Collaborative Governance in Serving Battered Mothers and Children
Collaboration | Innovations | Outcomes
–Social problems demand leadership with best practices on how to tackle problems in communities. –Single leaders are not always able to meet the challenge of complex community problems –Collaboration can increase capacity to face challenges. –Applied collaborative governance theory brings public and private stakeholders together to participate in collaborative decision making processes (Ansell & Gash, 2008). –Collaborative governance combines practice and research in public administration (Emerson, Nabatchi, & Balogh, 2012). –Feminist scholars agree that states are generally patriarchal, in that, they act in the interests of men over women (Mirchandani, 2006). –In addressing battered mothers and children, collaborators must include Guardian ad Litems (GALs), custody evaluators, judges, attorneys, domestic violence (DV) and sexual assault organizations, and government agencies serving battered mothers (CPS, DSS, etc.). –Collaborative governance may: –Reduce incidences of child PTSD –Reduce revictimization of abused women –Strengthen maternal bonds between mothers and children –Serve as a validation for women that the abuse did occur (rather than suppressing it or ignoring it) –GALs, custody evaluators, and judges may become more knowledgeable about the dynamics of power and control in legal proceedings –Collaborative governance may: –Empower women to feel free to emancipate themselves from the continued cycle of power and control that the family courts statutorily place upon both abused mothers and children –reduce incidences of child deaths while living with abusive parent –reduce childhood trauma from being removed from the protective parent. |