Predicting Children's Domestic Violence Service Participation and Completion

Abstract

This study was conducted at a large Midwestern domestic violence agency. It identified (a) the agency's potential child client population, (b) the agency's actual child client population, and (c) factors that enhance the likelihood of a child's participation in and completion of the agency's children's program. The study sample included 194 children exposed to domestic violence associated with battered women and battering men. Analysis were performed on vanables associated with children's participation in or completion of the program. Less than one third of the potential child client population used available services. A child's participation in services was closely associated with whether the child was living with his or her mother and the level of services provided to the mother. A child's completion of the program was associated with the level of services provided to that child's mother and father as well as with the child's age.