Although empirical research has accumulated over the past 20 years regarding African Americans and domestic violence, many questions remain about African American perceptions of domestic violence. This article explores African American women's perceptions about domestic violence through three focus groups held at a New York social services agency. The findings point to the need to better understand diverse perceptions of domestic violence, to find culturally competent methods of addressing the inaccessibility of domestic violence services, to increase culturally appropriate public education, and to conduct more research on the connection between domestic violence and child welfare in communities of color.

Over the past two decades, the foster care system experienced an unprecedented rise in the number of children in out-of-home care, significant changes in the policy framework guiding foster care practice, and ongoing organizational impediments that complicate efforts to serve the children in foster care. This article discusses the current status of the foster care system and finds: Agencies often have difficulty providing adequate, accessible, and appropriate services for the families in their care. Children of color, particularly African-American children, are disproportionately represented in foster care, a situation which raises questions about the equity of the foster care system and threatens the developmental progress of children of color. Foster families can find the experience overwhelming and frustrating, causing many to leave foster parenting within their first year. Organizational problems such as large caseloads, high staff turnover, and data limitations compromise efforts to adequately serve and monitor families. The challenges before the foster care system are numerous, however the authors believe promising policies and practices aimed at strengthening families, supporting case workers, providing timely and adequate data, and infusing cultural competency throughout the system, can move the foster care system forward in the coming years.

This article encourages readers to consider the cultural and societal influences that impact health and health disparities among women survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV). Health consequences caused by IPV are widely documented and broadly discussed. Connections between health disparities and IPV are also discussed as related to women of color. Cultural factors and societal influences are identified to provide the reader with greater awareness of how these issues intersect with and impact IPV. Finally, the implications for scientific research and practice are discussed to include considerations for stronger assessment tools, greater collaboration and community participation, determination of best practices, requirement of cultural competence, mandated accountability, encouragement of mentorship, increased funding for research, increased advocacy, and increased culturally competent media and health promotion campaigns.

Though all cultural, religious, sexual orientation, and socioeconomic groups experience domestic violence, people of color continue to be largely ignored in domestic violence literature. African Americans sustain serious and lethal injuries as a result of domestic violence. Domestic violence poses a grave threat to the preservation of African American families and communities. In an effort to create an agenda for further discussion, this article provides a critical analysis of the current literature on domestic violence in the African American community, identifies gaps in knowledge, and discusses an action agenda to help eradicate domestic violence.

Cultural competence is important to the domestic violence fatality review process. This article reviews current knowledge about cultural competence for Black women abused by men in the United States, with suggested implications for domestic violence fatality review teams (DVFRTs). Help-seeking behaviors, coping strategies, historical context, and cultural values within the African American community are explored. These areas are further examined using a framework inclusive of the structure, goals, processes, outcomes, and barriers of DVFRTs. The implications for how DVFRTs can utilize this information are discussed.Keywords gender, femicide, homicide survivors, policing, intimate partner, victim/offender relationship Domestic violence fatality review teams (DVFRTs) provide an important contribution to the communities they serve. The focus of the DVFRT is to better understand how systems can improve to more effectively meet the needs of persons experiencing domestic violence and thus reduce fatalities in the community (Websdale, Town, & Johnson, 1999). By reviewing the life events and systems' responses, review teams piece together the victim and the perpetrator's story and try to find the gaps and the places where systems can make a difference for the future (Wilson & Websdale, 2006). The very notion of domestic violence fatality reviews presupposes that these deaths can be avoided: "Fatality reviews can reveal trends and may lead to changes to the