDE

COALITION RELEASES PROTOCOL ADDRESSING CHILDREN WHO WITNESS DOMESTIC HOMICIDE

Project First of Its Kind in the Nation

Baton Rouge, LA – November 20, 2014 – The Louisiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence has released a recommended protocol for responding to children exposed to domestic homicides. The protocol, the first of its kind in the nation, became available for download today through the LCADV website.

The protocol was the result of a three year project, funded by the Federal Department of Justice, dedicated to building capacity to assist children exposed to violence. A group of stakeholders and partners, including The New Orleans Children’s Bureau, the Attorney General’s Office, the Department of Health and Hospitals and the Department of Children and Family Services, participated in authoring the protocol.

LCADV records approximately 60 domestic homicides per year in Louisiana and estimates that at least 100 children per year lose one or both parents in domestic homicides. Annualized over a lifetime this means that there are likely between 8,000 – 10,000 people living in Louisiana who have grown or are currently growing up without a parent due to these tragic crimes.

Louisiana was uniquely situated to author such a protocol due to the high rate of domestic homicides in our state. Louisiana has ranked in the top 5 states leading the nation in domestic homicides for more than a decade. “We know that most of the victims are parents and often their children are on scene when the crimes occur,” said Beth Meeks, Executive Director of the Louisiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence. “Unfortunately, we have an uncommon set of experiences and skills in this state because we have had to handle so many of these incidents. We found that there was not much consistency in response and no tools professionals could rely on to lead them.”

The protocol is intended for use by first responders and allied professionals who work in the field of domestic violence. It gives a step by step guide to responding to children who have been affected by domestic violence deaths, whether or not they were on scene at the incident. The protocol walks through a process in chronological order from the time of the incident to the time of a child reintegrating at school.

“We are hoping that communities throughout Louisiana, and the nation, use the protocol to begin conversations about the level of coordination they have in addressing these crimes and what specific resources are available for children who are exposed to this sort of violence.” said Meeks. The protocol is free and comes with an accompanying toolkit that provides educational materials and resources that can be used with families.

Coalition staff are available to provide training and technical assistance to communities wishing to implement the protocol.

To download the full protocol and toolkit, visit https://lcadv.org/cev-homicide-protocol.

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