what's new | publications | contact us | site map | search

Also see our new resource package for the teacher of early childhood educators

Children Exposed to Domestic Violence

An Early Childhood Educator's Handbook to Increase Understanding and Improve Community Response

by Linda Baker, Peter Jaffe & Lynda Ashbourne (2002)
A concise summary of key information relevant for front-line staff in child care and early childhood educational settings. Topics addressed include how domestic violence impacts infants and youth children, strategies for challenging behaviours you migh see in the classroom, and special contingencies for when the family is in a shelter. Includes a pamphlet for parents, in both English and Spanish. This project was a partnership with the Family Violence Prevention Fund. It was the first in a series of four handbooks for professionals groups produced with funding from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation. The other three Packard Handbooks were designed for teachers, police trainers, and youth justice workers.

Download a Copy

An Early Childhood Educator's Handbook

Table of Contents

• The Importance of this Topic
  
• Definitions
  
• What is Domestic Violence?
  
• Power and Control Wheel
• Findings from the National Violence Against Women Survey
• Impacts on Children
• Potential Impacts at Different Ages
• Signs a Child is Having Difficulties
• Supportive Responses
• Responding when Children Display Troubling Behaviours
• Strategies for Challenging Behaviours
• Effective Programs
• When a Parent is a Victim of Domestic Violence
• Ways to Support a Child who Makes a Disclosure
• Guidelines to Assist with Decision Making and Responding
• Reporting to Child Protection Services
• Safety Planning
• Lauren's Story
• Enrico's Story
• Where to go for Help
• English Pamphlet for Parents
• Spanish Pamphlet for Parents
• Resources
• References

Ordering Information

This handbook of 30 pages is available from the Centre for $25.00 plus shipping and handling. Check out the order form for details. We accept credit card purchases.

The Packard Handbooks

There are three other resources in the Packard Handbook series: for youth justice workers, teachers, and police trainers.

Children and Domestic Violence Resource Page

In one place, you can find all the Centre's many training resources and research reports on children exposed to family violence, most of which are available for download at no cost. For example, see the Helping Children Thrive resource to help mothers as they parent in the aftermath of domestic violence. See also the Ten Tips for Parenting after you've left an abusive relationship. We also list all the resources generated from our "Best Evidence to Inform Better Practice" Project including a bibliography of the almost 400 sources used in that review and a list of available program manuals.