Eisen Blackstone Group, LLC

12/19/2025

The December holidays are often portrayed as a time of joy, togetherness, and celebration.

But for many adults and children living with domestic violence, the season brings heightened danger rather than comfort. Research consistently shows that domestic violence incidents increase during the holidays, creating urgent safety concerns for survivors and their families.

Abusive behavior includes emotional manipulation, economic control, isolation from friends and family, threats, intimidation, and coercive control.

If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, confidential support is available 24/7 through the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 (SAFE) or by texting “START” to 88788.

The most important gift we can offer survivors is patience, respect for their autonomy, and unwavering support for whatever decisions they make about their own safety. Sometimes the most helpful thing we can do is simply let someone know: I see you, I believe you, and I’m here whenever you need me.

Blog Post: The December holidays are often portrayed as a time of joy, togetherness, and celebration. But for many people living with domestic violence, this season brings heightened danger rather than comfort. Research consistently shows that domestic violence incidents increase during the holidays...

12/18/2025

'Tis the season for empathy, love and grace.

For co-parents, the holiday season can bring both joy and tension. While the holidays are often portrayed as a time of perfect family harmony, for many households it’s a logistical puzzle. From deciding where the kids will spend the holidays to managing different family traditions, co-parents face the challenge of balancing fairness with flexibility. It can also cause a mix of emotions in kids.

Get the real story about co-parenting during the holidays with some good tips for navigating the magic of the season, via Parents.
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The holiday season can be tough on everyone when parents are separated. But one mom shares how she found peace.

12/11/2025

With reliable research regarding coercive control in intimate relationships showing that it causes devastating harm and may predict future physical violence, domestic abuse advocates have called upon U.S. jurisdictions to address it. Other countries such as the United Kingdom, Wales, Ireland, France, Scotland, and Canada (Ontario) provide coercive control protection.

Several US states have laws in place to protect victims:

Connecticut (June 2021) signed into law what is recognized as the most comprehensive law of protection
California (September 2020) has a statute that allows evidence of coercive control as evidence of domestic violence in family court.
Hawaii (September 2020) prosecutes a coercive control offense
Coercive control protection bills are currently pending in New York, Maryland, and South Carolina

Learn more about this pattern of abuse used by one partner to maintain power over the other, and in some cases, over children, via Psychology Today.

Coercive control protective laws take seriously psychological abuse. It is detrimental to well-being and a precursor to possible future physical violence.

12/09/2025

On our quest to help children in abusive situations, we are working to become trauma certified. Here are some key takeaways from last week's Conference:

🫶Coercive control is often hard to see, but if clinicians screen for it first, they have a high chance of identifying all abuse present.

🫶 Coercive control punishes the children the most. They are the smallest and biggest victims.

🫶 And, for most mental health professionals, there is no required education on abuse, making these signs all the harder to see.

These are great motivators to get informed, get educated, and get motivated to make a change for children who suffer from abuse and coercive control at the hands of a parent. Learn more about our services and mission at dcchildrensinstitute.org

12/05/2025

Strong emotional bonds help children learn how to manage their own feelings and behaviors and develop self-confidence. They help create a safe base from which they can explore, learn, and relate to others.

This type of strong connection between children and their caregivers is called “secure attachment.” Securely attached children are more likely to be able to cope with challenges like poverty, family instability, parental stress, and depression.

Recent analysis shows that about 6 out of 10 children in the U.S. develop secure attachments to their parents. The 4 out of 10 kids who lack such bonds may avoid their parents when they are upset or resist their parents if they cause them more distress; sadly, these kids are more prone to serious behavior problems.

Learn how you can create a positive parenting environment to help your kids thrive, whether you're parenting in one home or two.

Resources and info available via National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Parents have an important job. Raising kids is both rewarding and challenging. Being sensitive, responsive, consistent, and available to your kids can help you build positive, healthy relationships.

12/02/2025

It's and as a grassroots nonprofit, we are hopeful and grateful for your support!

Since 2022, we've been working hard to provide child-centered interventions for families, helping them navigate the emotional and logistical challenges of family transitions through the court system. We emphasize the mental health and well-being of children by, first and foremost, advocating for children’s mental, physical, and emotional health.

With your gift of ANY size, we will be one step closer to launching our next cohort of parenting classes and judicial training. Thank you for supporting our organization and working toward !

dcchildrensinstitute.org

11/27/2025

Happy Thanksgiving, from our family to yours!

🫶 Regardless of where you are in your children and family's journey, we are grateful for the parents who invite us to be a part to help improve positive outcomes.

🫶 We are grateful for the family law firms, partners, practitioners and judges who are willing to become educated about the psychological and emotional impact of these transitions on children at different stages of development.

🫶 We are grateful for the fearless advocates who tirelessly share their personal stories to help bring change to the broken family court system. Your voice matters!

11/21/2025

For many Americans, family court is an unknown entity. But for more than half of American families whose marriages will end in divorce, many will experience the brokenness of the system.

So why DCCI? Because:

🚸Family courts are backed up, with COVID-19 creating a serious backlog that means cases are STILL significantly delayed

🚸Staffing shortages both in the D.C. area and courts nationwide leading to PACKED court schedules

🚸 Complex cases that require special attention to understand allegations and impact of abuse and coercive control

Family courts are not always able to consider children's best physical and mental health interests, putting children - like Kayden, Kyra, Piqui, and Paityn, Evelyn and Olivia Decker - at risk.

Mental health resources must be made available to children and families in transition, as well as the family court professionals who are supposed to help them.

Learn more at dcchildrensinsitute.org or DM us for more info.

11/18/2025

: November is Family Court Awareness Month

Repost from One Moms Battle:

When Project Justice USA opened a national survey to survivors, 2,072 people answered. Most were mothers who had escaped abuse — only to face new trauma inside family court. The Breaking the Silence report captures their stories and demands that we finally listen.

More information 👉projectjusticeusa.com

https://www.projectjusticeusa.com/full-survey-report-2025/

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This report would not have been possible without the courage of the 2,072 family court survivors who shared their experiences through this survey. Their willingness to break their silence and document these painful experiences represent an act of profound bravery aimed at protecting....

11/14/2025

We were honored to attend Tuesday's captivating conference and loved connecting with change makers from across the country who have been impacted by the broken family court system.

The survivor stories, legal perspectives, and empowerment to make a difference in family court deeply resonated with DCCI's mission, and we're more passionate than ever to make a better future for today's children!

11/10/2025

We hope to see you tomorrow!

For the first time, a major national conference exposes the widespread yet largely unrecognized epidemic of violence in our Family Courts.

Family Courts are notoriously secretive, like the Star Chamber in England, which was abolished four centuries ago. This secrecy has allowed for unchecked constitutional and human rights violations, which leading experts, advocates, and policymakers will attempt to examine and expose at this landmark national conference.

Join us at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., TOMORROW from 1-5 pm for this pivotal, eye-opening event!

For the first time, a major national conference exposes the widespread yet largely unrecognized epidemic of violence in our Family Courts.

11/05/2025

We proudly shine a light on sensitive topics to help family court judges and legal professionals make decisions that are truly in the best interest of children.

We offer training that includes exploration of child and adolescent mental health, including:

💚 Types of abuse children endure during the family court and reunification process
💚 The long-term impact of abuse ( domestic, emotional, financial, sexual, and coercive control) on children and adolescents
💚 Proper co-parenting communication and relationship strategies designed to lower conflict and improve outcomes for children and families
💚 The intricacies of high-conflict relationships and rulings, and current psycho-social trends and mental health buzzwords relevant in court proceedings

Learn more 👉 dcchildrensinstitute.org

https://dcchildrensinstitute.org/our-work/

At DCCI, our primary objective is to provide D.C., Maryland, and Virginia families, and the courts, with solutions-based alternatives to the judicial system that focus on improving mental health and relationships for children, parents and caregivers.