From the outset, Parentline’s focus has been on working with individual children who have been abused or witnessed domestic violence. However, it always bothered us that after having affected changes in behaviour and securing their place in the world, children were then returned to the same family circumstance that created the imbalance.

Over time and with more experience, we transitioned to include parents and caregivers in the therapeutic process, so that now we offer parenting programmes and individual counselling for adults, alongside services for their children.

In the last twelve months, we have come full circle, by opting to work with the entire family – the child, his / her siblings, parents, caregivers as well as other extended family members. Which is why we are so interested in the roll out of the Whanau Ora programme, recently announced by the Deputy Prime Minister, Hon Bill English:

Whanau Ora is one of a number of Government initiatives to help families become more self managing and take responsibility for their own development. It is clear from results in recent years that traditional approaches to helping families in need have not worked that well.

We agree that whanau centred services are those that focus on the family as a whole, of building on whanau strengths and increasing whanau capacity. We see Whanau Ora as a model that is driven by the aspirations, needs and realities of the whanau as a whole; it is not about provider capture. We doubly welcome the challenge that Whanau Ora is about doing things differently; of getting the best possible return on tax payer’s money and we endorse United Future leader, Hon. Peter Dunne support of the Government’s willingness to try new and innovative approaches.

Over the next months, Parentline will be preparing for the onset of Whanau Ora. We have already started aligning ourselves with a like collective of agencies able to meet the specific needs of the families we see. For our part, we will continue to do what we do best – of working with children who have been abused or witnessed domestic violence. We are also well positioned to deliver parenting programmes for Mums and Dads and even Grandparents; but the new environment will likely see us working alongside an agency who is supporting Mum and her new baby; an employment agency working with Dad and an education institution encouraging siblings to achieve academically.

The changing face of the delivery of social services is exciting, challenging and long overdue.

In the many years that I have been involved in the delivery of social services, I am constantly on the look out for interventions and strategies that are proven to work for Māori whanau. Like most other community agencies in Hamilton, Maori are the most significant service users at Parentline; from1 July to 31 December 2009, 45.5% of clients of our clients self identified as Māori.

What I have learnt is strategies that work best are those developed by Māori for Māori, premised on the notion of Māori solutions to Māori problems; that best outcomes are strategies that encourage a collective responsibility and participation by the extended whanau and that through reconnecting whanau to Te Aō Māori (the traditional Māori ways) there is an opportunity to build individual self worth and self confidence. I have observed that when all of these components are aligned, then there is potential for the whanau to be strengthened.

Which is why I was saddened to learn of the shelving of the youth justice facility Te Hurihanga; an initiative modelled on Māori concepts of care and support that encouraged whanau participation in the recovery of young offenders.  But then heartened to read of Ministers Turia and Bennett’s Whanau Ora policy that adds another dimension – of encouraging Crown agencies to act collectively as a whanau, to help families in difficulty.

Based on Te Ao Māori, Parentline offers a programme, Te Hiringa Tipua (new growth), expressly developed for Māori whanau and delivered by Māori practitioners. This programme is for those tamariki and mokopuna who have been abused or who now present with challenging behaviours that mirror the violent behaviours they see in their family homes.

Te Hiringa Tipua extends over a period of nine weeks and commences with a noho Marae (overnight stay) followed by eight weekly sessions.  Based on Durie’s (2004) theory that cultural identity is a prerequisite to good health, Te Hiringa Tipua uses Te Ao Māori concepts of tikanga – beliefs and practices, the Marae – as the community focal point, wāhi tapu – as cultural sites of importance and encourages access by whanau to Te Reo, whānau, Hapū and iwi.  As an indication of the content of the programme, the first sessions focus on the discovery of self, Ko wai au? (Who am I?).

If you are interested in funding out more about Te Hiringa Tipua, please contact our Intake Coordinator, Lisa Herewini on 07 839 4536 or visit Parentline at 48 Palmerston Street, Hamilton. Further information on this programme is available from our website www.parentline.org.nz.

There’s that delightful advertisement of the first time mother being handed her new born baby and then reaching out for the accompanying Parenting Manual. For most of us, parenting is probably the hardest job we ever take on and there are few opportunities to learn exactly what the task involves. The expectation is that we all are inherently good parents, when clearly that is not always true.

The government has announced a cash injection for positive parenting programmes.

Social Development Minister Paula Bennett says funds will be available to community initiatives working with parents. This funding is part of the Government’s latest funding round of its SKIP fund and will assist communities to explore new ways to promote positive parenting.

The funding and associated programmes are mainly aimed at supporting parents of pre school children.

As an example Parentline currently facilitates three parenting programmes.

Parents Building Bridges is a group programme that explores the impact of separation on children. The focus of this programme is where it needs to be – on the children. The programme offers practical tips on a step by step basis and raises a number of pertinent questions that are then openly discussed by those parents in attendance.  A particular component covers the process of accessing the Family Court system and applications for Parenting Orders.

Parentline also offers a Parenting Programme that has recently been revised and will be formally evaluated in the future. The content of the programme is designed to meet the specific needs of the participants.  It is an opportunity for parents to ask all of those questions that we have always wanted to ask, but have dared not too. Participants at a recent group were comforted that their anxieties and fears of inadequacy in their role of a parent, were common to most other participants in the group.

The outcome of this group is that participants are assured that they have the skills and support to deal with the many presenting issues that parents contend with on a daily basis. The last programme I want to talk about is a Maori programme called Te Hiringa Tipu. This is a whanau based programme where we work with both children and parents – on the basis that we often work with children only. In this programme we work with the children and parents separately and then bring the two together to consolidate and strengthen the family unit. The programme uses Maori concepts as a unifying force that gives context to the struggles of living in a modern environment.

Do you have the heart and time for children who need a few days away from their family?

Children often need a short break away for all sorts of reasons

Most of us have family or friends who can help out at these times       -       Some just don’t!!

This is how you could help out

Parentline is seeking applications from caring adults from six to eight homes to provide short term respite care for children attending helping agencies in Hamilton.  Generally, the time required for children and caregivers to have a break from one another is over a two to three day period.

Parentline considers the safety, welfare and interests of children are the paramount considerations so thorough vetting and ongoing assessment of caregivers is required to ensure that there are no safety and/or protection issues.

Awesome Carers may choose when they are able to provide care: how many children they could care for and the age group and gender of children that they would prefer.

We would welcome inquiries from experienced carers as well as others who would like to be trained in this role. Full training and support is provided to prepare and assist all carers to fulfill these vital positions which will mean so much to the children and family concerned.   Care costs are reimbursed at nationally standardized bed-night rates for each child.

If you would like to know more about this opportunity or apply to open your home to children please phone Parentline at 839 4536 and ask for Peter Edmonds or email peter@parentline.org.nz.

2009 – 2010 was a year of consolidation; of imbedding best practice into service delivery and completing the infrastructural rebuild. Parentline is now in ‘good heart’ and at a stage where we are comfortable to open our books to all stakeholders. In March of this year, we were congratulated by the CYF Auditor for our robust and thorough practices and again gained CYF’s approval as a preferred provider. In the forthcoming year, we will move to a 3 year High Trust contract – an amalgam of our government contracts with less prescription of the services to be provided, less stringent reporting and more advantageous funding options.

However, the last twelve months have not been without challenges. This was the first year without the DHB Child & Adolescent Mental Health and the Family Safety Team contracts and coupled with an economic downturn and government’s expectation of ‘more for less’, we have had to be proactive in seeking opportunities to ensure our stakeholders receive value for money. This year, we have relied more on philanthropics to bridge the gap between government funding and budgeted costs.

In terms of practice, there has been a philosophical shift.

When Parentline was established in the late 1970’s it offered advice to parents. Children then became the single focus and after much deliberation, interventions moved to include parents and caregivers. Today, we are extending our reach further to incorporate the entire family on the understanding that if one member of a family is under stress then it is likely his / her behaviour will impact on the entire  family unit. This change is well aligned to the government’s new Family / Whanau Ora approach. We have responded by up skilling staff in family therapy and are just beginning to see positive results as a consequence.

Perhaps the most exciting development has been in extending our repertoire of different therapeutic modalities. Art, sand tray and play therapies remain as our specialist interventions and we have recently introduced equine assisted therapy. Building a relationship with an animal (horse) is very rewarding in many respects; for a child with an emotional, social or psychological disability, the trust and loyalty of an animal demonstrates to the child how important they are and gives them the ability to extend these same attributes to personal relationships. We are able to offer this service in partnership with the Hamilton Disabled Riding School.

We are extremely fortunate in that our database provides us with excellent information about the services we deliver. The impact of domestic violence continues to be the key underlying issue that brings children into Parentline and as well we are seeing more children struggling to deal with the inevitable separation of their parents, one of whom is an abuser.  In this respect, we have noted the government’s policy for the clustering of providers to deliver a full comprehensive range of services to ‘wrap around a family’ as the way of the future and we are currently working with a number of Hamilton service providers on three DV related projects.

We continue to work with an increasing number of children with parents and caregivers with a mental illness despite us no longer holding a mental health contract; this year more girls than boys were referred when historically boys have always been the highest service users and there is a growing demand for parenting programmes for adults with no children or with children in care.

Our greatest asset is of course the people in Parentline, both staff and Board members.

I am saddened that two Trustees are not standing for re-election this year and in particular I want to acknowledge the steadfast support and sharp intellect of the Chair, Margaret Evans. Margaret’s foot print will remain clearly visible in all of Parentline’s key research documents including R18 Means R18, the TV Documentary Real Crime: The Truth about Us and the latest Violence in Context document, on our website. Thank you.

Similarly, we will miss Tonga Kelly. The Kelly whanau have a long association with Parentline and it is sad that the formal connection will be no longer. I want to acknowledge Tonga for his tireless contribution over many years.

I want to thank Parentline staff and pay tribute to their dedication and professionalism. And lastly, to the families who entrust their children into our service, thank you for your confidence that together we can work to keep your family and children safe.

We Know it’s Not OK – So What are We Doing About It.

Parentline’s focus is working with children caught up with violence. Our intertwined responsibilities involve healing the children and stopping the violence – too often imbedded within family and community culture.  We accept that ‘it takes a village to raise a child’. That’s why our programmes are whanau-oriented – to involve the child’s family.  And that’s also why we continue to promote collaboration – to strengthen the range of services available in response to defined needs and work together fill the gaps.  We also need collective strength to promote programme efficacy and identify inadequacies.

This year we launch our schools-based programme, taking our services to the frontline in the first cluster of Hamilton primary schools.  Primary schools have been identified as hot spots with younger children exhibiting increasingly violent behaviours and provide sites at the heart of most communities – a place to really make a difference.  As we work with the children, we’ll also link with teachers, families, and other community agencies. We’ll also link in with the government’s new anti-violence initiatives in schools. Our initiative follows our PHO-funded Taumarunui pilot in 2008 and assessment of a range of models including the ThePlace2Be (now working in 172 schools across the UK and supporting 58,000 children (www.ThePlace2Be.org.uk). The Place 2Be has the same goals & some great promotional tags:

• Making a lifetime of difference to children in schools
• Children growing up with prospects not problems
• Dedicated to improving the emotional wellbeing of children, their families, and the whole school community

We are also launching the ‘Dream Project’ with a cluster of kindred agencies, bringing Hamilton’s key front-line services together for the first time to tackle the hard core – working with known families to help stop the violence within. This is action based.  In addition to families known for repeat police call-outs, new families seeking crisis support for the first time will also be targeted in an early intervention effort. The cluster includes Te Whakaruruhau Women’s Refuge, Ka’ute Pasifika, and Shama Ethnic Women’s Centre.

The development of LOOK UP, publicly accessible on our website www.parentline.org.nz, arose from our ongoing interest in what works (and what doesn’t).  From this research and huge database, we have developed a ‘one-pager’ summarising effective programme characteristics, along with a similar resource outlining risk factors related to family violence.

New Zealand has committed huge public resources in the name of ‘stopping violence’, aiming to combat family violence and domestic abuse through public education campaigns such as ‘It’s Not OK’. But the violence continues, gets even worse, & ever younger children are picking up the pattern. Our public ‘investment’ can be compared with the financial markets of the past couple of years: promising rich results but in many cases returning zilch, and causing ongoing additional hardship, just as some advisors had warned.

And it is very much a local issue, with Hamilton’s high increases in family violence statistics – more than one thousand more police call-outs than the previous year (up to half of them repeats).

One highlight was the visit of Social Development Minister Paula Bennett who sat down with our staff and trustees as we shared views ‘from the frontline’.  And our lobby to her for policy changes amidst signs her government appeared keen to reallocate resources.

Since that date, two recently publicised reports (Dr Janet Fanslow’s study and the US based Leitner Centre’s NZ research project) further confirm the need for policy changes in New Zealand and more emphasis on funding for frontline services rather than public education and awareness campaigns.

Fanslow’s survey of nearly 3000 women in Auckland and Waikato (publicised in late August) indicated that nearly 40% of women who asked for help after violence from a partner did not get it – despite high community awareness from the ongoing ‘It’s Not OK’ campaign. She said:

• The challenge is not getting people to talk about violence but to get women the help they needed.
• While it was important to help victims of violence, the real need was to prevent violence happening.

The Leitner Centre’s report on its 2008 research in New Zealand, among a number of issues questions the efficacy of stopping violence programmes (noting male attendance is NOT an indication of attitude change), police responsiveness, and protection order supervision.

These reports do not pick up policy changes under the National-led government but provide further valuable evidence in support of the ‘frontline focus’  to ensure most resources are applied to direct services rather that violence education and awareness, monitoring, evaluating, capacity development, etc.

Parentline, Hamilton’s leading agency for children, has launched a new project targeting New Zealand’s ‘culture of violence’.

It’s “LOOK UP”, a public information database available on Parentline’s website www.parentline.org.nz.

Chief executive Cathy Holland says Parentline has developed the LOOK UP service for people everywhere to see the “enormous and never-ending efforts over many decades” that have gone into protecting children and supporting families.

‘It also helps us work out what works, and what doesn’t,” she says.

“We know ‘it’s not OK’. Yet violence in the home, in schools, and in our communities continues. And it is getting worse.”

There’s evidence that costly national initiatives, and well-intentioned local efforts have failed to stop the infection at source.

Family Violence on the Increase -

The latest crime statistics confirm new records for violence, family violence and youth violence, with ‘significant’ and ‘dramatic’ increases last year. For Hamilton, overall violence was up by 25percent and family violence up 40percent. The city’s increase was the second worst in New Zealand, and annual increases nationally have become a trend.

In Hamilton and the Waikato, with 1000 more domestic violence cases here than a year ago, around 40per cent of the families already have a history of Police call-outs resulting from domestic violence. Then, there’s the scale of unreported violence, with police estimating 80percent hidden or disguised.

What is also become evident is that violent behaviours are symptomatic of an increasing number of increasingly younger New Zealanders. Ministry of Education studies report increasingly violent behaviours among 5-10year olds and around 20% of children displaying serious behaviour problems

Almost a decade ago, the official 2000 review of SWIS (Social Workers in Schools) noted the success of the school-based programme in assisting families to deal with their children, reducing high risk children by 75% with noticeable improvement in their behaviour and school performance.

Meanwhile, the promotion of vicarious violence is big business. Popular entertainment, sports and recreation carry themes of violence into playtime and leisure activity in both the real and digital worlds. Even the sidelines are not safe.

Some continue to deny this vein of violence, including local and central government officials who’ve been featuring violence reduction among goals in their strategies for at least the past decade. Now Social Development Minister Paula Bennett and Education’s Anne Tolley are taking a fresh look, along with other Ministers concerned to focus on effective front-line services.

Officials year after year spin the line that it’s improved recording rather than a developing culture. They refer to the latest national awareness campaign, better training and awareness education, more ‘faith in the system’, improved public services, etcetera…

The call now is to recognise that past measures have not been effective in stopping the violence. Many children continue to be at risk because of this.

Parentline supports effective front-line early intervention services, integrating health, education, & wellbeing resources, and our ‘Dream Team’ project brings local community agencies together, along with a new school-based initiative.

Today’s target must be safe children. Safe families. Safe communities.

We know it isn’t easy.

Our record

History reminds of the many attempts to bring change to benefit children and families.

The record shows that 160years ago, one of the earliest acts of New Zealand’s colonial government was an attempt to make fathers liable for their children, deserted wives and unmarried mothers (1846 Ordinance for the Support of Destitute Families and Illegitimate Children). Today almost a third of parents who have child support obligations fail to pay. Figures disclosed by Inland Revenue last year reveal that 37,700 out of 127,000 liable parents, mostly fathers, owe $1.5billion.

Some examples from the past 25 years:

• 1987 – Roper Report, a ministerial inquiry concluding that family violence is ‘the cradle for perpetuation of violence in the community’, and the national Family Violence Prevention Coordinating Committee set up with government and community representatives.
• 1991 - Hamilton’s HAIP was set up to create a ‘cultural shift’ to ‘a community confronting violence’ and to monitor official responses to violence and in particular the Police and Courts.
• 1994 - Government’s first national ‘social marketing’ media campaigns ‘Family Violence is a Crime’ and ‘Not Just a Domestic’, included television advertising, documentaries, and special Police training videos, part of a five year plan but terminated in two. Hamilton’s Child Protection Studies (CPS) set up to provide education and training for community awareness. Reported violence rose 20%, male assaults female reports up 44%.
• 1995 - Government’s 2^nd national media campaign ($10million) ‘Breaking the Cycle’ (1995-97), included television advertising, aim ‘to change abusive parenting behaviours’. Tracking surveys (1997) reported ‘exciting’ results with up to 91percent of those surveyed able to recall the TV ads, 44percent contemplating behaviour change, and 16percent self reporting they had changed, and with the highest ratings among Maori and Pacific Islanders. Planning also underway for a five-year $11million mental health awareness media campaign. National Family Violence and Crime Prevention Units set up, along with the Family Violence Advisory Committee.
• 2000 – Hamilton City Council formally adopted ‘Zero Tolerance to Family Violence’ as part of its long-term Plan, with the goal that the city would aim at 10% less domestic abuse than the national average, then five years since the council dropped its child & family policy.

The Future

The mega millions of public dollars spent on television campaigns along with ‘capacity development’ initiatives to enable public servants et al to recognise family violence when faced with it, has kept the issue on the public agenda and media mindset. However, there is ample evidence that this concept of social marketing which has captured health and social service bureaucracies over the past two decades is not effective unless it’s part of a wide-reaching and integrated programme.

What works to prevent family violence?

The considerable research already undertaken on family violence prevention provides valuable insights into the effectiveness of particular prevention/intervention efforts. While there is some agreement on the broader elements of an effective multi-faceted approach, there is less certainty on the precise detail (i.e. which specific services, programmes and other initiatives are most effective in preventing violence in families/whanau and/or which particular elements of these initiatives work well, for whom and in what circumstances). Despite this, there appears to be a high level of consistency, across information sources, on the broad elements of an effective multi-faceted approach to family violence prevention. These include:

• preventing family violence from occurring in the first place by raising public awareness through education;
• strengthening community action and responsiveness;
• adopting an integrated, co-ordinated and collaborative approach;
• preventing family violence from reoccurring by providing appropriate crisis intervention and treatment services;
• placing greater emphasis on early intervention and prevention by identifying violence early and intervening immediately;
• ensuring approaches are culturally relevant;
• recognising and providing for diverse needs and circumstances;
• developing healthy public policy aimed at fostering equality, reducing socio-economic disparities and providing adequate support for families/whanau; and
• maintaining a high level of focus on and commitment to preventing violence in families/whanau.

(an extract from Te Rito: NZ Family Violence Prevention Strategy 2002, when family violence was identified as one of five critical social issues for New Zealand, and a framework with 18 areas of action was to be implemented over the next five years.

Purpose

To ensure that the Parentline Protocol for Data Use adheres to the statutory obligations set out in the Privacy Act 1993;

That there is appropriate and compliant interface between the Privacy Principles and the collection of individual information by Parentline.

Collection of Information

a)    Personal information of clients will be collected to assist with the efficient and appropriate service delivery of Parentline’s organisational goals.

b)    Any personal information is to be collected from the individual concerned unless:

1. The information is in the public arena; or
2. The client consents to the information being collected from a third party.

c)    Parentline will ensure that clients consent to the collection of the information, and are fully informed in relation to:

1. That the information is being collected and for what purpose; and
2. The intended recipients; and
3. The right of access to and correction of, the information collected.

The attached form is to be used by all Parentline staff when collecting personal information from clients.

d)    Parentline will not collect personal information by unlawful means.

e)    Information collected will be stored on a dedicated database, and may only be accessed by authorised users, who are:

1. CEO
2. Funding & Marketing Manager
3. Service Delivery Manager
4. Administrator

f)     Parentline will ensure that clients have access to their personal information if they so request.

g)    Parentline acknowledges that a client may request that information being held about them be amended or corrected.

h)   Parentline may not use any information without taking reasonable steps to ensure that the information is relevant, accurate, complete and not misleading.

i)     Parentline will not keep information for longer than is required for the purposes for which the information may lawfully be used.

j)     Parentline will not use information gathered for a specific purpose, for any other purposes unless authorised by the individual concerned.

1. Parentline staff are to ensure that when collecting personal information they obtain the client’s consent to use that information for the purposes in 3.

k)    Parentline will not disclose personal information to any third party unless;

1. Disclosure is one of the purposes for which the information as collected; or
2. The disclosure is authorised by the individual concerned.

Click here to download the consent form

There is widespread acknowledgement that most violence remains hidden, with official estimates placing 80% of family violence as unreported to Police.

In spite of numerous interventions, the outcome is increasing person to person violence, in particular within families resulting in lifetime consequences for children. Official information states that at least 45% of reported incidents of family violence are witnessed by children; unofficial data suggests the number is as high as 77%.

At Parentline we work with these children – the silent victims of domestic violence.

Today marks White Ribbon Day to commemorate the brutal assassination in 1960 of the three Mirabel sisters who were political activists in the Dominican Republic. The three were killed on the orders of the Dominican ruler Trujillo.

In 1991, a group of Canadian men began a campaign to urge men to speak out against violence against women. The group adopted the wearing of the white ribbon as a symbol of men’s opposition to violence against women.  The first effort achieved the distribution of 100,000 white ribbons to men across Canada.

White Ribbon Day – International Day for Elimination of Violence Against Women – is now part of the United Nations annual calendar and in New Zealand, the Families Commission has taken a leadership role in promoting the message of White Ribbon Day.

Our contribution to White Ribbon Day is to host a Fathers & Sons Breakfast this morning.

In the build up to White Ribbon Day, there have been a number of other events focussing on the impact of violence against women. On 19 November Parentline welcomed officials from the Ministry of Women’s Affairs to meet with community agencies and to present the findings from their report Strong & Safe Communities- Effective Interventions for adult victims and survivors of sexual violence (2009).

On November 20, Hamilton hosted the launch of the book Trust: A True Story of Women & Gangs; the life stories of five women who lived in gangs and who were subjected to sexual abuse, violence and crime.

As a Child Advocate, Parentline has a key role to ensure family violence remains high on the public and political agenda, so that the issue is not hidden.

More information on this topic is available on our new website www.parentline.org.nz. Or you can contact Parentline on 07 839 4536.

Last week was a significant week. We launched our new logo with the motto “safe family safe child – maru i te whānau maru i te tamariki” to better reflect Parentline’s vision of keeping children safe from abuse and domestic violence.

We were also the grateful recipients of the latest Suzuki Swift car donated by Hamilton’s Winger Suzuki to enable our staff to visit families out in the community. The new logo adorns the car and will no doubt become iconic around the streets of Hamilton. 

Safe family safe child. This is what every child needs. Children need a safe and secure home and parents that love and protect them. They need to have a sense of routine and stability so that when things go wrong in the outside world, home is a place of comfort, help and support.

For too many of our children, home is not a safe haven. Every year thousands of New Zealand children are exposed to domestic violence at home, and this has a powerful and profound impact on their lives and hopes for the future.

Violence in the home is a largely hidden problem that few communities and families openly confront. Police statistics reveal that only 20% of all domestic violence incidents are officially reported; which means that up to 80% of domestic violence incidents go undetected. Violence in the home is a global phenomenon, not limited by geography, ethnicity or status.

Whilst the devastating effects of domestic violence on women are well documented, far less is known about the impact on children who witness a parent or caregiver being subjected to violence.

Children who are exposed to violence may suffer a range of severe and lasting effects; such children are more likely to be victims of child abuse; even where children are not the direct victims of violence they often exhibit the same behavioural and psychological problems as children who have been physically abused. Children may have learning difficulties and limited social skills, exhibit violent and delinquent behaviour or suffer from depression and severe anxiety. And some of the biggest victims are the smallest. Younger children are particularly vulnerable compared to their older siblings.

Several studies have shown that children who witness domestic violence are more likely to be affected by violence as adults, either as victims or perpetrators.

Children need to learn that domestic violence is wrong and they need to learn non violent methods of resolving conflict. Children need adults to speak out and break the silence. Children who are exposed to violence in the home need to know that things can change and that violence in the home can end. Children need hope for the future.