Many domestic violence survivors who’ve had their children removed from them struggle in reuniting with their children due to a lack of resources, according to a new report from UCLA’s Pritzker Center for Strengthening Children and Families.
The report focused on domestic violence victims involved in the child welfare system in the Antelope Valley, which has the highest number of child welfare cases in Los Angeles County. It has also been at the center of several high-profile child deaths over the past decade.
The report built off a previous study that found that about half of open child welfare cases in the county in 2020 involved allegations of domestic violence.
“Domestic violence contributes a high number of children to the child welfare system, and then once they’re there, the response is lackluster at best,” said Taylor Dudley, executive director of the UCLA Pritzker Center.
Why people don’t leave
Dudley said they’ve spoken with survivors who have been told they’ve failed to protect their child by being exposed to or in a situation involving domestic violence, but that the victims often had no choice.