THE LOW DOWN ON SUBPOENAS FOR A SELF REPRESENTED PARTY IN CT!

If you represent yourself in family court, you will have a difficult challenge ahead of you as I've explained in previous posts.  

https://divorceinconnecticut.blogspot.com/search?q=self+represented+

https://divorceinconnecticut.blogspot.com/2013/10/the-trials-tribulations-and-heroism-of.html

https://divorceinconnecticut.blogspot.com/2015/03/for-judges-bullying-self-represented.html

What is your status?

The official position of the CT Judicial Branch in family court is articulated in a handout that they give you when you submit your appearance as a self represented party.  It states as follows:

"A self-represented person must abide by the same rules of procedure and the rules of evidence as lawyers. It is the responsibility of self represented parties to determine what needs to be done and to take the necessary action."

While this seems reasonable on face value, if you dig down deeper, keeping things equal between self represented parties and attorneys is literally impossible.

One reason for this is that the Rules of Procedure in "The CT Practice Book", and the Rules of Evidence are encylopedic and there is no way an average person would be able to wade through them and figure them out on time for a hearing or anything of that kind.

Second, self represented parties do not have the same power and authority that attorneys do when it comes to obtaining documents and ensuring that their witnesses are available for Court hearings and/or trials.  While attorneys have the power to issue subpoenas at will, self represented parties cannot do so.  

In other words, self represented parties do not have subpoena power. Unlike attorneys, if they wish to issue a subpoena, self represented parties must ask a judge for permission, and God help them if the judge doesn't want to give them permission.

What is a subpoena?

According to Findlaw, a subpoena is "a request for the production of documents, or a request to appear in court or other legal proceeding." There are two kinds of subpoenas. One is a subpoena duces tecum (pronounced "doo-seez tee-kum"), which requires you to produce documents, materials, or other tangible evidence. The second is a subpoena ad testificandum (pronounced "ad test- te-fi-kan-dum"), requires you to testify before a court, or other legal authority.

Why is this important?  Because proceedings in family court are testimony driven and evidence driven (through documents, tape recordings, video, etc.).  If you want to prove the correctness of your legal position in family court, you will need both.  Without them, you will lose your case. Period.

This is why the power of subpoena is so vital and why not having that power in a family court proceeding is so damaging to self represented parties and why it puts such parties in a position of considerable weakness in contrast to attorneys.

So how does the Family Court system handle subpoenas with self represented parties?

What it does is require self represented parties to request that a judge sign off on all subpoenas.  So if you want to subpoena either evidence or witnesses, you must file an application with a judge, who will then be required to approve it. I will post the link to the application form you would use below. At the same time as you file an application, you must also fill out the subpoena itself and file it along with your application form.  See below:

Application for Subpoena:

https://www.jud.ct.gov/webforms/forms/CL136.pdf

Subpoena:

https://www.jud.ct.gov/webforms/forms/CL043.pdf

This seems logical, doesn't it!  Ok, but this is the problem.  Most judges will simply refuse to approve your request for a subpoena.  They just won't.  You'd think you would have the procedural due process right to command the presence of your witnesses and obtain necessary documents to prove your position in Court, but you don't--at least not according to CT Family Court judges.  Lawyers do, not self-represented parties.

In my experience, when it came to obtaining documents from banks and corporations, my Judge declined to sign subpoenas on my behalf but instead ordered my ex to sign authorizations to obtain access to the documents.  So how did my ex sign those authorizations?  Slowly.  Further, as all judges and attorneys know, authorizations do not have the force of law. This means the banks and corporations essentially refused to cooperate, or later cooperated with great reluctance so getting the documents ended up being like pulling teeth, and I still didn't get the entire set.  Plus, I had to pay for the entire expense, not only for the copies of documents for me, but an additional set of copies for my ex.  Go figure.

So this is the paradox.  They tell you that you must act in Court exactly like an attorney, but then they don't give you the same power and authority of an attorney to pursue your case.  Not fair? Well, too bad for you.

Is there any recourse if a judge refuses to grant your application for a subpoena?

My recommendation is that whenever you submit a request for a subpoena that you attach to that request an affidavit indicating why the subpoena is necessary.  In addition to a very clear and concise statement as to the need for that particular witness or documentary evidence, the content of this affidavit would be as follows:

If the subpoena is for an expert witness, then you would include  the following information:  1)  The date when you submitted the required "Notice of Expert Witness" to the Court; 2) Confirmation that you sent the expert witness' report to the opposing party as required by Court Rules and that you have included the witness' name in your trial compliance in advance of trial.  

If you have a fact witness, then you would simply indicate that you have included the witness' name in your trial compliance in advance of trial.  

In regard to documents that you wish to subpoena, include in your affidavit exactly why those documents are important and indicate that you have listed the documents you anticipate receiving via the subpoena in your trial compliance.  So even though you don't have them yet, you list them and put the word (anticipated) in brackets to indicate you expect them to be produced per your due process right.  If you don't know quite what they are exactly, you come up with a reasonably fitting description.  This way your request is on the record in another location.

If it turns out that, despite the fact that you carefully filled out the forms appropriately and you submitted a well written affidavit, the judge still denies your request for a subpoena, as often occurs, you still have the option of requesting a hearing to have your application reconsidered.  See below the form you would need to fill out for such a hearing.

Request For Hearing/Denied Application for Issuance of a Subpoena

https://www.jud.ct.gov/webforms/forms/CL137.pdf

Of course, this is ridiculous.  Can you imagine how much time it takes to fill out the forms, be denied, submit an affidavit, resubmit request, be denied, request a hearing, wait for hearing, be denied, etc. etc. etc.  This can continue for weeks, meanwhile the day of trial is looming on the horizon and you have no idea whether you can actually present your case in a competent manner because you are being denied access to witnesses and documentation necessary to do so!

But that's all in a day's work when it comes to how the CT Family Court screws self-represented parties.  I am aware that, since my day, the website for the CT Judicial Branch has been crammed with all sorts of information and advice for self represented parties.  If you didn't know how the system works and you just looked at the website, you'd think life was delightful for self represented parties.  Bottom line, however, is that no matter how they have prettied up the website in a PR campaign, the practice of the law in family court has remained unchanged and self represented parties are just as disadvantaged as ever before.  I hope everyone gets that from this discussion.

Where do you stand if you are able to jump all these hoops?

For one thing, you are completely stressed out because in the weeks prior to trial you just didn't know if you'd have the witnesses or documents you needed to present your case.  You've probably done double or triple the work preparing to argue a case despite not having what you needed.  Then you ended up getting discovery after all.  At the last minute, you might have found new documents with completely new evidence.  You realize that the expert you thought wouldn't come is now going to be there.   So now you have to rewrite your argument again.  That's one scenario.

Another scenario is that the opposing party will simply ignore the subpoena or dispute the subpoena. What the judge is supposed to do is enforce the subpoena, but often he or she just won't do that. The same goes for subpoenas sent to banks or other corporations--they'll ignore them or dispute them, and you won't be able to do anything to force them to comply because the judge will refuse to take action on your behalf.

This is not all the aggravation you are likely to deal with.  For instance, when you get all your witnesses to Court, most likely at considerable expense--most require several thousands of dollars to appear--the Judge will refuse to allow them to provide testimony.  No, the Judge may not be so blatant as to say you can't put your witnesses on the stand!  What the Judge might do is continue the trial to a later date so you would have to go through another round of requesting subpoenas to get them to come back.  Plus, you would have to pay the witnesses additional witness fees. As for any documentary evidence you may wish to submit, unless you have memorized every detail of the Rules of Evidence, good luck getting them accepted by the Court as evidence!  In my case, I had 90% of my exhibits denied admission as evidence.

I hope you see how self-represented parties are completely screwed here.  This is why I consider them so heroic because the odds against them are extraordinary.  This is one observation I have in regard to the subpoena situation for self represented parties.  The other observation I have is how hypocritical the CT Family Court system is to conduct business in this manner.

FULL VERSION OF OP-ED BY MARY LEE A. KIEMAN PRESIDENT AND CEO OF YWCA GREENWICH FROM STAMFORD ADVOCATE!

Mary Lee A. Kieman, YMCA

"Domestic violence is a crime that affects people of all races, genders, religions and income levels. It is also a crime that often doesn’t end when the victim leaves the abuser. Taking the step to leave an abuser is monumental for a victim, and leaving is when violence is likely to escalate. The reasons for staying are complicated, which is why it often takes many tries before a victim can leave.

A cruel turn of events often happens after the victim leaves the has had the courage to leaves the abuser: Abusers often continue to assert power over victims by using civil and criminal court systems to their advantage through threats, intimidation, and using legal maneuvers to maintain control. Legal abuse happens whenever an abuser misuses the legal system to re-victimize his or her partner.

Victims quickly discover the complexities and challenges of the legal system. While the system is set up to be impartial, receiving the best representation is often based on the ability to pay for a lawyer. Since abusers often control the family finances, they are often able to obtain experienced legal representation, while the victim is self-represented or less well-represented by legal counsel.

In addition, the abuser continues to assert power and control over the victim by manipulating the court system in their favor using tactics like:

Refusing to agree to reasonable custody agreements or dragging out court battles. Abusers can suddenly show interest in parenting when they had not been involved with the children in the past.

Abusing the right to file motions to keep the victim tied up in court and exhaust the victim’s financial resources with legal fees.

Applying for restraining orders without the threat of violence from the victim.

Refusing to comply with court orders, forcing victims to spend time and money enforcing the orders.

Portraying the victim as an unfit parent and/or making false reports to Department of Children and Families (DCF).

Claiming the victim abuses drugs or alcohol and using this claim against the victim.

“Shopping around” for attorneys, thereby creating a conflict of interest for attorneys and preventing these attorneys from representing the victim.

Requesting continuances to prolong proceedings and/or not showing up to court for scheduled appearances, when the victim has had to arrange child care, call out of work, or pay her attorney.

Not only are these tactics costly, but they also cause additional emotional stress for the victim. In fact, according to Dr. Karin P. Huffer, a marriage and family therapist, the consequence of being abused through the legal system can cause a condition known as Legal Abuse Syndrome, a form of post traumatic stress disorder caused by the continued abuse of power, betrayal, or fraud within the legal system.

What can we do to address legal abuse?

First, we need to continue to raise awareness that abuse of the legal system is a powerful form of domestic abuse that enables an abuser to retain power and control over the victim.

Second, better education and training about how abusers use the legal system to continue to victimize their partners must be provided to judges, lawyers, court advocates, police officers and other professionals who treat victims of domestic violence.

Third, victims of domestic abuse also need advice and counsel on how to determine the best representation for themselves, including interviewing multiple lawyers, finding a lawyer who has experience in litigating domestic violence cases, and finding a lawyer who will take the time to deeply understand the full history of the victim’s abuse, so they can best represent the victim’s interests.

Earlier this year, YWCA Greenwich announced the opening of the YWCA Greenwich Civil Legal Clinic. The clinic, run by two YWCA volunteers who are attorneys, is providing consultations for YWCA Greenwich domestic abuse clients who need help filling out legal paperwork; help with court documents; assistance creating financial affidavits; advice on motions that they need to file; and educational consultation advice on what to look for in a lawyer.

Abuse of the legal system is another “hoop” that victims of domestic abuse often go through to be free of the abuser. Join YWCA Greenwich in raising awareness about this powerful form of abuse and supporting victims of domestic abuse in our community. To provide financial support for the Civil Legal Clinic and the work of YWCA Greenwich Domestic Abuse Services, donate to the Purple Purse Challenge at www.ywcagreenwich.org/purplepurse. All of all funds raised this month will go to support the work of YWCA Greenwich Domestic Abuse Services.

If you, or someone you know, is in an abusive situation, contact YWCA Greenwich Domestic Abuse Services at 203-622-0003. All services are free and confidential. You don’t have to fight abuse alone."

Mary Lee A. Kiernan is president and CEO of YWCA Greenwich.

FAMILY COURT VICTIMS NOT SORRY ABOUT THE DOWNFALL OF JUDGE JANE B. EMONS!

As Michael Skakel exits the CT Judicial System after years of persecution, it is interesting to see family court victims succeed in their efforts after similarly fighting years of persecution.  When it comes to Michael Skakel, the press is beginning to understand that there might have been a miscarriage of justice.  Unfortunately, when it comes to family court victims the media still lacks any insight.  

NY TIMES ARTICLE IN 2006 CITES THE EXACT SAME PROBLEMS IN CT FAMILY COURT THAT WE HAVE IN 2018!

By Avi Salzman, September 11, 2005

"The mother from North Haven sat in the back of Judge Patricia L. Harleston's wood-paneled courtroom at the New Haven County Courthouse and cried quietly. She was unemployed, she owed more than $2,000 in child support and she had no idea how she was going to defend herself. She said she couldn't afford a lawyer, so she was representing herself at the child support hearing. Meanwhile, the lawyer for the father of her children sat across the room.

"I don't know what my rights are," said the mother, who asked that her name not be used because of the sensitive nature of the hearing. "When someone else has an attorney, they know all the ins and outs and I don't."

Same players, same victims, except in 2005 only 50% of litigants were self represented.  In 2018, 89% of litigants are self represented.  Note the reference to how the majority of self represented litigants are women! 

ELIZABETH A. RICHTER TESTIMONY TO THE CT JUDICIARY COMMITTEE ON BILL #505!

Dear Sir/Madame:

While I support the intent of Bill #505 in terms of cutting back on inappropriate judicial activism--i.e. taking on the role of the legislature in creating law--I have serious concerns about Section 3 (a) of the bill as follows:

(a) The Superior Court shall be the sole court of original jurisdiction for all causes of action, except such actions over which the courts of probate have original jurisdiction, as provided by statute. The Superior Court shall have exclusive jurisdiction in cases at law and equity and in all criminal matters originating before it to determine credibility and find facts based upon the evidence submitted.

Unfortunately, on the superior court level, because there is a widespread failure to obey the Rules of Evidence or The Practice Book, incorrect facts end up in the record all the time, particularly when it comes to litigants with disabilities or with self represented parties.  Unless protocols were put into place on the superior court level to safeguard litigants' right to correct any errors of fact that enter into the record, the inability to appeal decisions made based upon factual error would lead to injustice in a great many cases, particularly in regard to the most vulnerable. Therefore, I would either rewrite this section to address the concerns I've raised or simply vote down this bill.

Thank you very much for your time and attention to this matter and your careful consideration of the concerns that I've raised. 

Sincerely,

Elizabeth A. Richter

WHEN ATTORNEYS SET YOU UP TO FAIL: ATTORNEYS DAVID DEROSA AND ALISHA MATHERS!

"How can they call this due process?"  This has been my question from my early experiences of Family Court setups.  

I have always had the impression that within the first few months of my case, the attorney and the judge had essentially arrived at an understanding.  It appeared to me that no matter what I did, that understanding drove the case from the beginning to the end.  So what does that mean for attorneys?  If everything is arranged beforehand, can they truly be thought of as exercising their professional expertise and advocating for their clients diligently as they are required to do?

STROBEL V. STROBEL: THE QUINTESSENTIAL CUSTODY SWITCHING CASE!

Some of you may be familiar with the situation where a judge, citing Strobel v. Strobel, gives an order that certain Family Court litigants can no longer file motions to the Court without permission. I know Susan Skipp has faced this kind of order and it is also in place in connection to the Mathew Couloute case.  

For a long time, I actually laughed at this order and made light of it. I couldn't believe that Family Court would actuallly have the nerve to cut off litigants' access to justice.  As it turns out, however, the joke is on me because such an order is alive and well.  This is what motivated me to take a look at the Strobel v. Strobel order and the case itself that gave rise to it.

REFLECTIONS ON THE TASK FORCE OF 2013: WERE FAMILY COURT ACTIVISTS BETRAYED BY FATHER'S RIGHTS EXTREMISTS?

Sometime in the Summer of 2013, Jennifer Verraneault, a family court reform activist, contacted me and asked to meet with me to discuss family court reform.  Her partner, Jerry Mastrangelo had been engaged in a lengthy court battle to see his three triplets towards whom he had inexplicably been denied access.  

A year prior, she had taken the free Guardian Ad Litem class for the State of Connecticut and had been able to obtain certification despite not being a lawyer or having any background as a mental health professional.  In fact, to my knowledge, I wasn't even clear that she had a College degree.  I had also tried to sign up for that class, but the CT Judicial Branch had refused me admission, perhaps because I did have a college degree.

THE CT JUDICIAL BRANCH FAMILY CIVIL INTAKE FORM: IS IT A PATRIARCHAL TOOL OF OPPRESSION!

*Ms. Doreen Ludwig, author of "Motherless America" provided the original inspiration for this article as well as a considerable amount of the material included in the article.  The Divorce in Connecticut website would like to acknowledge Ms. Ludwig's outstanding contributions on behalf of Protective Mothers and their children.

INTRODUCTION

This website has often spoken about the fatherhood funding provided by the Federal Department of Health and Human Services which has been pouring into the States by the billions and billions of dollars.  We have tracked how much of that money has been spent supporting abusive fathers in their custody battles in CT Family Court.  

In the early days of spending on fathers, the CT Judicial Branch took on the development of the Family Civil Intake Screen, a form which Family Services now uses to screen people when they apply to them for services.  The CT Judicial Branch is incredibly proud of this form.  In fact, this Intake Screen has been shipped around as a model of excellence to other State Family Court systems throughout the country.

25 STRATEGIES DIVORCE ATTORNEYS USE TO KEEP YOU IN COURT AND FIGHTING!

It has been interesting for me to read articles in "The Greenwich Times" about the horrific divorce cases which have taken place in Connecticut.  These are cases where mothers often lose everything that they have, not only their financial base, but also their children.  

Unfortunately, the focus in these articles has been on what litigants in family court have done rather than on the primary source of the problem, i.e. Family Court attorneys. So here for the uninitiated is a list of 25 things that Family Court attorneys do in order to generate conflict among family court litigants and profit from their distress. In no particular order, they are as follows. Such attorneys will:

FAMILY COURT ATTORNEYS IN THE STATE OF CONNECTICUT HAVE WORSE REPUTATIONS THAN PEDOPHILES!

It was tough to read the May 12, 2017 "CT Law Tribune" article in connection to the Dianne Hart-D'Amato case, particularly as a person who has walked in Dianne's shoes and experienced what she has experienced.  It was angering to read Dianne, and by inference all self represented parties in family court, spoken of as "a disgruntled litigant."  

I wonder how attorneys and judges would feel if I spoke of them automatically as crooked attorneys or crooked judges simply by virtue of the fact that I do not agree with them.  It is not often a bully pulpit such as "The CT Law Tribune" exists as a means to tongue lash the people a particular profession does not like.   

TESTIMONY OPPOSING SB #1049 FROM THE CT COALITION AGAINST DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

Testimony Opposing

SB 1049, AAC Registration Fees for Counsel and Guardians ad Litem for Minor Children and Other Requirements for Certain Family Relations Matters

Finance, Revenue & Bonding Committee April 17, 2017

Text Originally Located at the following link:

https://www.cga.ct.gov/2017/FINdata/Tmy/2017SB-01049-R000417-Andrews,%20Liza,%20Director%20of%20Policy%20&%20Communications-CCADV-TMY.PDF  

Good afternoon Senator Fonfara, Senator Frantz, Representative Rojas and members of the committee. CT Coalition Against Domestic Violence (CCADV) is the state’s leading voice for victims of domestic violence and those who serve them. Our members provide essential services to nearly 40,000 victims of domestic violence each year. Services provided include 24-hour crisis response, emergency shelter, safety planning, counseling, agency/staff training, support groups and court advocacy.

We oppose SB 1049

COURT WATCH ALERT: POWELL V. ALEXANDER CASE, CHILD ABUSE ALLEGED!

CONNECTICUT COURT WATCH ALERT

Foundation for the Child Victims of Family Court

http://fcvfc.org

WHAT: Federal Civil Rights Case of Scott Powell 

Suing the New Canaan Police and Maternal Grandparents for Protecting their Grandchildren from Abuse and Harm 

WHEN:    March 28, 2017 at  3:00 p.m. 

WHERE:  Bridgeport District Court

WHO:    Powell v Alexander Case #:3:16-cv-01654, Judge Underhill

WHY WATCH:

This Fairfield County federal case being heard tomorrow in Bridgeport District Court involves two young girls who have been traumatized and have suffered years of Adverse Childhood  Experiences ACEs:

See Link:  https://www.domesticshelters.org/domestic-violence-articles-information/the-safe-child-act#.WNm0S2WJrox

CT FATHER'S POWER ADVOCATES SKETCH OUT A LEGISLATIVE INITIATIVE TO CRUSH MOTHERS IN CT FAMILY COURT!

The Commander, "The Handmaiden's Tale"
The way Fathers in CT want things to be!

In Margaret Atwood's dystopic novel "The Handmaiden's Tale", a series which airs soon on Hulu, women have been reduced to baby making machines in a society where men have seized full political control  of the entire United States.  Impossible?  Unlikely?  Don't be so sure.

"Handmaidens" whose sole purpose is to give birth
in Margaret Atwood's "The Handmaiden's Tale"

Recently, I was at the Legislative Office Building with some friends when a person showed me current 2017 legislative proposals, which, appallingly enough, sketch out a strategic plan that will essentially crush mothers in Family Court and lead to a situation where men seize control of family court processes and essentially remove mothers from the lives of their children in droves. 

DID ATTORNEY ROSA REBIMBAS IGNORE CONFLICTS OF INTEREST WHICH SHOULD HAVE KEPT HER OUT OF THE STVAN CASE? PART IV: STVAN v. STVAN!

On September 25, 2015, during an "ex parte hearing" in the Stvan v. Stvan case, the Court transferred temporary full custody to Thomas Stvan. At the same time, the Court also appointed Attorney Rosa Rebimbas as the Attorney For the Minor child or AMC.  Just to note, for your information, by ex parte I mean that Ms. Paige Stvan was not present at the hearing to defend herself from the accusations again her, and in fact, she wasn't even informed that the hearing was taking place.  By law, 14 days after the ex parte hearing, Ms. Paige Stvan should have been allowed to have an evidentiary hearing where she could defend herself.  But as I have stated, she never had one, which is illegal.

Of course, the immediate question here is, why does a 12 year old need an AMC?  An AMC   primarily participates in a legal matter involving a minor child to ensure the client is accorded her legal rights.  It is a very limited role and is usually reserved for older teenagers around 15,16 years old who are almost independent. No 12 year old is mature enough to make life changing decisions and direct the actions of an attorney at such a young age.  In contrast, a GAL's role is more geared towards conducting investigations and working with the family, which would seem more appropriate where one party had made unfounded accusations. 

What I would suspect is that the reason the Court assigned an AMC is that Thomas Stvan exaggerated the situation to make it appear as though Ms. Paige Stvan's condition was so severe that she wouldn't be in the picture for months to come, and that there would be no need for an investigation and a report in preparation for the 14 day follow up hearing to see if the change of custody was truly necessary.

Another reason a jaded person like me would speculate that the Court diverted from its ordinary manner of doing business and appointed an AMC for the child at this juncture is that all conversations, all correspondence related to representing a child become secret and confidential if you are acting as an AMC. Because documentation created or received while acting as an AMC is not discoverable, this means that acting in that role allows any legal professional considerable leeway to hide any wrongdoing.  

So who is this Attorney Rosa Rebimbas who is supposed to be acting on behalf of the child in this case as AMC? Attorney Rosa Rebimbas is a State Representative in the CT General Assembly.  This is the same Attorney Rebimbas who not long ago saw fit to verbally abuse and attack a fellow member of the Judiciary Committee, Rep. Minnie Gonzales, who has been so courageous in calling attention to the abuses and corruption of family court.  

Of course, those of us who fought for the Task Force that investigated the misdeeds of family court, those of us who had the courage to step forward, despite fears of retaliation, to speak out and provide testimony about our sufferings as a consequence of the wrongdoing of the CT Judicial Branch, have viewed Rep. Minnie Gonzales as our standard bearer.  Rep. Minnie Gonzales is the warrior who spoke out courageously on our behalf, who had compassion for our hurt and pain, and for the loss of beloved children and homes and college tuition accounts, who understood how it felt for us to be thrown out onto the streets, jailed and deprived of precious family bonds with our children as a consequence of the denial of our constitutional and human rights within the CT Family Court system.  

Attorney Rosa Rebimbas is the State Representative who took it upon herself to insult our standard bearer, Rep. Minnie Gonzales, and call into question her integrity and her devotion to the people of the State of Connecticut and also to the victims of family court.  This is the woman who appears in the middle of this case--Stvan v. Stvan--to orchestrate, what I believe to be, one of the worse cases of child stealing from a protective mother--Ms. Paige Stvan--that I have seen in years, and I've seen and written about some of the worst.   

Let me just say at the outset that it appears to me that appointing Attorney Rosa Rebimbas in a custody case before a family court judge represents a conflict of interest for her.  This is why I question whether it was appropriate for her to be in this case at all.  The reason why is because, at the same time she is appearing before Judge Gerald Adelman, she is also an active member of the CT General Assembly's Judiciary Committee.  It is her job to vote to reconfirm Judge Adelman to the bench when he comes up for reappointment.  So she is supposed to be appearing before Judge Adelman in a subordinate role, while at the same time she is also in the position of monitoring him and holding him to account for complaints that citizens make against him.  

Why is this even legal?  

There is also another conflict of interest.  At the start of this case during the ex parte hearing on September 25, 2015, Attorney Rosa Rebimbas was appointed to act as the Attorney For the Minor Child (AMC) in the Stvan v. Stvan case.  Again, we can call into question how come a child of 12 would ever in a million years have an AMC represent her, but be that as it may.  Later, in November 2015, Attorney Rebimbas switched roles and became the GAL for the minor child and handed the job of AMC to another attorney, Bradford Barney.  

I just personally find this switcheroo of roles very inappropriate.  

She shouldn't be playing two separate positions for the minor child, bottom line, of course, because it is confusing for the child, but most specifically because it blurs boundaries in regard to her responsibilities.  Of course, I am aware that in Connecticut Family Court it is a standard for an attorney to act as both Attorney for the Minor Child and Guardian ad Litem at the same time, but to me that's just one more example of the complete insanity of Family Court in Connecticut.  So now this little girl has been told she had one kind of relationship with Attorney Rosa Rebimbas, and now the page is turned and the relationship must transform to something completely different.  That's tough enough to do with an adult, but doing that to a child is outrageous!

As an aside, at this point it is worth noting that over half of the people elected to the CT State Legislature are all attorneys.  So it is like this private mafia of attorneys all together in this group, dominating the legislature, who I believe, engage actively in supporting and covering up for their comrades in the legal profession, even to the point where it is colluding with activities within the Family Court system which are causing harm and damage to Connecticut's citizens.  

If these conflicts of interest make you uncomfortable, you can imagine how uncomfortable they made Ms. Paige Stvan.  As a consequence, at the hearing on choosing a GAL for her little girl in November 2015, Ms. Paige Stvan strongly objected to the appointment of Attorney Rosa Rebimbas as GAL.   Not only did she object personally in Court, she also submitted two lengthy and detailed motions to the Court asking to have Attorney Rebimbas totally removed from the case, one on December 6, 2015 and another on December 8, 2015.  In doing so, Ms. Stvan had a strong legal position. Under CT Public Act 14-3, the Court must provide to the parties in a case a list of fifteen approved people to serve as the GAL.  The parties then have a right to agree on a person from that list of 15.  

Unfortunately, and this is where a huge loophole appears, if the parties disagree, then the Court is allowed to choose a person from that list of his own accord.  In the Stvan case, without even allowing the parties to confer regarding who would be the GAL, and without even providing them with the list of 15 potential candidates, Judge Gerald Adelman simply appointed Attorney Rosa Rebimbas over Ms. Paige Stvan's objections. Somehow, when it put CT Public Act 14-3 into place, I don't think that the State legislature intended the Court to ride rough shod over the wishes of the parties in a case as it did with Ms. Stvan, particularly when there were solid grounds to simply remove Ms. Rebimbas from the case entirely, i.e. her lack of neutrality and fairness towards Ms. Paige Stvan. 

As Guardian Ad Litem, it was Attorney Rosa Rebimbas' responsibility to carry out a full investigation into what was going on with Thomas Stvan, Paige Stvan, and the minor child.  As a result, If you review the record of the case, Ms. Paige Stvan brought to Court and made available to Attorney Rosa Rebimbas and the Court numerous mental health professionals and private citizens who supported her as an individual and as a mother.  There was Ms. Ashley Adamson, LCSW, Dr. Eric D. Jackson, Ph.D., Ms. Danielle Sileo, LMFT, Pamela Lape, M.S.W., Dr. Lawrence Lorfice, M.D., Dr. Linda Gunsberg, Ph.D., and Ms. Linda J. Gottlieb, LMFT, LCSW-R.  as well as friends who provided letters and affidavits to the Court.

However, even though some of these professionals personally travelled all the way to Court, some from out of state, and spent the entire day waiting to provide their testimony, Attorney Rosa Rebimbas, from what I understand, prevented the Court from hearing about or listening directly to their testimony.  Not only that, she simply ignored the recommendations that these professionals made.  

In an email dated March 6, 2016, one of these professionals, Dr. Linda Gunsberg provided a written overview of a conversation she'd had directly with Attorney Rosa Rebimbas in which she recommended that an independent forensic family expert evaluate the Stvan family to determine what was going on.  Dr. Gunsberg also recommended a mental status examination of both parents, psychological testing of both parents and an assessment of the child.  In specific, Dr. Gunsberg stated that "the forensic expert must be trained in the assessment of children, parental alienation, domestic violence, and the interrelationship between domestic violence and parental alienation."  

Despite these recommendations from a trained mental health professional indicating the most effective way of resolving the case in the best interests of the child, Attorney Rosa Rebimbas simply ignored them all and didn't follow through.  

Overall, obstruction and non cooperation were Attorney Rebimbas' way of interacting with Ms. Paige Stvan across the Board in violation of her professional obligation as a GAL to remain independent and objective and to show respect for persons.  

Eventually, Ms. Paige Stvan directed several discovery requests towards Attorney Rebimbas.  However, instead of responding promptly, as was appropriate, the latter chose to ignore the requests, even though she received a court order on March 17, 2016 from Judge Gerald Adelman to comply.  I would suspect Representative Rosa Rebimbas felt that she didn't have to be too concerned about a Judge's order, seeing that she was such an important person. And she was right.  What is particularly egregious is that, in her incomplete response to discovery, Attorney Rebimbas took the opportunity to slander Ms. Paige Stvan's character further and draw negative inferences in regard to the presence or absence of her ADA advocates which had no basis in the truth.  As I have stated, ADA advocates didn't remain in the case because the Court disrespected their work.

It is true you can take advantage of self represented parties like Ms. Paige Stvan because they are vulnerable and often don't know the rules.  The only question I'm left with here is what happened to Rosa Rebimbas' oath as an attorney "that you will do nothing dishonest, and will not knowingly allow anything dishonest to be done in court"?  What about her obligation to uphold the law?  Did these conflicts of interest I have detailed here compromise Attorney Rosa Rebimbas ability to act ethically in this case?  We will never know.  What we do know is that, as a direct result of her actions, Ms. Paige Stvan has had to endure the worst kind of pain and injustice that a mother can be subjected to.  

AS OF AUGUST 1, 2016 ALL SELF-REPRESENTED PARTIES MUST E-FILE DOCUMENTS ON THE APPELLATE LEVEL!

For more information on what is involved, please see the link below:

http://jud.ct.gov/external/super/E-Services/efile/supapp.htm

IF YOU HAVE BEEN DENIED A SUBPOENA AS A SELF-REPRESENTED PARTY, THERE IS NOW AN APPEALS PROCESS!

If you have been denied a subpoena, you can use the following form to appeal that decision.  See below:

http://jud.ct.gov/webforms/forms/CL137.pdf

TASK FORCE TO STUDY THE STATE-WIDE RESPONSE TO MINORS EXPOSED TO FAMILY VIOLENCE, MEETING MINUTES, TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2015!

10:00 AM in Room 2A of the LOB

The meeting was called to order at 10:00 by Garry Lapidus,

The following committee members were present:

Rachel Powlowski; Donald Frechette; Jennifer Celentano; Laura DeLeo; Mary Painter; Damion Grasso; Cynthia Mahon; Linda Mattigan; Christine Rapillo, Hon. Elizabeth Bozzuto; Linda Harris; Kayte Cwikla-Masas; Dr. Nina Livingston; Garry Lapidus and Karen Jarmoc

Garry noted that the first part of the meeting would be from DCF. Mary Painter would be giving an overview.

Mary Painter stated that they had a lot of information that they would try to get through and asked task force members to hold their comments until the end. She discussed the overall mission of the department and noted that there had been some significant practice shifts under the current administration. She would also discuss their work with families with regard to intimate partner violence. Cynthia Mahon would discuss how the department operates within its legal mandate and how DCF worked with the juvenile court. Damian Grasso would discuss data relevant to the charge of the task force. James Geissler would discuss his work as a provider and how his work helps families. The presentation would conclude with recommendations from the department on moving forward.

The department’s mission is to ensure the safety and well-being of children in Connecticut and there are a lot of legal mandates to get them through this work , which involves a complex process to get them through the juvenile courts.

Cynthia Mahon presented on legislative mandates. She noted that these focused on prevention; child protective services; children’s behavioral health; educational services; and juvenile justice. She would be discussing the involvement of DCF in the juvenile court process and would be discussing the perspective of how families dealing with family violence interact with this system. She noted that §17A-101 is the mandated reporting statute and that this is very relevant to DCF’s work because this is often how cases come into the department and they start their work with families through mandated reporters often. This statute requires that certain individuals report suspected child abuse and neglect.

The policy behind this statute is to provide children and families with the help that they need, whether this involves enhancing parental capacity for good childcare; providing a safe, nurturing environment for children; or protecting children from injury and neglect. There are 37 different categories of individuals that are considered required mandated reporters. Cynthia noted that just because someone reports something to DCF, this doesn’t always become a case or mean that the family will become involved in the juvenile court process, but this is a gateway of getting the family’s case brought to the attention of child protective services. Cynthia noted that in her capacity as assistant attorney general, the juvenile court is sometimes the “black hole” of the judicial branch because there’s a degree of ambiguity to what goes on in the juvenile courts. This is partially due to confidentiality statutes that govern DCF and the juvenile court itself.

She stated that §46B-124B is an important statute for the task force to consider because it allows for information sharing across the system but doesn’t provide any guidance on how to administer this or any regulations or procedures on how to share this information. There isn’t currently a system to share this kind of information. This information sharing system represented one of the recommendations for the task force to consider. There are currently 13 juvenile courts in the State of Connecticut with two child protection sessions, which are located in Willimantic and in Middletown and are specific courts designed to hear multi-day complex trials that can’t be handled expeditiously in the regional courts. Juvenile courts handle child protection and delinquency cases. The juvenile court’s goal is to secure the welfare, protection, proper care and suitable support of the child subject to its jurisdiction. The juvenile court assesses the conditions of the child, and this is very different from how the criminal court looks at family violence cases. In Connecticut juvenile court, finding that a child is neglected is different from finding who is responsible for the neglect. The adjudication is not a rendition against an individual or individuals in these cases, but rather a finding that a child is neglected. The juvenile court system is not punitive and they are not looking to assign guilty or not guilty but that they look simply at a child and what’s in the best interest of the child. DCF files a petition when families become involved in the juvenile court system. Cynthia referred to documents that she provided regarding child neglect. These petitions can also be filed by Guardians ad Litem. There are a range of situations that these petitions can apply to, and some cases don’t involve any petitions whereas other cases have petitions filed right away. DCF has been working to collect more data on these petitions.

There are various reasons that DCF will file these petitions, ranging from a long duration of activity with DCF to a lack of engagement on the part of the family with regard to their case. DCF files a petition if the children are struggling or suffering and the department feels that they’re being neglected. Cynthia provided an example for the task force of a case that came in on a neglect petition where a mother had five children and there were two different fathers and the case came in on the DCF Careline with a concern of substance abuse. In the course of the referral to the Careline, there was a disclosure of domestic violence by one of the fathers. The case was opened by DCF for ongoing treatment; services were provided to the family and within one month of the case, one of the fathers was arrested and incarcerated for violating the full protective order. The mother was the subject of this protective order. The case continued with DCF and it turned out that the respondent mother was not compliant with the services that were being recommended and offered for her and her children. After about 7 months of having an open case, the department decided to file a neglect petition. When this case was disposed of in the juvenile court, the court’s disposition was 6 months of protective supervision where the department stayed involved in oversight of the family to ensure compliance with DCF services and to make sure that the children were safe and well taken care of. After 6 months, the mother did finally accept services and after this, things went smoothly for the family and the case closed. Cynthia pointed out that there is often a perception that families going into the court have a bad experience and in this particular case, the mother and social worker walked out of the courtroom together and hugged and the mother thanked her for her help and said on the record that this was a positive experience.

The neglect allegations that come on petitions can encompass a wide variety of scenarios ranging from substance abuse to mental health to inappropriate housing; ongoing criminal involvement;

intimate partner violence or family violence in the home, and one of the allegations is being permitted to live under conditions injurious to a child’s well-being. This allegation typically comes under the classification of domestic violence in the home.

Regarding orders of temporary custody, Ms. Mahopn noted that in the example she provided, the children were never removed from their mother’s care. There are times, however, when it is necessary to remove a child because of the high level of danger present in the home and in these cases, an order of temporary custody is presented to the court. The court assesses whether there is reasonable cause to believe that the child is suffering from serious physical illness or serious physical injury or is in immediate physical danger from the child’s surroundings. Additionally, the court considers whether immediate removal from the surroundings is necessary to ensure the child’s safety.

The department tries to avoid removing children from their parents or their surroundings and removal is a last resort, as this can be a traumatic experience. The department works with families to reduce family violence and find resources for the child such as placing them with a relative or someone the child knows rather than going into foster care with a stranger. When a child is removed from their family, an order of temporary custody is filed with the juvenile court. Attached to this is an affidavit typically filed by the Department of Children and Families or by a Guardian ad Litem, which includes information that is provided to the judge ex parte explaining why it is believed that the child is in immediate physical danger and needs to be removed immediately from their guardians or custodians.

Occasionally a judge of the superior court may, on their own, issue an order of temporary custody if during the course of the court proceeding there is information presented indicating that the child is in physical danger. If the judge grants this order of temporary custody, by statute the family is required to have a preliminary hearing within 10 days where families come in and meet with the court service officer, who sits down with the families to mediate the cases and discuss with the parents whether they will sustain the order of temporary custody and allow the child to remain in DCF care or send the child back to the family. At these hearings, the parents are entitled to court-appointed counsel where they fill out a financial affidavit for the judge to review and counsel can be assigned. The child in the juvenile court is automatically provided an attorney. The child is not provided a Guardian ad Litem unless the appointed attorney deems that this is appropriate. Guardians ad Litem are appointed in cases where the child’s position is different from what’s in the child’s best interests. After this preliminary hearing, if the parties decide whether they want a full trial, by statute they can have another trial within 10 days. This process in juvenile court happens very quickly because in cases where a child is removed from their parents’ care, the parents have a right to have that resolved as quickly as possible. At the trial, the standard is a fair preponderance of the evidence to prove that more likely than not a child is in immediate physical danger if returned to their parents or guardians.

Neglect petitions still have to be resolved after the court proceedings to adjudicate the child as neglected. This is where the court is looking at the condition of the child; age of the child; whether the child has been abandoned and denied proper care or being permitted to live under conditions injurious to the child’s well-being, and once the court makes the determination they can move on to the disposition of the case.

Ms. Mahon listed three different dispositions in her presentation. Protective supervision is where the child remains in the home with the parents and services are provided by the department and court oversight is provided as well. Court oversight can have different interpretations ranging from the court bringing the family back on a monthly or weekly basis to check in with the family and to verify that they’re complying with the services being offered. The juvenile court does have significant control over the case and can be as little or as much involved as necessary. Ms. Mahon defined “commitment to the department” as when the child is in foster care and “transfer of guardianship” is when the court recommends that another third party assume guardianship of the child.

Ms. Mahon noted that the juvenile court has authority to issue orders over the parties, which is important to note because families have involvement in many different definitions of the judicial branch at the same time. These judges are issuing orders that affect the children and can affect the families as well as the other divisions. Ms. Mahon referred to another form that she brought and

noted that there was language on the form about cooperating with domestic violence programs. She noted that the juvenile court is ordering families to be involved in domestic violence programs and to cooperate with restraining orders and protective orders. The steps on the form are ordered at different times throughout the case and can be ordered at the temporary custody order phase if this happens at the beginning of the case or can be ordered at the disposition of and neglect petition. These steps can be modified throughout the course of the case by families coming in before the judge and they will typically remain in place until the case is over.

Ms. Mahon noted that the steps that the court issues are issued to the parties, so in cases where, for example, there is a mother and children and the boyfriend is a perpetrator of domestic violence, the juvenile court does not have authority to issue orders on the boyfriend because he’s not a party to the case. The specific steps also include orders that are directed toward the Department of Children and Families because they are also considered a party in the case. If the juvenile court determines that DCF needs to provide services, that can be included in the orders as well.

Mary Painter presented on the Department of Children and Familes’s work with families. She stated that the department is trying to approach their work with families in the most beneficial way. She went over some of the broader strategies that the department has employed under the current administration. Ms. Painter noted that the department works to strengthen families as the main framework of its mission. The driving belief behind their practice is that children do best within families and that all families have strengths that can be built upon. DCF wants children to be at home with families or with kin whenever possible. She listed two examples of how this plays out in practice. DCF does announced visits, which wasn’t the case years ago, and they’re also trying to look at everything through a racial justice lens, which is a significant priority for the department, which allows them to analyze who accesses services and who uses services. The Fatherhood Matters Initiative was employed in 2010 and the purpose of this was to increase the involvement of fathers and their family members in the families they work with to combat both internal and external myths about fathers and change the culture around fatherhood to emphasize that fathers are important and are capable of nurturing young children. To do this, DCF has increased services for fathers and worked on engaging them more in all of these processes. Each area office has a FELT team, or a Fatherhood Engagement Leadership Team, which is built of internal and external stakeholders to move the work forward.

DCF has the Considered Removal Child and Family team, which is the department’s effort to always have a team meeting with DCF in partnership with families and whoever the family wants to bring to the table when there’s consideration of removal of a child from the family. This does not always occur in imminent risk situations, but the department strives to do this whenever possible. The purpose of this is to avoid removal and mitigate safety factors. Should a removal decision be made to mitigate the safety factors, the team works to find solutions so that the child can return home quickly. 75% of the time, there is a meeting with the family before the decision is made and when that meeting happens, only about 25% of the time is the child removed from the home. In 2015, 68% of the children removed from their families stayed with kin and within the larger family framework. Ms. Painter discussed the department’s efforts on trauma-informed practice, They had a large federal grant to move this forward and they trained their entire workforce to be able to respond to trauma and also to not create more trauma in the lives of the families they work with. The department also more routinely screens for trauma symptoms and has expanded evidence-based practice services for children and keeps data on trauma response.

With regard to DCF-specific practice regarding intimate partner violence within the department, it is the goal of DCF to meet the needs of all families that are impacted by IPV and do this in a way that preserves the culturally responsive coordination across systems, individualized, and based on best practices and what the data is informing them on. This work started about 9 years ago and is grounded in the Green Book Initiative, which lays out the framework for how to work with domestic violence and child welfare. The primary principles include: ensure the well-being and stability; better accountability; and keeping the child at home with the non-offending parent whenever possible. There are also a lot of recommendations related to workforce capacity and building the ability to cross-collaborate across all of the entities that are part of this council. Presently, DCF is working to enhance this foundation and move forward so that there is a stronger internal capacity to respond to all of the families and different typologies that present related to IPV; evaluate how they are doing and then adapt accordingly.

DCF first elevated intimate partner violence to an office in its central office to work on the policy areas that are significant in the department such as early childhood; substance abuse; mental health; transition-aged youth—all of these have offices within the central office of DCF. Domestic violence did not, however, so they elevated it to one of these offices. They also created a program lead position that didn’t exist previously, and they also switched from an external consultation model for social workers to an internal model so that social workers have access to expert consultation on areas like education; physical health; and mental health. The department used to pay for external consultation for this for IPV but they shifted this to an internal model, which is in line with the rest of their practices. This allowed them to repurpose these dollars back into service delivery. The department also conducted a request for information where they got a very robust response from stakeholders in Connecticut that told them to remain grounded in the Green Book Initiative but to close the gaps of the services that are not available to meet the needs of families. One of these gaps was meeting the needs of fathers, who didn’t have a lot of options for treatment if they were not meeting the threshold to be court-mandated to a batter intervention program. Last year they began to partner with the injury prevention center, which is a three-year evaluation of their internal practice and the service array they are trying to build, and DCF also launched some new services.

Ms. Painter also noted that the department has been studying the link between animal cruelty, domestic violence and child abuse more thoroughly. There is a link between these areas and Connecticut now has cross-reporting requirements of animal cruelty and child abuse. DCF was recently tasked with putting together the protocol and training for animal-assisted treatment for children exposed to trauma. In 2016, they will be working with injury prevention center and CCADC to design and roll this out.

Specifically, DCF is trying to build a comprehensive and complete service array and they need to meet the needs of all of the families that they come in contact with so they need to be able to meet the needs of those impacted by IPV. DCF has increased access and utilization of the protective order registry by department staff so that it becomes a more common practice that it is used regularly to make determinations that are needed for the families.

DCF has worked with CCADV on a few different initiatives, one of these is aligning their safe sleep initiative with the department along with the shelter so that they have federally-approved cribs and they have information to provide to families. The department also supports efforts to train staff on the safe dates and adolescent violence prevention curriculum to disseminate this out to the workforce as much as possible. There are also a variety of interventions for children who are exposed to trauma. The department is making a big push at disseminating practice and making these services available throughout Connecticut. Ms. Painter referred to her slide and the four interventions identified by the injury prevention center with regard to families impacted by IPV. The slide depicts what each of these services address in terms of prevention or low, moderate and high-risk family situations.

This year, DCF launched a family assessment intervention response. This is available statewide to DCF-involved families and serves as an avenue for families to get services that they otherwise cannot get. This is an intensive, community-based intervention, which means that a family has access to the service when needed for about 4-6 months and the service is delivered where the family needs it. All family members receive an individualized treatment planning based on their needs and DCF conducts safety planning where they use the VIGOR safety plan, which includes assessing the needs of the children; pets; finances; social issues and all of the issues related to the families that they work with. Based on this, the family receives a combination of services which could include, if needed, trauma-focused CBT; there is a family navigator who will help the child connect to engage in this service. If the family needs some support related to financial or housing issues, there is a case management component to this service. Fathers for Change is embedded in this model, which was put into place to address a significant gap in Connecticut. This is an intervention program for fathers with low to moderate IPV and substance abuse problems, which uses motivation to enter into cognitive behavioral therapy intervention for things like taking accountability for behavior; parenting skills; teaching co-parenting; and parent-child sessions as appropriate.

Damien Grasso discussed his collaboration with DCF. His goal is to do research and provide recommendations for ways to improve identification of children exposed to domestic violence in the system and find ways to help improve intervention for these children and families with regard to their safety and well-being. This is being done in two ways, one being a comprehensive chart review where the department looks at children and families served by DCF with identified IPV. The second is evaluation of the feasibility and effectiveness of Fathers for Change and other programs focused on eradicating IPV.

The data was compiled from 100 different randomly-chosen reports within a 12-month period, and focused on extracting data on family violence. Within these families, there was past involvement with DCF, demographic risk and so forth. Their first goal is to examine the prevalence and characteristics of children’s exposure to IPV in this process. DCF has a means of indicating whether a family has identified IPV and this number has hovered at 20-21%. The majority of children in these situations are between 0 and 5, followed by 6-12 year olds, and 18% are 13-18 year olds. Damian acknowledged that this ratio is probably much higher and in a study he conducted with colleagues some years ago where they did a comprehensive chart review and followed this with questionnaires and semi-structured interviews with families, they found that 70% of those children have witnessed domestic violence. This study focused on children removed from their homes, so they were probably exposed to more severe maltreatment, but they would expect this rate to be higher. Mr. Grasso stated that they were careful in their chart review to detect chases where there is evidence of IPV that hasn’t been flagged and where DCF can do a better job with this. He noted that one possible reason that DCF is not identifying as many potential cases for domestic violence, has to do with screening and assessing. In the study he conducted, the best identification for children exposed to domestic violence had to do with putting together multiple sources to get better information. Damian referred to his charts to illustrate that by incorporating multiple sources of information, it was easier to determine if domestic violence was an issue in various cases. DCF is also interested in understanding what the violence looks like in homes. The research indicates that violence predicts in a linear fashion a host of adverse outcomes for children. They are going to be extracting this data and using a coding scheme used in past research to quantify the severity and then look at the relationship between severity of IPV and other forms of maltreatment and outcomes for children and families.

The second goal is to examine the co-occurring maltreatment and contextual risk in children in DCF involved families with IPV. 30-60% of cases involving domestic violence involve some other form of child abuse with 45-70% of children exposed to DV also being victims of physical abuse, often from both parents. One study found that 65% of men who abuse their partner also abuse their children and another study found that mothers who were victims of IPV were four times more likely to endorse behaviors indicative of physical abuse and emotional abuse. There is also increased risk for sexual abuse among children exposed to domestic violence. Damian stated that with this new knowledge, he hopes that the department can examine the overlap of IPV with other maltreatment and how this relates to the severity of different forms of maltreatment.

The third goal is to examine decision-making for DCF families and looking at rates of acceptance based on IPV identification and looking at differences between substantiated versus unsubstantiated reports among families where IPV is identified versus not, and how many of these families go into different programs. Ultimately, the department would like to determine how identifying IPV guides decision-making from the first time it is identified until the case closes.

Damian noted that the research is quantitative but also involves a significant amount of interviews. There are several anthropologists on staff that are meeting with stakeholders in DCF, so they will be compiling this information.

The fourth aim of the study was to examine the recidivism in DCF families with IPV over the course of the year. DCF is going to extract data for 12 months after the date of the report to look at new substantiated and unsubstantiated reports and see if the severity of IPV and other forms of maltreatment and the overlap are predictive of outcomes over time. Damian went over the IPV FAIR evaluation slide in his presentation. Damian discussed the families that have come into the program and noted that these families have a good deal of risk and needs and there is definitely an indication of domestic violence within these families. Police have visited the homes of these families and arrests have been made, oftentimes with children present. There have been other legal problems identified with these families as well as mental health needs.

Trauma exposure for mothers and fathers was quite high among these families, with families being exposed to an average of 5-6 different types of trauma. Using the department’s questionnaire for evaluating PTSD symptoms, it was found that 42.9% of mothers and 52% of fathers were meeting criteria for full or partial PTSD and 23% of mothers and 24% of fathers are meeting full criteria based on this questionnaire.

James Geissler discussed his work with the intake process and how the assessment plays out with regards to families. James is very passionate about the program and has seen it working every day. He went over the administrative process of how families get to him: forms get filed with a gatekeeper who is an IPV specialist, then this is faxed over to him and he goes over the information with a family navigator who does the majority of the case management with the family. After this, an intake is set up with a DCF social worker and James’s team meets with everyone in the family to talk about different programs and answer any questions the family may have to start to build a relationship with the family before going into the assessment process. During the assessment process, James and his team gain an understanding of what the family’s needs are and different components of the case. The assessment also helps determine whether the father is going to be engaged and whether he qualifies for the Fathers for Change program, as well as the needs of the mother and the needs of the child or children. Oftentimes, the mothers are traumatized from multiple situations, so James works to connect them to services in the community. The program also works to connect children to mental health services with clinicians trained in TF CBT after witnessing trauma in the home.

James always has a family navigator accompany him to determine the best clinical treatment plan for helping the family. He noted that there are many needs that go beyond the mental health treatment aspect of assistance, so he helps with connecting these families to heating assistance, insurance and other programs. Through the assessments he conducts, James looks for indications of substance abuse and issues with parenting and domestic violence. Fathers for Change addresses many of these issues, which is a 4-6 month program requiring the whole family to get involved with treatment. This can be difficult, but James is able to convince families that it works and will help families. The program operates in three different phases, where fathers are engaged in two months of individual counseling with James before they try to transition into co-parenting sessions if appropriate. The third phase of this program is one-on-one counseling with the father and child where the father will talk about domestic violence with the child in a constructive way. At this stage in the program, there is typically a change in the home and families acknowledge that the fathers are working hard to change. James noted that safety planning is very important in these situations, which he does following the assessment. This looks at goals, options and risks for the family and the family navigator does this with the mother and father first because this looks at the whole environment. This assessment process is very important because it is comprehensive and takes into account current and historical abuse and looks at the co-parenting situation that gives social workers and therapists the ability to see how they can best help the family.

James shared an example of one of the fathers he was working with. When James finished this father’s assessments and they talked about different options and the father qualified for the fathers for change program. James saw this father’s potential but he lacked the emotional regulation skills and had poor communication skills that were causing domestic violence, but the father wanted to be a better parent to his three young boys. The father was initially resistant to doing a 4-6 month program. While they were having this conversation, one of the father’s sons had a panic attack—he was experiencing a lot of anxiety as a result of his father being incarcerated and the father was able to respond immediately and calm his son down. James noted in the assessment process, though, that the father wanted the best for his children. The father communicated that he was concerned for his children and wanted to make better choices. James was able to connect this with the Fathers for Change program and get the father to sign up. The father is now going into his tenth session, and since starting the program, there has been no domestic violence in the home. James stated that he has seen significant transformations in these families through this program, and that the program will have a long-term impact of stopping the cycle of domestic violence in these families and communities. Because the program steps into place quickly and is able to provide an intake and referral to these families at a critical time, it is able to transform these families quickly and effectively. James reiterated that the program aims to develop the foundations for long-term positive changes for these families that will help the children grow up in healthy homes.

Karen introduced Betsy McAllister. Betsy is a founding director of the Children Witness to Violence Project out of Boston Medical Center and is currently serving as a lecturer on human development and psychology at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Betsy has come to Connecticut on several occasions to offer training to child advocates and victim advocates within the statewide network of domestic violence providers. The task force appreciates Betsy’s presence and her insight on keeping children safe in homes where family violence is occurring. Karen noted that the next meeting would be on November 19th, and that the task force would be receiving draft recommendations pared out subject matter to discuss at upcoming meetings, followed by discussion to capture task force members’ feedback. The final report is due in January, and Garry and Karen have been discussing the best way to prepare the final report. Upcoming meetings will go over 2-3 different subject matters and won’t go outside of what has been presented, but task force members will be able to weigh in with their thoughts and recommendations. At the last meeting in January, there will be a full draft of the recommendations and a subject matter public hearing so that the task force can make sure to get public input. Karen and Garry will also present this draft to the Criminal Justice Policy Advisory Commission at their meeting in December.

Betsy McAllister began her presentation stating that she had done work with several groups related to domestic violence, including CCADV and that she has a lot of respect for the work that Connecticut does on behalf of women and children affected by domestic violence. She stated that she was impressed with the work of the task force and was looking forward to the task force’s recommendations. Massachusetts is conducting a similar initiative that focuses on the courts. The legislature approved a mandated training last year for all of the courts in Massachusetts on the Fender risk assessment. As a component of this, the courts are weaving in a look at risk assessment for children.

Betsy McAlister Groves drew on her experience as the former director of the Child Witness to Violence Project at Boston Medical Center, which is a counseling program for young children as domestic violence where they serve children aged 8 and under. About 85% of these children have been referred because of their experiences with domestic violence. She learned many things from this experience. The project worked collaboratively with DCF around providing reporting of children affected by domestic violence and providing services for them. The project is located in Boston Medical Center and is part of the Department of Pediatrics. Referrals come from medical providers; from neighborhood health clinics and other hospitals in the city. They also get reports from the police department; from the courts; domestic violence agencies; and from DCF. About 25% of their referrals are self-referrals. The heart of this program is the provision of counseling and advocacy services. They use an evidence-based therapy intervention called Child-Parent psychotherapy that was used widely in Connecticut as well. This is a therapy that focuses on the non-offending parent and the child doing therapy together and is particularly appropriate in interventions for children affected by domestic violence, and especially for young children because so much of what needs to happen for these children also needs to happen for the non-offending parent and the family. The program also takes appointments for Guardians ad Litem and they have done expert witness testimony and worked extensively with DCF not only in case collaboration but with the domestic violence unit around policy and thinking about appropriate ways for mandated reporters and DCF to work together. Betsy noted that because they are a voluntary agency, 80% of the families that they see are not involved with DCF. When looking at the entire population of families exposed to domestic violence, there is a continuum of families and they tend to see the families where the domestic violence may have been less lethal or dangerous, but is just as toxic to children.

Betsy discussed some lessons she’s learned in her work. The first lesson is the notion that being a bystander to violence may be just as traumatizing for a child as being the victim, so there is a population of children who are not direct victims but who are truly a witness to violence or are exposed to violence. The second lesson is about the fact that domestic violence is a particularly toxic form of trauma for young children. The third lesson is that helping a non-abusing parent in these situations is essential to helping children affected by domestic violence.

Betsy discussed the bystander effect. She used a study from the mid-90’s that was done to understand how very young children were affected by trauma. There was a debate as to whether very young children could be diagnosed with PTSD, and as more research emerged about the effects of stress on the young brain, this question was put to rest and now there is a diagnosis in the DSM 5, the mental health diagnostic manual for pre-school PTSD, so it has now been codified in this manual. This study was on children who were in DCF custody in the state of Louisiana who were about age 4 and younger. This study was a way to look at their symptoms and behaviors and compare that constellation of behaviors to what is known about symptoms and behaviors consistent with PTSD in older children. The study found a great deal of overlap and made a strong case for the fact that very young children can be affected by violence or trauma and the symptoms are similar to those found in older children. The unanticipated finding was about the variables that predicted PTSD symptoms in these children and what they found was that witnessing violence or threats against the caregivers was a stronger predictor of PTSD than direct physical abuse, which is probably unique to young children. This says a lot about the caregiving environment and the fact that very young children depend on their caregivers for physical and psychological survival. Seeing or witnessing a threat is very potent for children and connects directly to symptoms. Ms. McAlister Groves reiterated that most of the children exposed to domestic violence are under age 8 and several other studies show this. At Boston Medical Center, they survey children in the waiting room who have parents who have reported violence, and the average age of those children is 2.7 years.

Ms. McAlister Groves noted that stressful events can be harmful, tolerable or beneficial to a child, depending on several variables. These events can be moderated by a safe and dependable relationship that a child has access to. Whether an event is stressful or not can depend on whether the child has access to a safe and dependable relationship.

With regard to the impact of trauma on the caregiver-child relationship, Ms. McAlister Groves stated that what they have learned from the children in their program is about the way the child experiences the violence. She used an example of a drawing from one of the children in her program and noted how the child depicted a violent incident that hadn’t happened but the child felt threatened that it might happen. In the moment, the child did not feel a refuge from either parent—one parent was the perpetrator of violence and the other parent is a victim and in the moment, the child has no protection. She noted that young children are often confused about who is safe and who is dangerous because they lack the cognitive ability to make sense out of these situations. The role of trauma in non-abusing parents is significant in the way that children can or cannot be buffered from the impacts of trauma. Oftentimes, mothers have a hard time addressing the psychological needs of their children because of the situation that they’re in. The work that Ms. McAlister Groves does focuses on helping the non-abusing parent as the best way to help the child, and this means addressing the non-abusing parent’s mental health needs; helping the child understand what has happened with the violence; giving the parent information about how the child has been impacted and specific support around parenting what may be difficult behaviors with the child. To the extent that this program can support the parent, that child is able to heal, and this connection is important to helping the parent and child heal together. The program does not deal with critical safety issues in the home, but in many cases there aren’t critical safety issues.

Ms. McAlister Groves discussed the work that her program has done with DCF and how they work on the nexus of care to address the challenges that families face where there are significant concerns about the caregiver and a lot of violence. She left with some take-away messages:

1. The reminder that young children are disproportionately represented in the populations that domestic violence programs work with.

2. Young children are more vulnerable and less able to communicate verbally about the impact of violence or what is going on in the home.  

3.   Young children recover from traumatic experiences ideally in the context of caregiving relationships.

4.  The best way to help a child ideally is to help the non-abusing parent for access to safety and support. 

Ms. McAlister Groves discussed the role of DCF, voluntary agencies and the court system.

With regard to DCF, she noted that years ago DCF went through a two-year process to look at the question as to whether their requirement was going to continue to be that all cases where children witnessing domestic violence would require automatic reporting by a mandated reporter. DCF developed a task force; community meetings, and held lengthy discussions with various groups and voluntary service providers and this concluded in a policy called “promising approaches”, which dictates that mandated reporters are encouraged to review each family situation and to consider whether or on to file with the Department of Children and Families. Mandated reporters should also give due consideration the family environment and to the negative impact of violence on a child. They are encouraged to assess the caretakers’ and child’s conditions when considering whether or not to file a report of concern with regard to several factors including potential danger; access to weapons; escalating threats; mental illness; suicide threats; substance abuse; a history of protective orders; prior arrest; and stalking. There is also a focus on the non-abusing parent and assessing efforts or willingness to seek help; connections to the community; ability to evaluate and recognize the impact on the child; the presence of mental illness or substance abuse. There are criteria that apply to the child, including the age of the child; the fact that the child voices constant worry or fear about danger; a lack of safety presence or symptoms related to traumatic stress sleep disorder; withdrawal from friends; separation anxiety; worried about the safety of loved ones, etc. From the perspective of a voluntary service provider, and in her program they struggled with the notion of being mandated reporters and worrying that for many families that they saw, women were hesitant to seek services, restraining orders, and other kinds of help because of the fear that the children will be removed from the home. Realistically, there is only a small percentage of children that are removed from the home to protective services, yet there is the myth or the fear in many communities that if they tell someone about the violence in the home, the children are going to be removed. The policy that DCF adopted gives her program a little bit more leeway around reporting. The program has filed many reports, but the fact that reports don’t always have to be filed allows them to help more families and make these women feel more comfortable coming forward. If her program is working with a family where the mother has sought services and is connected to her community and is very concerned about her children, she’s taking the appropriate steps to protect her children and the children have some symptoms of concerns but are basically doing okay, the program can help the family in ways that don’t involve mandated reporting. Ms. McAlister Groves noted that this is an important piece of practice that she has in her state that has been very helpful. When her program does file a report, they inform the family and invite the parent to sit with them when they call in the report or have the family call in the report themselves, and work with them through the process. If it is a situation where the organization thinks the child should be removed, they make this known to the family. In the majority of the cases that her program has worked with, after a report has been filed, typically the therapeutic relationship remains intact and they are able to continue to work with the family in a collaborative effort with DCF.

Ms. McAlister Groves then discussed the role of voluntary agencies in determining risk assessment. They look at the history of violence and acknowledge that chronic exposure to trauma is much more impactful and takes a great toll on children in a single episode of violence, so they’re looking for chronicity. In a chart review of the organization, they found that 62% of the children seen in their programs had a lifetime exposure to violence, presenting a serious threat to their mental health. The programs also look at the natures of threats or abuse; at the presence of alcohol, drugs or weapons as reported by the non-abusing parent; history of mental illness; the opinion of risk of safety or danger; the non-abusing parent’s efforts or willingness to seek help or safety; connections to family and friends and social institutions; and the age of the child.

Regarding the court system, Massachusetts has a statewide order to train all courts that work with children and offenders in the state. The judge leading this has asked a small group of people who work with children affected by domestic violence to think about ways that in the context of doing offender risk assessment, there are opportunities for the court to have their eyes on the children. In some cases, the courts don’t see children at all, so the offender risk assessment is a way to make a judge think about children. There has been only one training done so far and as they look at offender assessments, they are dictating to judges that chronicity matters and if there is a history of domestic violence and that there are prior restraining orders that could be a red flag to think about children more seriously. They ask that the court ask about the children and about their ages; whether they’re in childcare or if they’re being seen by a provider. If the judges think about children in these cases, the courts can have some reassurance that someone is thinking about and considering the children. The age of the child is another important consideration, and if the children are very young, courts should be more concerned and ask more questions.

Massachusetts is also thinking about increased use of the guardian ad litem evaluations to understand and think about what’s best for children when parents have been separated and there are custody or visitation orders.

Karen Jarmoc asked if other task force members had questions.

Dr. Nina Livingston asked about the wiggle room that Massachusetts is giving around reporting, and noted that across disciplines this is a primary question she’s asked when giving guidance on this issue—how do providers know which kids to report, etc.? She noted that Connecticut’s guidance is pretty vague and asked Ms. McAlister Groves if she could elaborate on this and whether she used forms or risk assessment tools because pediatricians don’t necessarily have these tools at their disposal. She asked how the guidance translates into practice.

Betsy McAlister Groves responded that when mandated reporters are in doubt in a situation, their guidance is to file. The policy they follow leans toward filing a report, and the important point with the

guideline is the leeway to report or not report. DCF provided extensive training when this rolled out, and they provide a long list of questions/ guidelines on their website to help make determinations in risk assessment, but this hasn’t been evaluated or tested. She noted that her program is in the Department of Pediatrics, and she doesn’t often have time to do these risk assessments. The guidance from DCF to caregivers is that if they have concerns, they should file a report. If there are domestic violence programs in the hospital, pediatricians can call an advocate to have a meeting with the pediatrician or social worker and the family and perhaps do an assessment together and make a decision. DCF recognizes that not every mandated reporter can do this.

Sarah Eagan asked about the focus on a need for parent-child psychotherapy as a critical intervention to respond to the trauma that is created within the family system and to improve outcomes for children. She noted that in Connecticut, practitioners are aware of the breadth and scope of family trauma and that not all services are equal or interchangeable and there aren’t very many models of service intervention that are dyadic and trauma informed and capable of effective work with families along the continuum that Ms. McAlister Groves discussed. She noted that there is some of this type of service in Connecticut, and asked what kind of strategies Massachusetts uses to meet this need and bring these types of interventions to scale. She asked how Massachusetts is funding this kind of initiative and for guidance on how to match capacity to need.

Betsy McAlister-Groves stated that the focus on evidence-based treatment in mental health has been a huge move forward for the field because they have been able to more accurately understand what works and how to train clinicians to use effective tools. She noted that the challenge for the field is that training and getting credentials in these models is costly in terms of time and dollars, and the whole trauma field is struggling with this. Her program has been funded through the National Child Traumatic Stress Network, and in this network things are changing because now people are asking questions like how they can take the core components of evidence-based treatments and adapt them for uses in other settings. She noted that one specific component she has been involved with is taking the principles of child-parent psychotherapy, which is a model that involves a lot of training, but it would be a good idea to take the principles of this kind of training and adapt it to influence the way that advocates work with families. Her program is partnering with Futures without Violence, a large national domestic violence advocacy resource information website organization. Together, they have completed a curriculum that’s a 3-day training for advocates called “Building competence in parents and children affected by domestic violence”, which takes a dynamic relational model and applies this in shelter programs. She noted that mental health systems cannot serve all children and families that need it, and that programs need to figure out other places for service delivery and other ways of using the theories that work and adapting those for other systems.

Karen asked about the development of the guidance that the Massachusetts DCF gave and how this was created as a result of community meetings, etc. She also asked Mary Painter to discuss the kinds of guidance that Connecticut’s DCF currently offers. She noted that while everyone isn’t always on the same page, when there is policy development, this is an inclusive process, which can be really meaningful. Karen also asked the presenters from Connecticut’s DCF about their work with the non-offending parents and the model that DCF is using to work with these parents, and whether separation is completely voluntary for both parents or if there are circumstances where they’re not both in the home but DCF is still working with the offending parent.

Betsy McAlister Groves responded that she would ask Sue Hubert, the head of the domestic violence unite in Massachusetts DCF to give details about the collaborative work to come up with their guidance principles. She noted that there was a series of community meetings that brought together people from within the domestic violence advocacy community; batterers’ treatment programs, police forces, the court system, DCF; and other groups in a process that took two years to develop these recommendations.

Mary Painter responded that Connecticut’s DCF is looking conceptually at the approach that Massachusetts took and figuring out how to put this into practice. She noted that in Ms. McAlister Groves’ practices, advocates will make calls with families, which is an excellent practice and its important to figure out a way to make their workforce stronger in this capacity. She noted that programs aren’t always able to pair therapists and social workers with families who need services in the provider’s best area of expertise, and that there is a need to elevate the entire workforce to have these skills. She also stated that Connecticut has a broad definition for mandated reporting deliberately, which gives people the opportunity to look at the whole situation and make determinations based on the individual situation. There is a need to train people to look at these cases in a complete way. There are mandated reporting requirements that mandated reporters get trained annually, but these trainings don’t go into the detail that Massachusetts’ DCF does with a guide, which may help Connecticut’s DCF move forward.

Karen noted that there are many people who are mandated reporters and noted that there is a consistent curriculum that is utilized across the spectrum of mandated reporters.

Mary Painter noted that the training for this is either administered by DCF staff or online and is modified periodically over time. This stays within the broad definitions of mandated reporting and ensures that all mandated reporters have a knowledge base of the issues.

Betsy McAlister Groves stated that in Massachusetts, DCF tells mandated reporters that when they’re not sure whether or not to call in a referral, to do so any way and protect a family’s anonymity unless it is necessary.

Sarah Eagan stated that we can do this here in Connecticut, where careline workers will talk to people without taking information and try to provide some guidance.

Mary Painter interjected that sometimes the call is taken but not accepted because there isn’t a full amount of information, so making a call doesn’t always mean that DCF is going to be involved in a situation. She then addressed Karen’s question about DCF’s work with the non-offending parent and stated that DCF used the green book as their foundation for working with these parents. The primary focus of the department is to work with the non-offending parent and the child and connecting people to the trauma interventions for children that are growing in Connecticut, especially for DCF-involved families. They also connect people to an existing service system, which is stronger for the non- offending parent where they use different services in the community. The FAIR model had an important piece of having a family navigator to connect non-offending parents to services because these exist as a much more complete system than exists for men who need services for the same policy area.

James addressed the question as to whether both parties want to stay together or not, and in most cases they plan to, but the goal of the treatment program is not to talk to couples about whether or not to stay together but the fact that they have to be co-parents to their children. There are families where there is a protective order in place and they have time apart and they take time to learn skills and come back to the table when things are modified or when they’re lifted and then they're prepared to continue on with the relationship with these skills and try to get things another try. The co-parenting piece has been very effective.

Mary Painter stated that often there is no co-parent to be working in the situation and with considered removal teaming, they hold separate meetings as needed; separate case planning. In Fathers for Change, the non-offending parent needs to be agreeable to the co-parenting sessions. These families receive completely separate services in FAIR that are not connected and there are teams so that each parent will have a different therapist.

James agreed that they give these options in his program because they understand whether it’s appropriate or not to set two parents up in these co-parent sessions, as families may not feel comfortable addressing the issue together. There are times when women will say that they don’t want to continue with a relationship and during the therapy sessions, they’re careful not to impose a set agenda on each individual family’s makeup.

Garr Lapidus asked about the information systems in DCF to support this kind of work. He noted that it is difficult to get information from providers and parents and the community and asked whether the system is currently operating sufficiently to support this work.

Mary Painter responded that currently, they have two data systems that they work with, one being their provider information system that providers put information into and a Saquis data system which is due to be updated and currently the Injury prevention center is manually going through all of the records to get the detailed information about families, and this takes significant time so the system needs to be updated. They are also using a system through the injury prevention center called Qualitrex, which gives a lot of detail about the comprehensive assessment, which is going to provide lots of helpful information but this needs to be built and expanded upon in the department and across agencies.

Cynthia agreed that in the judiciary department, they have advocated for sharing information across systems so that juvenile, family, criminal and probate courts can communicate. She suggested it would be very helpful to have a universal system so that individuals in each divisions have access to a universal model where they can all access the same information. She voiced that there is a significant need to have a more streamlined approach to dealing with this cases, whether this was funneling all cases through one judge, or by having a liaison across departments. This would make the system more efficient and would serve parties and families better so that efforts are not duplicated and information doesn’t get lost because it isn’t being shared.

Karen Jarmoc asked whether there were statutory prohibitions to this.

Judge Bozzuto answered that there are statutory prohibitions and probate and juvenile courts have completely confidential cases. There are hurdles to this, but there is a significant need to be able to share some information, and it is counter-productive for judges to be operating in a vacuum.

Christine Raipllo noted that 46b-124 allows for quite a bit of agency sharing, and it was suggested that the systems are not operational to the point where people have access to the information because there are different data systems. The statutes do allow people to share information, but current practitioners aren’t educated on what information is and isn’t appropriate to share.

Cynthia Mahon noted that 46b-124 does allow this information to be shared, but there needs to be a better, more effective mechanism in place to allow people to share information so there need to be some guidelines and policies in place as to how this is to transpire. She also stated that it would be helpful for court officers to have access to protective registries in the courthouse.

Judge Bozzuto responded that judges don’t always know that another case exists and it would be helpful to have notifications that another case exists.

Linda Harris asked about the three-day training and how this would manifest itself so that workers could go into homes and work with families.

Betsy McAlister Groves responded that this would be a great program for home visitors and could be easily adapted to them.

Sarah Eagan noted that trauma-informed therapy services for young children and parents is still a major service dirth. She also asked about the developmental impact for a child exposed to trauma and noted that there is a need to have a strong connections between screening service provision and early intervention services that is also a capacity builder for the non-offending parent. The state is still working on how to connect with very young children exposed to maltreatment and connecting those children to programs and services.

Karen Jarmoc adjourned the meeting at 12:13

A motion was duly made and seconded to adjourn the meeting. The meeting was adjourned at 12:00..

Sara LeMaster Task Force Staff