Domestic Violence Issues
In this Topic
Overview
One of the critical issues to explore with every customer is family and domestic violence. The domestic violence policies for the State of New Jersey were developed by the New Jersey Division of Family Development, Department of Human Services, in partnership with the New Jersey Coalition for Battered Women.
Under New Jersey laws, TANF recipients subjected to domestic violence are entitled to additional supportive services and may be exempt from usual program requirementsrequirements . Refer to Exceptions to Cooperation Requirements.
While the child support caseload includes mothers, fathers, putative fathers, and other caretakers, the majority of CPs are mothers seeking support from the non-custodial father.
Domestic violence raises several issues for customers thinking about pursuing child support or for those situations where the CP is not personally pursuing child support but is required to cooperate with the CWA in its pursuit of child support as a condition of receiving TANF benefits. For example:
- A battered woman and her children are hiding from her abusive partner to stay safe. She wants to pursue child support but is concerned that he will find out where she currently lives.
- A battered woman’s abusive partner says he will kill her and their children if she tries to collect child support.
- A battered woman fled several years ago from a brief relationship with the abusive father of her child. She is currently receiving TANF and is required to cooperate, but she has no current information about him and is hesitant to try to locate him.
- A battered woman fled her abusive partner because the state’s child protection agency told her he had sexually assaulted their child. She wants him to pay child support but is concerned that if the state pursues support, he will want and obtain contact with the child.
- A battered man fears for the safety of his three children as he faces filing a complaint for support. He requested TANF benefits and was advised he must pursue support against his wife. He fled the household with the children after his wife threatened to kill him and the children if he left. Before he left, his wife had verbally and physically abused him and the children on several occasions.
In the aforementioned examples, the circumstances, concerns, risks, and safety options are different for each of the victims. New Jersey’s laws and regulations address these situations by ensuring that information regarding the victim’s whereabouts will not be disclosed to the NCPNCP.
If despite these assurances a TANF customer continues to believe that he or she or the child is in danger from domestic violence by the NCP, he or she can request a Good Cause waiver to the cooperation requirements for child supportchild support. When granted, the waiver allows the CWA to forgo initiating child support activities without incurring federal audit penalties.
Good Cause may be claimed by TANF and Medicaid recipients at the CWA at any time during the support process. If Good Cause is approved at the CWA during the case initiation process or during the process of adding a person to the grant, the state automated system should be coded accordingly.
Family Violence Indicator Override
The FVI blocks identifying information (e.g., addresses) from public view in the state automated system. In accordance with § 453(b)(2)(B) of the Social Security Act, as set forth in 42 U.S.C. § 653(b)(2)(B), information for a protected person may be released only if the required override process is completed. To start the FVI override process, a court order directing or requesting an override must be secured. The court is further bound to review the information and to release it only if the court determines that disclosure of the information will not be harmful to the protected party or child. Even if a one-time disclosure occurs, the FVI remains in effect for all other purposes.
For detailed information on handling cases in which domestic violence is an issue, refer to the Data Security Manual. Staff in the Family Division may also review the Domestic Violence Procedures Manual and Probation staff can review Probation Manual Section 1624.
Understanding Domestic Violence
Domestic violence includes, but is not limited to, physical acts that result in or threaten to result in physical injury to the individual; sexual abuse; mental and emotional abuse; or neglect of medical care. Examples of mental abuse are stalking; threatening to kidnap, kill, or otherwise harm people or property; threatening to commit suicide; repeatedly using degrading or coercive language; controlling access to food or sleep; controlling or withholding access to money, credit cards, or medical care; and denying contact with friends and/or familyfamily.
Keep the following points in mind when working with victims of domestic violence:
- Physical violence is just one of the tactics used by batterers to control their partners. A common image of domestic violence is a woman with a black eye and bruised face. Threats against the children, threats to take the children, and threats against family or friends are powerful tactics. Economic coercion includes stealing money or sabotaging school, employment, child care, or housing. These tactics are often accompanied by periodic violence or threats of physical violence. The batterer may also threaten to eject the victim from the home, deny access to the children, or cause the victim to lose his or her job.
- Leaving an abusive relationship does not guarantee the reduction or elimination of violence or risk. For some women, leaving may create new risks or increase existing ones. In fact, many women are killed or seriously injured during the process of leaving or after they have left an abusive relationship.
- Each domestic violence victim’s situation is different. Not every risk applies to every battered woman. Each customer must be approached as an individual, with different risks, options, and resources.
In order for victims of domestic violence to make a safety plan, staff must provide accurate, timely, and complete information about their responsibilities, options, resources, and confidentiality protections.
It is important to understand the choices that many victims of domestic violence must make. This knowledge helps create an understanding of victims’ concerns and sensitivity to the abuse and violence their partners use to control them. In addition, understanding and sensitivity enhance the ability of staff to help customers and increase their effectiveness as professionals.
Disclosures of Domestic Violence with TANF Cases
For a domestic violence victim who is applying for TANF, disclosure involves revealing personal and private information to a stranger. The victim may perceive that the child support staff has the power to make important decisions about her or his life; for example, the staff may determine whether she/he will get child support or cash assistance or be protected from child support requirements that could be dangerous for the victim and the children. Disclosure of domestic violence is, therefore, a difficult decision.
As victims of domestic violence consider disclosure, they may struggle with the following issues and questions:
- Will the information be kept confidential? Will my abusive partner find out I told?
- Will this staff member laugh at me or judge, blame, or reject me?
- Will this staff member believe me?
- I still love my partner and have mixed feelings about “ratting.”
- Will this information be passed on to other agencies? What does that mean?
- I am a man. Who will believe that I am being abused?
- Will I risk losing my children because the court reports the incident to the New Jersey Department of Children and Families?
- My partner has threatened to kill me before. Filing for child support could cause my partner to threaten me again. Is it worth it?
- Will he/she be arrested? I remember what happened the last time he/she was arrested and then got out.
- Will he/she hurt me because I told? Will he/she hurt my mother, sister, or best friend? He/she knows where they live.
- How can this staff member possibly understand what I am going through? This staff member is a different gender. He/she belongs to a different economic class, racial group, or age group. He or she speaks a different language than I do.
- The children are now emotionally and physically stable after fleeing an unhealthy environment. Will my abusive partner seek visitation to “punish” them if I pursue child support?
These are just some of the issues that a victim of domestic violence may face. The victim might mention other experiences and past results of disclosure. Did she or he face blame? Was she or he hurt as a result? Did she or he feel unfairly judged? Did the disclosure result in getting help? Past experiences may cause the victim to either hesitate or to have hope that this time she or he will be helped.
Factors that Support Disclosure
Even under the most supportive of conditions, disclosing domestic violence is difficult. In New Jersey, final restraining orders do not expire. Therefore, staff must question the customer to determine if there is a prior or pending active domestic violence action. Child support staff can do the following to help customers dealing with domestic violence obtain the information they need to make informed decisions regarding the continuation of their support actions:
- Provide a safe and private place for disclosure.
- What does the customer see as she/he walks into the waiting area of the child support agency?
- Is there anything visible to communicate that the people who work in the office know and care about domestic violence?
- Are there posters on the wall or any other forms of information on domestic violence in the waiting area or in the restrooms?
- What is being done to help customers who may be dealing with domestic violence obtain the information they need to make good decisions and craft good safety plans?
- Treat customers with respect
- Provide customers with information regarding confidentiality
- Provide customers repeated opportunities to disclose
Assessing the Risk
All parties to a support action need to understand the following in order to make an informed decision about whether they can safely pursue child support:
- The CP or caretaker relative will be asked to provide information to help locate the NCP, putative father, or spouse.
- If the parents are not married, paternity must be established. This can be done by voluntarily signing the COP, by genetic testing, or by adjudication.
- It is necessary to go to court to determine whether the NCP will be ordered to pay support and, if so, how much.
- These actions require that
- court papers, with the parties’ names but without addresses, be sent to each party, requesting their attendance at conferences and hearings;
- each party attends conferences and hearings at which the other party may be present.
- Disclosure of the SSN is mandatory and will be used to locate individuals for the purpose of establishing paternity and establishing, modifying, and enforcing support obligations.
Pamphlets and brochures are provided in most waiting areas in the Family Divisions and the CWAs. A majority of the brochures are distributed by the New Jersey Bar Association, the county prosecutor’s office, and the Division of Family Development. Domestic Violence Information and Resources is a brochure provided by the New Jersey Coalition for Battered Women; it is available in six languages (English, Spanish, Polish, Arabic, Korean, and Haitian). A directory of designated domestic violence agencies is available on the organization’s Web site as well.
After the parties are given information to help assess the risk of pursuing support, available options must be explained. The TANF applicants/recipients can request a Good Cause waiver of the cooperation requirements. Individuals not receiving TANF may elect not to file for child or alimony/spousal support. Parties with family violence concerns may elect to pursue support with the assurance that safeguards are in place to protect information regarding their whereaboutswhereabouts.
Probation Child Support Enforcement Operations Manual
Related Information
- Exceptions to Cooperation Requirements
- Domestic Violence Procedures Manual
- N.J.S.A. 44:10-59(d); N.J.A.C. 10:110-1.7(d)(4); N.J.A.C. 10:110-9.5(a)(1)
- N.J.A.C. 10:110-1.7(d)(4)
- N.J.A.C. 10:110-9.5(a)(1)
- N.J.A.C.2 C:25-17
- N.J.A.C. 10:110-9.5(c)(3)