ST. PAUL, Minn. -- The Sheila Wellstone Institute, a new organization dedicated to continuing Wellstone's work to improve the lives of women and children facing violence, has launched its inaugural conference. The impact on battered mothers of custody and visitation disputes and their involvement with the child welfare system was examined.

Over the past 20 years, women and their children have been made safer by coordinating the work of domestic violence programs, police, prosecutors, the criminal courts and probation. However, there has not been a similar effort to address the many issues battered women and their families face in the family and juvenile courts as well as the child protection system.

"True to Sheila's spirit, the Institute is joining advocacy, policy, and research to find solutions for battered women and their children," said Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano, conference keynote speaker and a national leader in the effort to end violence against women and children.

"The conference highlighted particular issues and sensitivities that should be considered when domestic violence is present in families," said Connie Lewis, director of the Sheila Wellstone Institute. "No one understood better than Sheila the need to find ways for child welfare and domestic violence advocates to work together to more effectively help families experiencing violence."

The conference examined challenges in family court and child welfare systems for mothers and children seeking safety. It highlighted research documenting abusive parenting practices of men who batter as well as models of effective collaboration between those involved in the systems. Conference sponsors believe that heightened awareness of the challenges and applications of quality research and practice will lead to better decisions in custody and visitation disputes by courts and child protection officials.

A dramatic point in the conference was when New York mother Sharwline Nicholson described how her children were removed from her care and put in foster homes after their father beat her. While he wasn't charged, Nicholson was accused by New York City's child protection services of "engaging in domestic violence". Along with other battered mothers she's now suing the city for its child welfare policies. The city's policies were found unconstitutional.

In addition to Napolitano, Nicholson and her attorney Jill Zuccardy, speakers at the inaugural conference included U.S. District Court Judge Donovan Frank, Minnesota Supreme Court Chief Justice Kathleen Blatz, author and batterer intervention specialist Lundy Bancroft from Massachusetts, and professor Jeff Edleson, director of the Minnesota Center Against Violence and Abuse at the University of Minnesota.

Conference participants, who included representatives from more than 30 local and national co-sponsoring groups as well as 450 attendees, together prioritized issues for further action. These priorities, to be posted at www.wellstone.org , will be the focus of ongoing efforts by the Sheila Wellstone Institute.

Sheila Wellstone's colleagues founded the Sheila Wellstone Institute as a way to honor her life, her tireless efforts and her contributions to help women and children facing violence in their homes. Wellstone led efforts to pass the Violence Against Women Act, Trafficking Victims Protection Act, Violence Reduction Training Act, Child Safety Act and many other measures. The Sheila Wellstone Institute is a program of Wellstone Action.

Source: Sheila Wellstone Institute