AAP Chapter Partnerships with Domestic Violence Coalitions

Chapter Executive Director: Linda Lee, APR

Project Lead: Elizabeth Dawson, MD, FAAP (Charles Henderson Child Health Center)

Project Summary

View the project website

Led by the Chapter in coordination with the Alabama Coalition Against Domestic Violence (ACADV), Alabama’s project aim was to help link Chapter members to local domestic violence (DV) specialists so that referrals and services can be better provided for these families, thereby addressing one of the most prolific adverse childhood experiences.

To that end, the Chapter partnered with the ACADV as a “core team” and created a leadership team consisting of domestic violence/intimate partner violence specialists, child abuse experts, child welfare workers and, of course, pediatricians. The team devised a plan to conduct 3 educational webinars as a stepwise approach to building foundational knowledge on this topic for pediatricians and their DV counterparts. From there, they matched up volunteer pediatricians and their counterparts to begin discussions on pathways for warm handoffs in their local community.

Chapter Executive Director: Ray Saputelli, CAE

Project Leads: Nina Livingston, MD, FAAP (Connecticut Children’s Medical Center) and Ashley Starr Frechette, MPH (Connecticut Coalition Against Domestic Violence)

Project Summary

Through this grant, the Connecticut Children’s Child Abuse team and Injury Prevention staff partnered with the Connecticut Coalition Against Domestic Violence (CCADV) to create a leadership team, offer statewide education via a CT-AAP webinar, and offer an MOC 4 project for pediatricians.

Part 1 involved implementation of the Leadership Group to get feedback on ways that collaboration can be improved. This group included CCADV (CEO, Director of Health Professional Outreach and Director of Member Services), CT Children’s Suspected Child Abuse and Neglect (SCAN) Program (Child Abuse pediatrician and social worker) and Injury Prevention Center, a Department of Children and Families Intimate Partner Violence Specialist (DCF IPVS), 2 pediatricians (1 in private practice and 1 in community health), and 2 mothers and survivors of IPV. The team met once a month throughout this project to discuss implementing universal education in pediatric care settings. They brainstormed around the best time to give the “Healthy Moms, Happy Kids” safety card, to whom, and with what script. They discussed helpful tools to have on the walls and in bathrooms and tried to work through the processes that DCF must follow. This collaboration has shed an incredible light on the many different factors that must be considered to implement this process successfully.

Following the first few Leadership Meetings, the Director of Health Professional Outreach, CCADV, and the lead SCAN MD at CT Children’s, worked with the CT AAP to promote and present on “Beyond Screening: Universal Education on Domestic Violence in Pediatric Practice”. The training introduced the basics of IPV, health consequences for adults and children, the resources available in CT, and the current successes that the SCAN team has had with universal education implementation. The training offered CEU credits to providers that attended and provided the opportunity to join the second part of the proposed project, the MOC 4 project.

Part 2 of the grant project was applying for, and running, an MOC 4 project. This ended up being a key to the project because the “carrot” of being able to offer MOC 4 credit for participating in the program was very helpful in recruiting MDs.

The team recruited 6 pediatricians to join their MOC4 project which ran from May 2022 until October 2022. CCADV, the Injury Prevention Center (IPC) and CT Children’s led this group. CT Children’s has agreed to issue MOC 4 credit to each of the participating providers if they implement universal education into their pediatric care setting, attend the MOC 4 meetings, and collect data on the effectiveness of their efforts. The CT Chapter team hopes to show the ease and effectiveness of universal education to all caregivers through this project.

Chapter Executive Director: Keith Montgomery

Project Leads: Marci Fornari, MD, FAAP (Children’s National); Allison Jackson, MD, MPH, FAAP (Children’s National); Bethany Carlos, MD, MPH (Children’s National); Lenore Jarvis, MD, MEd (Children’s National); Liz Odongo (DC Coalition Against Domestic Violence); Yeatoe Gloria McIntosh

Project Summary

See below for a summary of each of the key activities from the DC AAP project. 

View the project website

• E-Learning Module on IPV Screening
  • Module Title: Help for Victims of Violence
  • Module Description: This is an online, case-based, asynchronous module that was created for patient-facing staff at a pediatric healthcare institution. The goal of this module is to increase awareness, screening, and appropriate management of patients and families experiencing intimate partner violence (IPV) in the pediatric setting. This is of utmost importance given the prevalence of IPV/DV, its effect on child development, and the current paucity of resources for training staff at pediatric institutions. The module takes about 20 minutes to complete.
  • Module Access: https://childrensmedicaleducation.org/learnmeded/login/ --> Create a free account --> In the search bar type "Help for Victims of Violence"
• DC Regional Academy on Family Violence
  • The Child and Adolescent Protection Center at Children's National Hospital hosted the 1st DC Regional Academy on Family Violence focusing on the intersection of child abuse and domestic violence (DV).
  • The hybrid conference was 2 days and was attended by over 140 interdisciplinary professionals from the domestic violence, child welfare, and pediatric health sectors. The goals of the Regional Academy included:
    • Individual and collective learning
    • Fostering relationships across sectors and professions to enhance and improve the response to children and parents experiencing violence in their homes
    • Develop ideas collectively to improve policies and procedures in the community
    • Identify needs for improvement.
    • 97% of participants indicated that the program objectives were met.
  • Following the Regional Academy, the DC Coalition Against Domestic Violence (DCCADV) and the DC Child & Family Services Agency (CFSA) each requested presentations on the impact of DV on children. DV Advocates conveyed increased awareness of the impact of DV on children, and a commitment to pay closer attention to the child survivors of DV. CFSA has been reinvigorated to enhance the training of its workers on DV to improve the child welfare response to families impacted by DV.
  • DV Organizations such as the House of Ruth, have 1) referred families to the Child & Adolescent Protection Center for mental health services and 2) reached out to the DC AAP to request training of staff on COVID-19 vaccine and safety, preventative pediatric health care and nutrition.
  • Building on the momentum and inspiration of the conference, the Child and Adolescent Protection Center at Children’s National will collaborate with the DC AAP, DCCADV and the Academy on Violence and Abuse to establish an ACEs (Adverse Childhood Experience) Academy webinar series. Using a webinar format, there will be multiple interactive one-hour sessions that focus on trauma-informed systems of care, interpersonal violence, adversity, and resilience.
• DCCADV Advocate Call – 6/14/22
  • DCCADV hosts a monthly call with IPV Advocates to provide continuing education, peer mentorship, and overall support. Dr Jackson and Dr Fornari led a session for the advocates on the intersection of child abuse and IPV, and best practices for collaborators with pediatric healthcare providers.
• Children’s National Hospital Goldberg Lecture – 7/27/22
  • DCCADV and Ujima led a CME eligible learning session on IPV for Children’s National pediatricians. The lecture was entitled “Rooting our Response to Domestic Violence in Equity, Trauma Informed Practices, and Referrals to Resources”. The learning objectives were:
    • Identify warning signs of possible domestic or intimate partner violence
    • Formulate approach to inquire about the child(ren)’s and non-offending parent’s safety using survivor centered and trauma informed practices
    • Assess for the best local DV service provider to offer a referral
    • Assess for health inequities that may impact the accessibility of services
  • DC AAP Fireside Chat – 9/13/22
    • DCCADV and Ujima led a CME eligible learning session on IPV for DC AAP pediatricians. The lecture was entitled “Rooting our Response to Domestic Violence in Equity, Trauma Informed Practices, and Referrals to Resources”. The learning objectives were:
      • Identify warning signs of possible domestic or intimate partner violence
      • Formulate approach to inquire about the child(ren)’s and non-offending parent’s safety using survivor centered and trauma informed practices
      • Assess for the best local DV service provider to offer a referral
      • Assess for health inequities that may impact the accessibility of services
  • DC AAP IPV Webpage
    • In collaboration with DCCADV and Ujima, the Chapter team collated a list of national and regional IPV resources for pediatricians and patients/families. They also included the links to the continuing education, including the Futures Without Violence Webinar Series and an e-learning module for staff within a pediatric healthcare setting on how to screen for IPV. 
      
      View the project website
  • DC AAP Fall Symposium on IPV
    • In collaboration with DC AAP leadership, the team planned a Fall Symposium focusing on IPV education for DC pediatricians. Pediatricians who attend will be eligible to receive CME.