NRCAC Team Talk

EPISODE SUMMARY:

In the final episode of the 4-part series on Skill Development for Forensic Interviewers, Tony speaks with Andra Chamberlin and Kim Madden from the National Children’s Advocacy Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Both Andra and Kim are trainers and forensic interview specialists with a wealth of experience in the child abuse field. During the conversation, Kim and Andra share their thoughts on the skills needed to be an effective forensic interviewer and how CACs and MDTs can develop a process to where interviews take the foundational knowledge gained during their initial training and build more formative knowledge around the skills needed to be effective.

GUESTS:

Andra Chamberlin: https://www.nationalcac.org/andra-k-chamberlin/

Kim Madden: https://www.nationalcac.org/kim-madden/

Topics

Forensic Interviewing

Peer Review for Forensic Interviewers

Coaching and Mentoring

Forensic Interviewing Skill Development

RECOMMENDED RESOURCES:

• National Children’s Advocacy Center Training Center: www.nationalcac.org
• NCAC Calio Library: www.calio.org
• Northeast Regional Children's Advocacy Center: www.nrcac.org
• Midwest Regional Children's Advocacy Center: www.mrcac.org
• Southern Regional Children's Advocacy Center: www.srcac.org
• Western Regional Children's Advocacy Center: www.westernregionalcac.org

Disclaimer: This project was sponsored by NRCAC from Grant Award Number 2019-CI-FX-K005 and CFDA #16.758 awarded by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Department of Justice. The opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Department of Justice, OJJDP or NRCAC.

Teresa Huizar, Executive Director of the National Children’s Alliance, explores how the CAC Movement has risen to meet the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic and what opportunities have arisen that may prove beneficial in the future.

EPISODE SUMMARY:

When the Covid-19 pandemic struck, Child Advocacy Center’s and Multidisciplinary Teams were forced to pivot the way they were providing services to children and families in the community. As the crisis continues, the CAC movement is learning that some of the innovative changes they have made may prove to be beneficial when the pandemic is behind us. In this episode, I speak with the Executive Director of the National Children’s Alliance, Teresa Huizar. Teresa has dedicated her career to the CAC movement serving in leadership roles at the local and regional level and for the past 14 years as the Executive Director of the National Children’s Alliance. During our conversation, Teresa shares her thoughts on the various ways CAC’s and MDT’s across the country have pivoted to meet the challenges posed by this pandemic all while continuing to serve children and families who have suffered the trauma of abuse.

Topics in this episode:

• Resilience of the people in the CAC Movement
• Accelerated use of technology
• Tele-Health
• Case Review
• Workforce challenges and opportunities
• Strategies to address vicarious trauma and secondary traumatic stress

RECOMMENDED RESOURCES:

• National Children's Alliance: www.nationalchildrensalliance.org
• One in Ten Podcast: https://www.buzzsprout.com/280046
• NCA Learning Center COVID-19 Resources for CACs, Partners, and Caregivers: https://learn.nationalchildrensalliance.org/covid

For more information on the Northeast Regional Children’s Advocacy Center, visit our website at www.nrcac.org.

Disclaimer: This project was sponsored by NRCAC from Grant Award Number 2019-CI-FX-K005 and CFDA #16.758 awarded by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Department of Justice. The opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Department of Justice, OJJDP or NRCAC.

EPISODE SUMMARY:

Is your team searching for the perfect forensic interview? Although a “perfect” outcome might not be possible, the journey is important. In this episode, I speak with two forensic interviewers from the Commonwealth of Virginia about that journey. We discuss some of the challenges that might get in the way and what interviewers and team members can do to overcome the obstacles that impact the journey toward perfection.

In the last 5 years, over 1 million children have received forensic interview services at Child Advocacy Centers across the United States. In this second episode of a 4-part series, I speak with Michele Thames and Christina Rouse about what forensic interviews and multidisciplinary teams can do to remove some of the hurdles that get in the way of forensic interviewing programs operating at their best. We discuss tools and resources that forensic interviewers can utilize to enhance their skills as well as what team members can do to support the interviewers on their team. We begin to talk about what the team can do on a systems level, to help ensure that children and families are having the best possible experience they can when coming to the CAC for a forensic interview, but you will have to tune in to part 3 of our series to hear more on that topic!

GUESTS:

Michele Thames is the Executive Director of SafeSpot Children’s Advocacy Center in Fairfax, VA. She holds a Master’s Degree in Education from Cambridge College. She was previously the Supervisor of the Forensic Interview Program at the Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters Child Abuse Program in Norfolk, Virginia. Michele is a trained Forensic Interviewer that has conducted over 3,000 forensic interviews in a multidisciplinary team setting for local, state, federal and military agencies. She is a board member of the Children’s Advocacy Centers of Virginia and faculty for ChildFirst Virginia.

Christina Rouse, MSW, is the CAC Program Director/ Lead Forensic Interviewer at Children’s Trust in Roanoke, VA. She is a graduate of Virginia Tech where she received a degree in Psychology, and then a Masters in Social Work from Radford University. Christina has been at her CAC for 13 years and has interviewed over 2000 children and has testified as an expert witness in forensic interviewing in Virginia. Children's Trust CAC program serves ten MDTs that cover fourteen jurisdictions and Christina has helped coordinate and facilitate these teams to ensure that best practices are being met. She has been a member of the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children (APSAC) since 2009, ChildFirst faculty since 2012 and served on the Virginia state chapter board for CACs during her career.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCES:

• SafeSpot CAC: www.safespotfairfax.org
• Children’s Trust: www.roact.org
• NCAC Calio Library: https://calio.org/
• Northeast Regional Children's Advocacy Center: www.nrcac.org
• Southern Regional Children's Advocacy Center: www.srcac.org
• Midwest Regional Children's Advocacy Center: www.mrcar.org
• Western Regional Children's Advocacy Center: www.westernregionalcac.org
• Tend Academy: https://www.tendacademy.ca/
• National Children’s Alliance: https://www.nationalchildrensalliance.org/

Disclaimer: This project was sponsored by NRCAC from Grant Award Number 2019-CI-FX-K005 and CFDA #16.758 awarded by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Department of Justice. The opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Department of Justice, OJJDP or NRCAC.

EPISODE SUMMARY:

In the last five years, over 1 million children have received forensic interview services at Child Advocacy Centers across the United States. In the first of four episodes dedicated to this topic, Rita Farrell, Director of ChildFirst® for Zero Abuse Project, discusses the value of peer review and how forensic interviewers can continually enhance their skills through coaching, mentoring, and program development.

Forensic interviewers are dedicated professionals passionate about helping the children and families they serve. Like any other professional skill, forensic interviewing skills can deteriorate if not developed. Forensic interviewers should continually work on enhancing their knowledge and skills in an ongoing effort to do their job effectively. In this episode, NRCAC Training Specialist Tony DeVincenzo speaks with Rita Farrell, Director of ChildFirst® for Zero Abuse Project about ways interviewers can receive additional training, identify gaps in their skill development, and make a plan to hone their skills to remain effective in this critical MDT role.

GUEST:

Rita manages the ChildFirst® Forensic Interview Training Program, ChildFirst® Arkansas state program, and the development of advanced training courses and programs for forensic interviewers. She is a certified law enforcement instructor and provides training and technical assistance for child protection professionals. Rita currently conducts forensic interviews and has interviewed more than 2,500 children. She serves as an expert witness on child sexual abuse, authored many peer-reviewed articles specific to forensic interviewing and continues to champion the cause of child advocacy and the field of forensic interviewing.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCES:

• Zero Abuse Project: www.zeroabuseproject.org

For more information about the Northeast Regional Children's Advocacy Center, visit our website at www.nrcac.org.

Disclaimer: This project was sponsored by NRCAC from Grant Award Number 2019-CI-FX-K005 and CFDA #16.758 awarded by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Department of Justice. The opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Department of Justice, OJJDP or NRCAC.

EPISODE SUMMARY:

Cases of children ages 12 and younger with problematic sexual behavior (PSB) can present a myriad of challenges for multidisciplinary teams (MDTs) and Children’s Advocacy Centers (CACs). After all, MDTs and CACs were historically designed to address maltreatment of children committed by adults, not by other children. When presented with child-initiated harm cases, child-serving agencies are often inadequately equipped to provide the integrated and comprehensive response that is required in these situations. (Sites, Jerri & Widefield, Jimmy. Children with Problematic Sexual Behavior: Recommendations for the Multidisciplinary Team and Children’s Advocacy Center Response (2020).

In this episode, I speak with the authors of the above referenced white paper, Jerri Sites and Jimmy Widdifield. Both have extensive experience working with CACs and MDTs and have conducted extensive research on the topic of PSB. During our conversation, Jerri and Jimmy share their insights and experience along with providing valuable tools for teams who are looking to enhance their response to PSB cases in their community.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCES:

• Jerri Sites at Child Protection Concepts is an independent consultant with 28 years of experience working in the field of child abuse investigations within the CAC movement.
• Jimmy Widdifield is the Freestanding Multidisciplinary Teams (FSMDT) Programs Manager at the Oklahoma Commission on Children and Youth in Oklahoma City, OK
• White Paper: https://calio.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Children-with-Problematic-Sexual-Behavior-Recommendations-for-the-Multidisciplinary-Team-and-Childrens-Advocacy-Center-Response.pdf
• National Children’s Alliance
• National Center on the Sexual Behavior of Youth
• National Children’s Advocacy Center
• Southern Regional Children’s Advocacy Center
• Western Regional Children’s Advocacy Center
• Midwest Regional Children’s Advocacy Center
• Northeast Regional Children’s Advocacy Center

Have an idea for a future Team Talk guest or topic? We want to hear from you! Email your suggestions to Tony DeVincenzo at [email protected].

Disclaimer: This project was sponsored by NRCAC from Grant Award Number 2019-CI-FX-K005 and CFDA #16.758 awarded by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Department of Justice. The opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Department of Justice, OJJDP or NRCAC.