RELEASE: May 3, 2000

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Human Services Commissioner Michele K. Guhl today visited Providence House, a state-funded program for children exposed to domestic violence.

"Peace: A Learned Solution" is a program started in 1998 with a $250,000 state appropriation to provide intensive therapeutic treatment and support services to children aged three to ten who have witnessed or been the victims of domestic violence. Children in the program receive child care, art and play therapy, educational support and transportation for free for six months, followed by an additional six months of follow-up services.

Children in homes where spousal abuse is present are 15 times more likely to be abused themselves and are more likely to display criminal or delinquent behavior. Sons of violent parents are three times more likely to abuse their own wives or partners.

Gov. Christie Whitman said New Jersey created the program to break a cycle of brutality that often begins with domestic violence. "The PALS program reminds us that one of the most heart-wrenching consequences of domestic violence is that a violent home is often passed on from one generation to another," Gov. Whitman said. "I am proud that New Jersey has been progressive in its approach to stopping domestic violence from ruining more lives."

Commissioner Guhl praised the work of Providence House, which psychological studies have already shown are taking children with emotional and behavioral problems and healing some of the wounds caused by domestic violence. "You are, in short, giving children another chance at childhood, another chance at innocence, and a hope of unlimited horizons," she said. "Perhaps we cannot take away all the pain or the memories or horrible things these children have endured, but we will come closer than ever before."

Charles Venti, director of the department’s Division of Youth and Family Services, said New Jersey is leading the nation in the research component of the PALS program. Rowan University was awarded $25,000 to develop and conduct an evaluation study and assess the effectiveness of the services provided by Providence House.

"More than two-thirds of the children who enter PALS suffer clinical and borderline levels of post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression, aggression, thought problems, and delinquent behavior," Venti said. "Following their participation in the PALS program, most of the children return to the normal range in overall behavioral and emotional levels, indicating a highly effective intervention approach for the littlest victims of domestic violence."

Providence House is the domestic violence program of Catholic Charities Diocese of Trenton. To date, 62 children have completed the PALS program.