This fascinating story, written by Anna Limontas Salisbury for WomensEnew.org, tells the story of Nancy Vivioda, who, without
warning, had her five children removed from her and sent to five different foster homes for a year because her husband -- not her -- was abusive and violent. It reveals the workings of a system that is clearly not trauma-informed. Â
Vivioda's case raises the question of why authorities focused on Vivioda, who was nonviolent.
Detroit's Department of Human Resources did not respond to requests for comment.
"Unfortunately, the system's response is to remove a child from the non-abusive parent rather than working with the non-abusive parent to help her keep the children safe," said Vivek Sankaran, director of the Detroit Center for Family Advocacy, a group created in 2009 to serve families under the stress of the child welfare system.
In the 1990s policy makers and advocates began reviewing the divide between advocates for battered women and government workers focused on protecting children from household violence. While both camps sought to protect their clients, neither seemed to recognize that violence in the home overlaps for both victims and their children. Between 3.3 million and 10 million children are present each year during the battering of a caregiver, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
When state workers remove children from the nonviolent parent it's often because that parent--most commonly the mother--is seen as negligent in her ability to protect her children as a result of her children's exposure to domestic violence. Advocates for battered mothers say this means the women are victimized twice, first by their abuser and second by state workers who take their children away.
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