NCJ Number
75615
Journal
Practice Digest Volume: 1 Issue: 2 Dated: (September 1978) Pages: 19-22
Date Published
1978
Length
4 pages
Annotation
The work of the Boulder County Sexual Abuse Mini Team, a specialized division of the Child Protection Unit of the Boulder County Department of Social Services (Colorado), is described.
Abstract
The team does short-term, crisis-oriented counseling with families in which incest is alleged by one family member (usually a child) against another (usually the father). The team assists the family until it is referred for long-term treatment and then monitors the family's progress for the court. Emphasis is placed on quick response; each family member is interviewed on the same day by one of the three members of the social worker team who is of the same sex. Civil as well as criminal charges are brought against the offender so that the victim can be placed, at least temporarily, in foster care. The short-term treatment process involves all family members, both individually and as a group. The victim, the mother, and the father require special counseling to deal with their particular problems and feelings about the situation. The father's attitude is crucial, for he must accept responsibility for his actions and plead guilty to the charges against him or he will no be admitted to treatment. The advantages of pleading guilty are that the offender can avoid publicity and the ordeal of a criminal trial, and he will be recommended by the team for probation. As the goal of the program is to keep families together, children in foster care may return home when the crisis has been resolved and the family has been transferred to long-term treatment. The effectiveness of the team could be enhanced by additional training of staff and by development of deferred sentencing options for offenders. One reference is supplied.