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St. Louis County is a suburb of the City of St. Louis and is the largest county in Missouri. At the time of the 2000 U.S. census, St. Louis County had a population of 1,016,315. Eighty-five percent of the population reported their race as White; 11% as African-American; 2% as Hispanic/Latino; just fewer than 2% as bi-or multi-racial; and the remainder, as Native American, Asian, or Pacific Islander.
Within the county there are 92 municipalities, most of which operate domestic violence courts, and 73 police departments. Middle and upper income neighborhoods are adjacent to poor areas. The municipal per capita income ranges from $4,831 to $86,978. Approximately 11.2 percent of children under 18 live in poverty. The fragmented and extremely diverse structure of St. Louis County presents many challenges to the coordinated delivery of services.
The St. Louis County demonstration site was in operation from April 2001 through September 2007, with a staffing pattern that included the Project Director, Administrative Assistant, and a research team of three. A grant extension through December 2007 was approved to enable the site to continue funding two specialist positions, even though staff positions had ended.
Initiative core partners included the Family Court of St. Louis County, lead agency; St. Louis County Children’s Division of the Missouri Department of Social Services; and 25+ domestic violence service providers who are members of the St. Louis Metro Missouri Coalition Against Domestic & Sexual Violence (MCADSV) and/or the Association of Batterer Intervention Providers (ABIP).
Throughout the Initiative a Steering Committee (SC), comprised of four to seven representatives from key leadership positions within the partner systems, provided oversight for the work of the collaboration. Other committee structures changed over time: an Implementation Committee (IC) of 31 members was very instrumental in shaping the overall vision, goals, and objectives during the initial collaboration building stage of the Initiative; whereas smaller, more task specific committees were more instrumental in goal achievement during the final stages of the grant. The IC and other ad hoc committees were cross-system in composition, including core partner and community representatives. However, at strategic times throughout the Initiative, system-specific groups worked on tasks and issues that were unique to their area of service.
The demonstration grant enabled the Initiative to successfully bring partners together in a collaborative effort to more effectively address the co-occurrence of domestic violence and child maltreatment. The evaluation results indicated that stakeholders defined the most significant accomplishments as: heightened awareness regarding co-occurrence, local resources, and best practices for families; development of cross-agency relationships among professionals from different systems; and the introduction of cross system specialists, like the batterer compliance coordinator and a domestic violence advocate position (Resource Specialist) within the family court. These positions have been instrumental in bridging knowledge and information-sharing gaps across systems; directly responding to clients’ needs, coordinating access to resources and services; as well as proactive promotion of Greenbook principles in working with families.
In addition, the Initiative sponsored or coordinated multiple training events that reached a large and diverse audience in the St. Louis region and beyond. These trainings included a specialized training institute on batterer accountability with men in child protection, that included a national audience; cross trainings that educated core partners about each other’s programs, policies, and practices; and multiple trainings on co-occurrence, that reached core partners, school district personnel, law enforcement, health care providers, and other community partners.
St. Louis County Documents:
Domestic Violence Institute: St. Louis Greenbook Initiative on Domestic Violence & Child Maltreatment - Protecting Families: Multidisciplinary Strategies With Men Who Batter (PDF) 2007
Implementation Assessment Report (PDF) April 2007
Guidelines for Case Management in Child Welfare (PDF) 2007
Guidelines for Case Management for Deputy Juvenile Officers (PDF) 2007
Filing of Child Order of Protection Petition by Juvenile Officer Protocol (PDF) July 2003
Reasonable Efforts Guidelines in Co-Occurring Cases of Domestic Violence & Child Maltreatment (PDF) Feb 2005
Manual for Domestic Violence Advocates (PDF)
Domestic Violence & Child Maltreatment Resource Directory (PDF)
Helping St. Louis County Families: A Guide for Court Professionals on the Co-Occurrence of Domestic Violence and Child Abuse/Neglect (PDF) 2007
Helping Battered Women and Their Children: A Guide for Domestic Violence Advocates on the Co-Occurrence of Domestic Violence and Child Maltreatment (PDF) February 2008
Contact Information:
Resource Specialist
Legal Advocates for Abused Women (LAAW)
Family Court of St. Louis County
Phone: 314-615-2933
Read About Additional Demonstration Sites:
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