Evaluating the Domestic Violence Liaison Program

Understanding Interagency Collaboration

The purpose of the project is to identify whether interagency collaboration between child welfare agencies and domestic violence service organizations can positively impact the lives of families experiencing co-occurring domestic violence and child maltreatment.

Key Activities

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A review of the literature

The research team at The REV Center reviewed academic literature and reports to learn how child welfare and domestic violence agencies across the U.S. have and are currently addressing the co-occurrence of domestic violence and child maltreatment as well as factors that either facilitate or hinder collaboration between systems. From this information, two research-to-practice briefs were developed and can be viewed below.

Focus Groups

REV facilitated eight focus groups with key stakeholders across the state of New Jersey, including CP&P staff, DVLs, and DVL supervisors. Focus groups discussed the current processes for screening and referring clients to the DVL program as well as the successes and challenges with the DVL program with specific attention given to determining successful collaboration and barriers to collaboration.

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Online Survey

REV distributed a confidential online survey to every local CP&P office and domestic violence program in each county. The survey included questions on perceptions of and experiences with the DVL Program as well as their knowledge and attitudes around domestic violence, child maltreatment, and the intersection of the two. Over 1,000 professionals participated in the survey.

Reports from Our Work

An Overview of Systems Collaboration Efforts to Address the Co-occurrence of Domestic Violence and Child Maltreatment

This research brief focuses on challenges that impede collaboration between child welfare workers and domestic violence service providers followed by a review of the collaborative models used by states around the country to address the co-occurrence of domestic violence and child
maltreatment.

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Factors that Facilitate Successful Cross System Collaboration

This research-to-practice brief reviews the existing literature on collaborations between systems at both the individual-level—collaboration between professionals—and the agency-level—collaboration between two organizations, as well as known barriers to collaborations and existing gaps in research.