“Speaking for Themselves” (SFT) Program Research Paper

Introduction

Today, in the 21^st century, the physical, emotional, and psychological harm of children exposed to family-related conflicts has emerged as an essential concern for human services professionals dealing with domestic disputes (Fotheringham, Dunbar, & Hensley, 2013).

In many developed countries across the world, the recognition of the association between domestic violence and mistreatment of children has prompted these professionals and other players to develop programs aimed at ensuring the children’s best interests are met (Lavergne et al., 2010).

The present paper explores one such program called the “Speaking for Themselves” (SFT) program not only to understand its history, current status and policies but also to provide some recommendations on how it should move forward to better safeguard the rights of children exposed to domestic violence.

History, Current Status, & Evolution

It is indicated in the literature that the SFT program seeks “to enhance the physical, emotional, and psychological safety of children exposed to domestic violence and high conflict custody and access disputes” (Fotheringham et al., 2013, p. 311).

This program was started as a partnership between the YWCA of Calgary (YWCA) and the Children’s Legal and Educational Resource Center (CLERC) and aimed to combine therapeutic counseling with legal representation for minors enmeshed in the web of high conflict custody and access situations with proved or perceived histories of domestic violence.

The initiation of the program, according to Fotheringham et al. (2013), was largely informed by the need to

1. safeguard this group of the population from considerable exposure to trauma including stress, depression, social isolation, school-related problems, suicidal ideation, aggressive behavior and self-harm,
2. provide relevant stakeholders with adequate information about the children and the dynamics of the domestic violence,
3. grant human services professionals working with these families with a framework to provide the required support, guidance, information, and advocacy for children whose parents are embroiled in intense family law disputes.

An evaluation of the SFT program reinforces its current capacity to not only support the emotional and therapeutic needs of children exposed to domestic violence and high conflict custody and access disputes but also inform the “best interests” decisions with children’s elucidation of their own experience.

Additionally, the program has been instrumental in providing human services professionals with an avenue to guarantee the safety of children exposed to these disputes, substantially minimize the risk for further victimization, and also balance the children’s best interests in therapy with that of their rights through legal representation for optimal outcomes (Fotheringham et al., 2013).

Overall, the program has demonstrated tremendous capacity not only in assisting children to better express their feelings and open up to the human services professionals but also in making the children feel empowered by bringing forth their primary concerns during litigation.

It is important to note that the roles of human services professionals in the SFT program are manifold, with two of the most important ones being

1. facilitating the physical, emotional, and psychological safety of children exposed to high-conflict custody and access/parenting disagreements with proved or perceived history of domestic violence by minimizing the trauma associated with exposure to domestic violence,
2. ensuring that the voices of these minors are listened to by adjudicators and decision makers involved in custody and access/parenting disputes (Fotheringham et al., 2013).

Additionally, as acknowledged by these authors, the professionals are charged with the responsibility of using known clinical theories (e.g., trauma, Adlerian and attachment) to support “children in working through their trauma by assisting them to:

1. identify, explore, and cope with any difficult feeling;
2. develop practical coping skills and safety plans;
3. voice their experiences” (p. 315).

In ensuring that the voices of these children are heard in high conflict custody and access disputes involving the presence or likelihood of domestic violence, human services professionals are also expected to clinically assess these children, maintain records of therapeutic sessions with the view to providing a firm foundation for written reports that could be presented to adjudicators and other decision-makers, prepare validated reports that routinely document the affected children’s progress and behaviors, provide evidence-based opinions of approaches that could be employed to enhance the children’s best interests, and make appearances as a witness in a properly formulated court of law (Fotheringham et al., 2013).

Although the program has been run on a pilot basis in the United States of America, it is evident that it will evolve into one of most widely used pillars in dealing with children exposed to domestic violence and high conflict custody and access disputes due to its capacity to meet children’s needs through therapy.

This program also provides an expanded role for human services professionals to assist children and ensure that their best interests are successfully met (Fotheringham et al., 2013).

Policies Governing the Program

Available literature demonstrates that, “philosophically, the program endeavored to balance the best interest approach with that of the United Nations children’s rights perspective” (Fotheringham et al., 2013, p. 315).

In her research study, Marby (2013) notes that the best interests standard is a means to accomplish that outcome which best promotes the child’s physical, mental, moral and social growth, and that those interests that should be of primary concern in cases involving domestic disputes and child custody encompass “the child’s interest in receiving love and affection, discipline, guidance, a safe living environment, education, support, medical care, and sufficient efforts to meet the child’s needs” (p. 175).

In employing the best interests approach, the human services professionals need to consider other relevant statutory factors including but not limited to

1. the child’s age and maturity,
2. the child’s culture,
3. the child’s ethnicity,
4. the child’s socioeconomic status,
5. the level of attachment that the child has developed with each parent and other family members (Marby, 2013).

As indicated by Lehrmann (2010), human services professionals dealing with family disputes and children custody issues should not only follow the “best interests” principle which states that children deserve to have their opinions heard in matters affecting their lives, but should also consider these children as separate persons with divergent and independent standpoints.

The United Nations children’s rights perspective used in the SFT program not only defines children as human beings who deserve dignity and human rights, but also stipulates various rights that should be accorded to children such as the rights to survival, health care, food, clothing, shelter, education, and safe environment (Eriksson, 2009; Lavergne et al., 2010).

It is important to note that the children’s protection rights as espoused in the UN children’s rights perspective encourage the development and implementation of programs that shield children from neglect, physical or mental abuse, discrimination and exploitation that are predominant in situations involving domestic violence as well as high conflict custody and access disputes.

Additionally, the children’s participation rights under the UN children’s rights perspective (e.g., the right to take part in particular circumstances and the right to be fully heard in decision-making processes) inform the need to have programs that will ensure children are provided with a platform to speak about their own issues and concerns in cases involving domestic violence as well as high conflict custody and access disputes (Eriksson, 2009; Lavergne et al., 2010).

Consequently, as demonstrated by Fotheringham et al. (2013), the SFT program is deeply “rooted in a clear set of shared beliefs about children caught in domestically abusive and high conflict custody and access/parenting circumstances” (p. 315).

Following the best interest approach and the UN children’s rights perspective, these authors argue that the shared beliefs included in the SFT program not only reinforce the right of every child to a life free from aggression and abhorrence but also underline the importance of empowering and supporting children to fully exercise their right to personal safety.

Additionally, the shared beliefs included in the program are used in demonstrating that “resilience to the stress of exposure to domestic violence, parental separation, and high conflict disputes is enhanced when children’s rights, interests, and views are considered in major decisions that dramatically shape the course of their lives” (Fotheringham et al., 2013, p. 315).

Lastly, the shared beliefs reinforce a strong perception that children entangled in family disputes are entitled to contributing in decision making owing to the fact that these decisions directly affect their lives.

Recommendations & Conclusion

For this program to achieve optimal outcomes in enhancing the physical, emotional, and psychological safety of minors entangled in the web of domestic violence arising from high conflict custody and access disputes, it is important for human services professionals dealing with these children to receive more training in order to enhance their competency in child access custody and access issues.

The professionals also need to be trained on the various therapeutic approaches that can be used to facilitate the physical, emotional, and psychological safety of these children, while at the same time reinforcing their capacity to actively participate in the decision making processes.

Lastly, there is a need to increase the number of human services professionals dealing with children in such circumstances not only to simplify the workload but also to ensure that the rights of children are respected in accordance with the best interests approach and the UN children’s rights perspective.

Overall, the evidence is there that the SFT program will be of immense importance in assisting children exposed to domestic violence and high conflict custody and access disputes due to its exemplified use of therapy to meet the needs and expectations of children.

References

Eriksson, M. (2009). Girls and boys as victims: Social workers’ approaches to children exposed to violence. Child Abuse Review, 18(6), 428-445.

Fotheringham, S., Dunbar, J., & Hensley, D. (2013). Speaking for themselves: Hope for children caught in high conflict custody and access disputes involving domestic violence. Journal of Family Violence, 28(4), 311-324.

Lavergne, C., Damant, D., Clement, M.E., Bourassa, C., Lessard, G., & Turcotte, P. (2011). Key decisions in child protection services in cases of domestic violence: Maintaining services and out-of-home placement. Child and Family Social Work, 16(3), 353-363.

Lehrmann, D. H. (2010). Advancing children’s rights to be heard and protected: The model representation of children in abuse, neglect, and custody proceedings act. Behavioral Sciences and the Law, 28(4), 463-479.

Marby, C. R. (2013). Guardians Ad Litem: Should the child’s best interest’s advocate give more credence to the child’s best wishes in custody cases? American Journal of Family Law, 27(3), 172-188.