NCJ Number
176472
Date Published
1993
Length
53 pages
Annotation
A commission established to examine resources and treatment and education for Virginia's juvenile sex offenders and community-based programs for child sexual abuse victims recommended changing the legal structure; intervening with both victims and offenders; and teaching children and communities to recognize, prevent, and disclose abuse.
Abstract
Government reports recommend that agencies that work together also train together. However, interagency child protection training relies solely on the voluntary cooperation of agencies that come under the local Area Child Protection Committee (ACPC). The Nottinghamshire ACPC has had a fulltime interagency training coordinator position for more than 3 years. A major task for the coordinator and a committee has been to develop and implement a comprehensive interagency training strategy. The Training Pool in Nottinghamshire currently has 15 active and 30 new members from health, police, social services, the voluntary sector, probation, and education welfare. Activities include designing course materials and direct training. Commitment for the ACPC about establishing the pool as a way of providing training at low cost is crucial to a pool's effectiveness. Other factors that influence success are the factors for membership in the pool, provision of a training for trainers course for all potential members, representation of different agencies and demographic groups, a contract that clarifies responsibilities, and support through training and development sessions as requested by pool members. In addition, an annual review of pool members should be conducted to affirm good practice and examine areas of difficulty. The Nottinghamshire experience demonstrates that an interagency training pool is both a cost-effective and creative investment that can improve the quality of service offered to children and families. 7 references