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Shelley Osterloh Reporting Home should be a safe, comfortable place. But for too many Utah children, home is a scary place.
If Mom and Dad are fighting, hitting and hurting, home isn't a safe place. We wanted to find out how kids can be helped if they witness domestic violence.
Last year there were more than 5,800 people who stayed in Utah's 16 domestic violence shelters, and more than half of them --- 54% --were children.
Kids who witness family violence are at risk for all kinds of problems, including getting into violent relationships as teens and adults. The YWCA is working to stop the cycle of violence, one kid at a time.
Therapist: "So for every one of our fingers we are going to come up with a safe person or safe place. Who is your safe person, Jamal?"
Keri Jones is the Children's Services Coordinator at the YWCA's domestic violence shelter. She helps children find a voice to express what they've seen, and come up with a plan to deal with the challenges they face at home.
Therapist: "Because the first thing you want to do is stay out of the fight, right?"
Child: "So you won't get hit."
Therapist: "So you won't get hit."
Child: "When your dad would come down, he would smack you right on top."
Eight-year-old Linda says she ran to a neighbor's and called 911.
Linda: "He was hitting my mom. My dad was hitting my mom. He was choking her and he wouldn't stop it."
Jamal says his older brother and sister got hurt when they tried to stop dad from beating their mom.
Jamal: "My dad, he was punching my brother and biting my sister. When she took his arm away from her and slapping my mom."
The experts at the YWCA help the children deal with the trauma they've experienced through play and artwork. Kids who are powerless and frightened at home learn there are places that are safe from violence and abuse.
Jamal: "I'd be nice to people and help people out. I would never fight. Because I don't want people to go through what I did."
Children who have experienced domestic violence are at a greater risk for depression, suicide, drug abuse, delinquency, and violence. But with help, they can overcome those risks and break the cycle of family violence.
Keri Jones, MSW, CSW/ Children's Services Coordinator: "I don't think that them being child victims marks them to be victims or perpetrators in the future."
"You heard Jamal and Linda talking about that, they get it. I mean, Linda has been with us a very short time and they get it. That that's not okay. I think they feel that inherently, and we can help them find alternative solutions. So I absolutely have hope for our kids."
Most battered women care deeply about their children's safety and work hard to protect them. Often they will leave an abusive home for the sake of the children, and that's why the YWCA has developed programs for kids as well as their moms.
The YWCA has a 24 hour hotline and shelter. The number is (801) 537-8600.
