Session Description

Domestic violence is rarely a single-issue concern. It often intersects with mental health, substance misuse, trauma histories, poverty, and child abuse or neglect. These complexities create unique challenges for professionals within the child welfare system who are tasked with ensuring safety and well-being while supporting families. Beyond these challenges, there are also the “elephants in the room”, the difficult, often unspoken issues and biases that can quietly shape decision-making and impact the quality of services provided. 

This session brings together experienced juvenile court professionals, including a county attorney, guardian ad litem, and former caseworker, to address those elephants directly. The discussion will focus on the barriers, blind spots, and systemic pressures that frequently arise when working on cases involving domestic violence. Too often, these unacknowledged factors can derail otherwise well-intentioned efforts and prevent professionals from fully engaging in domestic violence-informed practice      

Presenters will guide participants in reflecting on the questions that matter most when confronted with a DV case: What assumptions are being made? Which biases may influence decisions or responses? How do competing demands within the system create obstacles to best practice? By bringing these questions to the forefront, the session encourages participants to recognize and navigate the unseen dynamics that affect case outcomes. The goal of this session is to equip professionals with a clearer lens for identifying and addressing the “elephants in the room,” thereby strengthening their ability to respond in ways that are both effective and DV-informed.

Learning objectives