ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Honor Our Voices is the result of many contributors' ideas about the experiences and needs of children exposed to domestic violence. We would like to thank the adult survivors of childhood exposure who contributed both through an online survey and as participants in our National Roundtable. Foremost among them was Casey Keene, the VAWnet Manager at the National Resource Center on Domestic Violence, whose personal story inspired this project. She shared both her expertise and personal experiences throughout the development of these materials. We would also like to acknowledge Jim Henderson from the Battered Women's Justice Project and Ruby White Starr of the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges for sharing their own stories and experiences at the National Roundtable. Their stories enriched the Roundtable discussions and were extremely helpful in the development of this project.

We would also like to thank the Avon Foundation for Women for their support of this project. In particular, we owe a debt of gratitude to Christine Jaworsky, Manager of Grants and Programs at the Foundation, who believed in this project from the start and helped us both to refine our concept and widely distribute these results.

In addition, we would like to thank all of the National Roundtable participants who volunteered their time and contributed their knowledge and expertise to help identify key issues and promising practices in working with children exposed to domestic violence.  We greatly appreciate the time they took from their busy schedules to attend the Roundtable in December 2010 and their continuing review and feedback throughout the entire project. A list of all the National Roundtable participants appears in Appendix A.

Finally, Jeffrey L. Edleson, Ericka Kimball, and Hoa T. Nguyen were the primary staff that worked on this project. This project was also partially supported through Title IV-E training funds through the Center for Advanced Studies in Child Welfare (CACSW) at the University of Minnesota. This support allowed us to hire our talented web designer, Kristin Dean, and graphic artist, Karen Sheahan. We also owe a debt of gratitude to both Jennifer Witt and Kevin Bullock of the Minnesota Center Against Violence and Abuse who volunteered time and creativity to make Honor Our Voices an outstanding resource and to the staff of the Domestic Abuse Project, Tubman, and Cornerstone who provided feedback on these materials.

This site is best viewed using Chrome, Safari, or Internet Explorer.

Honor Our Voices learning module is designed for you to use at your own pace. The interactive website provides text and audio as well as resources for additional study. You may complete the entire module, including all three children’s diaries, at one time or over several days. In most cases the training module will pick up where you last left off.

There are three main characters in this learning module: David, Lucia, and Alex.  Each of them has a diary that you will read through. Each story begins with an introduction to the child and their family and friends. Click the “Next” arrow to advance through the story.  The right side of the screen contains the child’s diary shared through words, pictures, and audio recordings. The pictures presented on this website are not the actual people in the stories but the children you will read about are composites of real life stories and events that were told to us. Click on the icons on the diary pages to display additional texts, emails or audio highlights. A transcript of the audio recordings is available in the "Extras" section. The left side of each screen contains the key issues and promising practices reflected in each diary page and ideas to consider when you are working with children exposed to domestic violence.

The three diaries can be viewed in any order. You can click the diary icons on the bottom right corner of the screen to switch between children. You may also view the themes and associated content by clicking the “Themes” tab at the top of the page. You can click on the “Instructions” tab to take you back to this instructions for this learning module. The “Extras” tab contains links to the Guide for Practice, short audio programs, additional readings, links to external websites, references, and other resources for additional study. To the right of the “Extras” tab you will see an icon that links you to a feedback page where you can tell us your reactions to the learning module.

When all three stories have been viewed, you will be given a choice to connect to the quiz for the module. You can take this quiz and get feedback on your answers. Upon successful completion of the quiz (80% or above correct), you will be given the option to link to a secure site to pay a minimal fee for Social Work Continuing Education Hours (CEH) and receive a completion certificate documenting your CEH. The module has a value of 2.0 CEH ($20.00).

Click on a diary to on your right to begin.

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Additional Resources

The resources below provide a range of links to research articles, full website, and other training modules. This is not intended to be a comprehensive list, but to serve as a starting point for more information on violence against women and children.

Child Abuse Prevention

Child Abuse Prevention Resource Guide
Prevent Child Abuse America
Transforming Communities to Prevent Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation: A Primary Prevention Approach

Children Exposed to Domestic Violence

Assessment of Children's Exposure to Domestic Violence (online learning module)
Emerging responses to children exposed to domestic violence
Problems Associated with Children's Witnessing of Domestic Violence
Protecting Children in Families Involved in Domestic Violence
Little Eyes, Little Ears: How Violence Against a Mother Shapes Children as they Grow
Child Witness to Violence project

Comprehensive resource for violence related materials

Minnesota Center Against Violence and Abuse (MINCAVA)
VAWnet: National Online Resource Center on Violence Against Women
Institute on Domestic Violence in the African-American Community
The GreenBook Initiative
Special series about young children exposed to domestic violence

Collaboration

Connecticut Department of Children and Families Domestic Violence Consultant Initiative: A State Child Welfare Agency Response to Domestic Violence

Custody and Visitation

Child Custody and Visitation Decisions in Domestic Violence Cases: Legal Trends, Risk Factors, and Safety Concerns 
Supervised Visitation: Information for Mothers Who Have Been Abused
Parental Alienation Syndrome & Parental Alienation: Research Reviews

Economic Empowerment Programs

Click to Empower
Sanctuary for Families
Economic Empowerment of Domestic Violence Survivors

Immigrants and Refugees

Immigrant victims of domestic violence: Cultural challenges and available legal protections
Advocacy to improve services for battered migrant and immigrant women living in rural communities
Sexual assault within refugee and immigrant communities
The facts on immigrant women and domestic violence: Battered immigrant women face many difficult barriers

Parenting

Connect: Supporting Children Exposed to Domestic Violence- In-service Training for Resource Families, a Trainer's Guide & Tools
Project SUPPORT: A home visiting program to support mothers and children transitioning out of the shelter

Prevention

Working with Children Towards a Healthy & Non-Violent Future by VAWnet, the National Online Resource Center on Violence Against Women
Coaching Boys to Men

Safety Planning

A child's own safety plan that can be completed and printed out
When battered women stay…Advocacy beyond leaving

Sexual Abuse

Child Sexual Abuse: Assessment, Prevention and Intervention
Child Sexual Abuse: Understanding the Issues
Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Overview by the National Sexual Violence Resource Center(2011)

Teen Dating Violence

Preventing and Responding to Teen Dating Violence
Teen Dating Violence: A Review of Risk Factors and Prevention Efforts

Websites for Adults

What to Know About Teen Dating Violence
Love is Not Abuse

Website for Teens

Love Is Respect
That's Not Cool
The Safe Space
Break the Cycle
A Thin Line

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