ERIC Number: EJ779742
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2007-Oct
Pages: 22
Abstractor: Author
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0145-2134
EISSN: N/A
Child Forensic Interviewing in Children's Advocacy Centers: Empirical Data on a Practice Model
Cross, Theodore P.; Jones, Lisa M.; Walsh, Wendy A.; Simone, Monique; Kolko, David
Child Abuse & Neglect: The International Journal, v31 n10 p1031-1052 Oct 2007
Objective: Children's Advocacy Centers (CACs) aim to improve child forensic interviewing following allegations of child abuse by coordinating multiple investigations, providing child-friendly interviewing locations, and limiting redundant interviewing. This analysis presents one of the first rigorous evaluations of CACs' implementation of these methods. Methods: This analysis is part of a quasi-experimental study, the Multi-Site Evaluation of Children's Advocacy Centers, which evaluated four CACs relative to within-state non-CAC comparison communities. Case abstractors collected data on investigation methods in 1,069 child sexual abuse cases with forensic interviews by reviewing case records from multiple agencies. Results: CAC cases were more likely than comparison cases to feature police involvement in CPS cases (41% vs. 15%), multidisciplinary team (MDT) interviews (28% vs. 6%), case reviews (56% vs. 7%), joint police/child protective services (CPS) investigations (81% vs. 52%) and video/audiotaping of interviews (52% vs. 17%, all these comparisons p less than 0.001). CACs varied in which coordination methods they used, and some comparison communities also used certain coordination methods more than the CAC with which they were paired. Eighty-five percent of CAC interviews took place in child-friendly CAC facilities, while notable proportions of comparison interviews took place at CPS offices (22%), police facilities (18%), home (16%), or school (19%). Ninety-five percent of children had no more than two forensic interviews, and CAC and comparison differences on number of interviews were mostly non-significant. Conclusions: Relative to the comparison communities, these CACs appear to have increased coordination on investigations and child forensic interviewing. The CAC setting was the location for the vast majority of CAC child interviews, while comparison communities often used settings that many consider undesirable. CACs showed no advantage on reducing the number of forensic interviews, which was consistently small across the sample.
Descriptors: Case Records, Investigations, Persuasive Discourse, Sexual Abuse, Child Abuse, Police, Interviews, Advocacy, Social Services, Crime, Context Effect, Comparative Analysis, Child Welfare
Elsevier. 6277 Sea Harbor Drive, Orlando, FL 32887-4800. Tel: 877-839-7126; Tel: 407-345-4020; Fax: 407-363-1354; e-mail: usjcs@elsevier.com; Web site: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2131
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: Department of Justice, Washington, DC. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.; Department of Justice, Washington, DC. Office of Justice Programs.; Department of Justice, Washington, DC.
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A