Advocacy for Women and Kids in Emergencies (AWAKE)

Note: The AWAKE program declined to participate in the CEBC review process. The following information was obtained from publicly available sources (website, articles, etc.).

Scientific Rating:
NR
Not able to be Rated
See scale of 1-5

Relevance to Child Welfare Rating:
NR
Not able to be Rated
See scale of 1-3

Brief Description:

Advocacy for Women and Kids in Emergencies (AWAKE) has been reviewed by the CEBC in the area of Domestic Violence: Services for Women and Their Children, but lacks the necessary research evidence to be given either a Scientific Rating or a Child Welfare Relevance Rating. In 1986, a group of advocates, social workers, nurses, and doctors began AWAKE, Advocacy for Women and Kids in Emergencies, at Children's Hospital in Boston. The basic goal of the project was to identify and help battered women with abused or neglected children and offer to the women support and advocacy. In this way, women would be better protected, and, as a result, so would their children. The argument was that children's safety was usually - although not always - largely dependent on their mother's. AWAKE seeks to provide comprehensive services to abused children and mothers. (Information above found on www.mincava.umn.edu/documents/expandin/expandin.html)

Abused women who accept AWAKE's services are paired with an advocate who collaborates with hospital staff and outside agencies to devise a safety plan and, whenever possible, to keep mothers and children together. Services provided include housing guidance, such as shelter referrals, court advocacy, referrals for medical and legal care, and individual counseling and support groups for women. AWAKE also provides consultation and education to hospital staff and the community. AWAKE provides opportunities for abused women, in seeking medical attention for their children, to access services for themselves that they might not have sought otherwise.

Manual and Training section:
The publicly available information indicates that there is a manual available for AWAKE.

Relevant Published, Peer-Reviewed Research:
AWAKE has been reviewed and it was determined that this program lacks the type of published, peer-reviewed research that meets the CEBC criteria for a scientific rating of 1 - 5. Therefore, the program has been given the classification of "NR - Not able to be Rated." It was reviewed because it was identified by the topic expert as a program being used in the field, or it is being marketed and/or used in California with children receiving services from child welfare or related systems and their parents/caregivers. Some programs that are not rated may have published, peer-reviewed research that does not meet the above stated criteria or may have eligible studies that have not yet been published in the peer-reviewed literature. For more information on the "NR - Not able to be Rated" classification, please see the Scientific Rating Scale.

There are currently no published, peer-reviewed research studies for AWAKE.

References:
Schechter, S., & Gary, L. T. (1991). Health care services for battered women and their abused children: A manual about AWAKE. Boston: Children's Hospital.

Contact Information
Affiliation/Agency: Child Protection Program, Children's Hospital Boston
Website: www.child-protection.org/CPT/CPT.htm (Follow link "For Providers" and then choose Domestic Violence from the list).

Date review compiled: July 2007