NCJ Number
82787
Date Published
1980
Length
156 pages
Annotation
The Child Sexual Abuse Victim Assistance Project (CSAVAP) in Washington, D.C., a short-term crisis intervention and treatment program for child sexual abuse victims, is described, and grounds for its acceptance as a LEAA exemplary project are presented.
Abstract
Direct services of CSAVAP, which operates out of Children's Hospital National Medical Center, are initial and follow-up medical services; initial crisis intake and case findings; assessment, evaluation, and case planning; ongoing crisis counseling and psychosocial treatment; and case advocacy, legal counseling, and court preparation and accompaniment. Indirect services include professional training and curriculum development, public education, and evaluation and applied research. The tracking system devised by the criminal justice specialist on the staff allows, for the first time, careful tracking of cases through the criminal justice system. The project has succeeded in obtaining support for its activities from other community agencies whose staff value the services of the project. The project has developed and implemented new medical protocols within Children's Hospital, emphasizing detection and treatment of physical injury as well as collection of medical evidence for use in any criminal justice proceeding. Model curricula, cross-indexed for police, medical personnel, nurses, and social worker, have been developed for use in formal training sessions with a variety of criminal justice, medical, and social service personnel. A major weakness of the project is that it has had little identifiable impact on the operating procedures of the criminal justice system, particularly those involving case management. Appendixes include summary statistics, medical and case management protocols, data collection forms, and public information brochures.