Do West Auckland children who witness family violence get an adequate response? An assessment of the current situation with suggested strategies for the future. WAVES Trust: Auckland
This project set out to investigate how schools in West Auckland currently respond to children who witness family violence and how they could improve their response with support from the family violence sector. To this end, over 40 primary and intermediate school principals, approximately 140 school staff members and over 30 agencies working in the FV field were consulted.
It was discovered that the effects of witnessing family violence on children has not been an issue put to schools until now. It is not included as a form of emotional abuse in their policy and procedures for reporting to Child Youth and Family and that the Education Review Office does not require schools to respond to reports of family violence or symptoms of emotional trauma resulting from it.
Further research, including surveys of young people who witnessed family violence as children, are underway. A final report including these findings, with the purpose of informing any future phases, will be available by March 2013.
Click here to read the report.