NCJ Number
142056
Date Published
1993
Length
31 pages
Annotation
The Secretarial Initiative on Child Abuse and Neglect, developed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, sponsored a symposium on "Joint Investigations of Child Sexual Abuse," which brought together representatives of eight Federal agencies, each of which is responsible for one or more aspects of child protection.
Abstract
Multidisciplinary investigations of child abuse reduce the number of interviews a child undergoes, minimize the number of people involved in a case, enhance the quality of evidence, provide information essential for family service agencies, and minimize interagency conflicts. However, symposium participants identified a number of obstacles to effective team investigations: differences in philosophies, goals, and agency roles; public policy and resource allocation problems; lack of trained personnel at every level; scarcity of experienced, committed, and supportive leadership; and lack of protocols and written guidelines. On the other hand, conferees pointed to factors which can help develop multidisciplinary teams: recognition of the need to work together, availability of training and technical assistance, emphasis on accountability of offenders and agencies, availability of specialized knowledge and technology, and committed and creative child advocates. To speed the adoption of this type of approach, participants recommended comprehensive training to include multidisciplinary and discipline-specific components, joint investigations in local jurisdictions, Federal and State incentives to establish multidisciplinary teams, and legislative reform beginning with enhancement of the Children's Justice Act. 13 notes and 4 appendixes