Report of the Henry County, Ohio Child Custody and Domestic Violence Safety and Accountability Audit

October 25, 2022

The Henry County, Ohio Child Custody and Domestic Violence Safety and Accountability Audit (“Ohio Audit”) examines how the local family court system takes domestic abuse into account in the resolution of child custody and parental access cases. It was undertaken in connection with the National Child Custody Demonstration Project, a federally-funded collaboration among the Battered Women’s Justice Project, Praxis International, and representatives from the National Council of Juvenile & Family Court Judges and the Association of Family & Conciliation Courts. Recognizing that the safety and wellbeing of children and their battered and battering parents are often inadequately accounted for in custody cases where domestic violence is alleged, the National Child Custody Demonstration Project seeks to develop a more practical framework for identifying, understanding, and accounting for the contexts and implications of domestic violence in child custody cases. The overarching goal is to produce safer, healthier, and more just outcomes for children and parents alike. Both the Ohio Audit and the National Child Custody Demonstration Project rely heavily upon the Safety and Accountability Audit as a framework for analysis.