Vol. 8, No. 3
May 2003

Guiding Principles

Of the N.C. Child Well-Being and Domestic Violence Task Force

Enhancing a parent’s safety enhances the child’s safety.
Domestic violence perpetrators may cause serious harm to children.
Domestic violence perpetrators, and not their victims, should be held accountable for their actions and the impact on the well-being of the adult and child victims.
Appropriate services, tailored to the degree of violence and risk, should be available for adult victims leaving, returning to, or staying in abusive relationships and for child victims and perpetrators of domestic violence.
Children should remain in the care of their non-offending parent whenever possible.
When the risk of harm to the children outweighs the detriment of being separated from non-offending parents, alternative placement should be considered.