Domestic Violence

Witnessing violence at home harms children, and children often enter foster care because of violence at home. Rise stories explore the controlling patterns of batterers, the fights that flare up under stress, and the aggression driven by mental illness or substance abuse. Parents describe the steps they have taken to break free of violence and help themselves and their children recover.

False and Malicious CPS Reports: Why NY Should End Anonymous Reporting

September 01, 2020 by

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A new bill introduced in the NY State Legislature would replace anonymous child abuse and neglect reports with confidential reports, requiring callers to the State Central Registry to provide identifying information when making a report.

Many parents at Rise have shared their stories of how perpetrators of domestic violence wield the child welfare system as a weapon to further dynamics of power, control and abuse. VOW (Voices of Women) has been working to address the issue of false and malicious reports of child abuse and neglect through their Rights of Children Campaign. Here, Raquel Singh, executive director of VOW, and Johnnie Lee Fielder, domestic violence advocate, discuss how replacing anonymous reporting with confidential reporting could make a difference.

Silenced: My ex-husband has used CPS to abuse me for more than a decade

September 01, 2020 by

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The child welfare system needs to have a policy to fight false allegations, and their workers need to be trained to detect them. Right now, false reports are simply tools for perpetrators to continue controlling their victims even when those victims have succeeded in going on with their lives. ACS becomes puppets of our abusers and our children suffer.

From Enemy to Ally: Because my caseworker accepted me, I was able to believe in myself.

October 21, 2015 by

From ages 8 through 18, I was a foster child. I was in so many homes that I can’t remember them all. Some of my foster parents abused their authority. I didn’t know if my real parents loved me. I felt like everyone was against me.

I was 17 and at the hospital for a suicide attempt (my last) when I found out I was pregnant. I felt overwhelmed and so ashamed. … Read More

Separate But Happy – I confused loneliness with love, but I recognized abuse.

September 01, 2015 by

Illustration by Asiah Ajibabi

When I met Rene, I don’t know what I saw in him because physically he wasn’t too handsome. I think it was his character, his aggressiveness, which later on was what made me leave.

I met Rene at work and got close to him by asking him to help me. He started saying to me, “You owe me a lot.” “I’ll pay you back,” I told him. “But not with money,” … Read More

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