In March 2022, Kayden’s Law was signed into law by President Biden as a section of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) and its provisions are now being adopted in U.S. states. Children are 23% of the US population. Young children especially cannot organize, vote, make laws, change policy or allocate funding. In short, they need you. Watch a clip from our documentary Voices for Reform on the family court challenge and proposed solutions.

We know from research that two things are happening:

1. The majority of child abuse is perpetrated by a family member or by another trusted adult, not by a stranger. This is especially true for child sexual abuse (CSA). When children experience abuse or neglect, the result is often lifelong adverse impacts on the health and well-being of individuals and society at large, as empirically shown by ACES and many other studies.

2. When protective parents or caregivers seek safety for vulnerable abused children in our family courts, their claims are routinely ignored or minimized due to gaps, gender bias, and a lack of evidence-based training in our current systems. When protective caregivers are silenced or punished for seeking safety for at-risk children, children remain in danger and trapped in cycles of abuse with no exit. Prolonged abuse exposure results in unnecessary, preventable adverse impacts on children’s health and safety.

This is a public interest matter: it is intergenerational and impacts our entire society. Child abuse is preventable.

Contact us to find out how you can help.

Danielle Pollack

advancing reform for children & safe caregivers in the family court context

Danielle Pollack’s work focuses on advancing systemic, empirically-supported family court reforms for improved outcomes for children and their safe parents. She provides technical assistance to policymakers at the state, federal, and international level. Her work on this issue entails advising on statutory and policy reforms, research, and public education. Activities include crafting model legislation in collaboration with lawmakers and leading legal and social science experts; bringing together child maltreatment experts and prosecutors to develop evidence-based court trainings; speaking engagements and engaging with press; as well as documentary filmmaking, and consulting on individual cases. Pollack spearheaded the family court initiative at CHILD USA for five years and is currently Policy Manager at the National Family Violence Law Center at GW in Washington, D.C.. To read more about her work see legislation and resources.