A Systematic Approach to Domestic Abuse–Informed Child Custody Decision Making in Family Law Cases

• Author: Gabrielle Davis
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/fcre.12173
• Date: 01 October 2015
• Published date: 01 October 2015

ARTICLES

A SYSTEMATIC APPROACH TO DOMESTIC ABUSE–INFORMED

CHILD CUSTODY DECISION MAKING IN FAMILY LAW CASES

1

Gabrielle Davis

This article introduces an approach to domestic violence–informed decision making developed under the auspices of the

National Child Custody Differentiation Project, a cooperative undertaking among the Battered Women’s Justice Project, the

Association of Family & Conciliation Courts, the National Council of Juvenile & Family Court Judges, Praxis International,

and the U.S. Department of Justice Office on Violence Against Women. This approach has four essential elements: (1) identi-

fying domestic abuse; (2) understanding the nature and context of domestic abuse; (3) determining the implications of abuse;

and (4) accounting for the nature, context, and implications of abuse in all custody-related recommendations and decisions.

Key Points for the Family Court Community:

Applying a systematic approach to domestic violence can help practitioners identify, understand, and account for abuse

in family law cases.

The approach recommended here is suitable for use by anyone who is involved in a contested child custody case at

any stage of the proceeding.

The specific application of the recommended approach will vary depending upon the practitioner’s role and function in

the case, relationship to the parties, and access to information, as well as the nature of the proceeding and the issues to

be decided.

Keywords: Battered Women’s Justice Project; Best Interests of the Child; Domestic Abuse; Domestic Violence; Family

Court; Informed Decision Making; Intimate Partner Abuse; and Parenting.

I. INTRODUCTION

Child custody decision making in the context of domestic abuse allegations is controversial,

unpredictable, and challenging for practitioners and families. For years, survivors and advocates

have observed that the family court system fails to adequately protect the safety and well-being of

children and their battered parents in domestic violence-related child custody cases.

2

Others have

raised concern that the family court system does not adequately protect the rights and interests of

parents who are wrongfully accused of domestic violence and/or unjustifiably estranged from their

children.

3

In order to address these and other institutionally entrenched issues, the U.S. Department

of Justice Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) enlisted the services of the Battered Women’s

Justice Project (BWJP) to lead the National Child Custody Differentiation Project (the Project). The

goal of the Project was to develop a mechanism by which family court practitioners could better

identify, understand, and account for the context and implications of domestic violence at all

decision-making stages and settings within contested child custody proceedings.

This article provides a brief overview of the Project, discusses the key findings and themes that

emerged from the Project, and introduces an approach to domestic violence–informed decision mak-

ing that grew out of the Project. That approach has four essential elements: (1) identifying domestic

abuse (determining whether domestic abuse is or may be an issue in the case); (2) understanding the

nature and context of domestic abuse (ascertaining who is doing what to whom, why, and to what

Correspondence: gdavis@bwjp.org

FAMILY COURT REVIEW, Vol. 53 No. 4, October 2015 565–577

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C2015 Association of Family and Conciliation Courts