Cooperation Key to Success of Child Protection Center

• NCJ Number: 128324
• Journal: Police Chief Volume: 58 Issue: 2 Dated: (February 1991) Pages: 24,27
• Author(s): G Hinzman
• Date Published: 1991
• Length: 2 pages
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/; NCJRS Photocopy Services
• Publication Type: Program Description (Model)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

Interagency cooperation among law enforcement personnel, a hospital, and 18 community agencies in Cedar Rapids, Iowa have made the community a leader in the investigation and treatment of cases of child physical and sexual abuse.

Abstract

In 1987, St. Luke's Hospital opened the Child Protection Center which provides centralized access to an integrated system of services for physically and sexually abused children and coordinates psychosocial histories, assessment interviews, and medical examinations. Referrals come from child protection workers from the Iowa Department of Human Services after consulting with law enforcement personnel with specialized training in child sexual abuse investigations. The main focus is on the welfare and rehabilitation of the child. The agencies agreed during the planning process to allow the criminal justice system to address the issue of the perpetrator's rehabilitation. The center at the hospital to collect solid tangible evidence in the prosecution of child abuse cases.