Working with Teen Victims: Tips for the Investigation and Prosecution of Child Abuse Cases

Working with Teen Victims: Tips for the Investigation and Prosecution of Child Abuse Cases

Brief Overview: Cases of child abuse involving a teenage victim presents its own unique challenges for prosecution. Understanding adolescent brain development is important for forensic interviewers as well as investigators and prosecutors. Preparing the case requires not only thorough investigation but thoughtful communication with a teen victim to obtain the facts of the crime and provide essential information about the prosecutor’s role and judicial process. This approach will facilitate building a strong criminal case for prosecution. Expert Presenter: Beth Merachnik, JD, serves as the Deputy Director of the Association of Prosecuting Attorney’s (APA) Child Abuse Prosecution Project. She is the…

Guiding Families Toward Healing and Justice: Aligning Victim Advocacy Services with Standards of Practice

Guiding Families Toward Healing and Justice: Aligning Victim Advocacy Services with Standards of Practice

Brief Overview: The role of Victim Advocates in general and within CACs has evolved in scope and complexity over time, striving to be understood and valued as its own unique discipline. The NCA Accreditation Standards (2017) underscore Advocates’ critical role in helping children and families pursue safety, healing and justice. Guidance offered through OVC’s Model Standards has also helped contribute to promoting and sustaining practice excellence and professional integrity for victim service providers. This presentation explores the strengths and challenges in the Victim Advocate role on MDTs in CACs, and discusses strategies for aligning their role and practice with both…

What is Language Access? Why Does It Matter in a CAC?

What is Language Access? Why Does It Matter in a CAC?

Brief Overview: Language access encompasses a comprehensive framework of knowledge and practices that remove barriers and ensures meaningful access and effective communication. In this workshop participants will learn why language access matters and how it is connected to the comprehensive provision of victim services. Participants will discuss the importance of removing language barriers and examine what effective language access looks like within a CAC setting. Participants will learn how to design and implement a smooth process for providing language access throughout a CAC/MDT response to child victimization. Expert Presenter: Greg Flett, MSW, has over fifteen years of experience working with…

Elicit and Identify Protective Factors in Domestic Violence Cases Within the Forensic Interview

Elicit and Identify Protective Factors in Domestic Violence Cases Within the Forensic Interview

Brief Overview: This session’s goal is to bridge work of the Duluth Model Coordinated Community Response (CCR) in conjunction with the Child Advocacy Center model. Domestic violence and child abuse maltreatment co-occurrence is exceptionally high in child abuse investigations. These cases are further challenging due to intentional or unintentional contamination of memories ensuring secrecy by a batterer. Multi-disciplinary team members and systems partners may not recognize protective factors utilized by survivors and/or the non-offending caregiver. This session will incorporate research on protective measures and the experiences of domestic violence survivors from focus groups conducted in Duluth, MN. The session will…

Use of Reflective Supervision Groups for CACs

Use of Reflective Supervision Groups for CACs

Brief Overview: Reflective supervision is the exploration of the way in which the work that practitioners do every day effects them. Spending time in a very specific type of supervision within the context of a CAC, may reduce secondary traumatic stress and improve the resiliency of the workforce. Additionally, by being more consciously aware of the ways that work in child abuse may illicit strong feelings in providers, providers can continue to do their best work. Expert Presenter: Saprina Matheny, MSW, LICSW completed her Masters degree in Social Work at the University of St. Thomas/College of St. Catherine. She has…