San Mateo’s SPARK program helps children break free from cycles of domestic violence

San Mateo County, California – Laura Syracuse’s voice is calm and caring when she answers the phone. “This conversation is confidential. Do you have a moment to talk?” On the other end is a survivor of domestic violence, frequently with kids around, each of whom is bearing the silent burden of what they’ve seen and heard at home. Syracuse works for CORA, which stands for Community Overcoming Relationship Abuse. This San Mateo-based group wants to stop the cycle of trauma that often goes from one generation to the next.

For too many kids, living in a home with violence means more than dread and confusion; it also means a higher chance of becoming an adult who does the same things, either as a victim or a perpetrator.

“What happens in childhood has a lasting impact,” Syracuse said. “If we can help a child with their confusion and anger and trauma, we can help that child in the way they respond to difficult situations for decades to come. We’re working to break a cycle of abuse.”

San Mateo County started SPARK—Shaping Positive and Resilient Kids to deal with this problem head-on. The idea is simple: when police get a complaint about domestic violence, they put families in touch with CORA advocates, who then contact out to give free mental health help and other important services.

SPARK wants to halt the cycle of violence before it starts by connecting families that are at risk to care. Maria Andreina Bastardo, who runs Mental Health Services at CORA, said that they are ending cycles of abuse by methodically finding children and families who are at danger and giving them a safe place to deal with their mental health issues.

There is a lot of evidence to back up this work. The CDC says that adverse childhood experiences, such as seeing family violence, can cause physical and emotional problems for the rest of their lives. The Journal of Interpersonal Violence has also found that kids who are abused are considerably more likely to have the same problems later in life. And the range is huge: the U.S. Department of Justice says that almost 1 in 10 American kids have seen one family member hurt another.

Mike Callagy, once a police officer and now San Mateo County’s chief executive, saw the problem firsthand during his three decades in law enforcement.

“I saw us respond to the same homes for domestic violence calls over and over,” Callagy explained. “You could see the toll it took on the kids — the fear, the trauma, the normalization of violence.”

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SPARK was created because people wanted to do more than just respond; they wanted to stop harm before it happens. The program has a big reach because there are about 2,000 domestic abuse calls in San Mateo County every year. Elisa Kuhl, who is in charge of victim services for the County’s District Attorney’s Office, says that even the best services don’t work if people don’t use them.

For Syracuse and her fellow advocates, each call is handled with care and caution. Safety and privacy are very important, especially if an abuser might hear. Advocates quietly reach out to families, help them make safety measures, and support kids as they deal with difficult feelings, including seeing a parent get handcuffed or transported away in an ambulance.

The first results of SPARK are promising. The number of kids getting mental health assistance through the program went up by 62% in the last three months of 2024 compared to before SPARK started. Trauma symptoms went down by 78% in kids who finished therapeutic services. Most families in SPARK have very young kids, and hundreds of adult survivors have also received a lot of help with their cases.

SPARK is a new way ahead that focuses on healing and prevention, not just intervention. It is funded by local Measure K sales tax dollars. For kids who live in households where violence happens, programs like SPARK provide them something important: hope for a better future.

To learn more about the program, click here.