NCJ Number
141813
Date Published
1992
Length
204 pages
Annotation
This report presents findings from an assessment of the Child Victim-Witness Support Project operated by the Metro Toronto Special Committee on Child Abuse (Canada) as well as results from the tracking of child sexual abuse cases through the child welfare and justice systems in the same jurisdiction.
Abstract
The Child Victim-Witness Support Project (CVWSP) conducts four 1 1/2-hour group sessions weekly every other month to prepare child witnesses for testimony in sexual abuse cases. In tracking cases through the child welfare and justice systems and reviewing the CVWSP, data were collected from police records, telephone interviews with a sample of 45 police officers, personal interviews with 40 children and 40 adults who had attended the program, telephone interviews with 25 adults who had not completed program attendance, court observations, and interviews with program staff and other involved professionals. The study found that both the child welfare and criminal justice systems lack adequate and readily accessible data that could provide a rational basis for planning programs and services. Current levels of resources allocated to the implementation of Bill C-15, which is designed to facilitate the obtaining of evidence in child sexual abuse cases, and the preparation of children for the application of its provisions are inadequate. The CVWSP faces a dilemma in continuing the operation of its intended functions; educational activities aimed at justice system members will create a level of demand for the preparation of children which the CVWSP cannot meet within its existing resources. 5 figures and 63 tables