Objective: The current study aimed to explore the frequency and effects of multipart prompts on the testimonies of children who were alleged victims of sexual abuse and were interviewed using the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) Investigative Protocol. The effects of the multipart prompts were studied by considering…

Objective: Although there is growing evidence that the emotional dimensions of child maltreatment are particularly damaging, the feasibility and appropriateness of including emotional maltreatment (EM) in child welfare statutes continues to be questioned. Unlike physical and sexual abuse where investigations focus on discreet incidents of…

Objective: This paper examined the relative influence of clinical and organizational characteristics on the decision to place a child in out-of-home care at the conclusion of a child maltreatment investigation. It tested the hypothesis that extraneous factors, specifically, organizational characteristics, impact the decision to place a child in…

Objectives: This study examined risk of maltreatment among children exiting foster care using a statewide sample of children reunified between 2001 and 2004 in Rhode Island. The objectives were: (1) to compare rates of maltreatment following parental reunification for youth in care as a result of maltreatment with those in care for other reasons;…

Objective: This study compared the effectiveness of two types of instructor feedback (relative to no feedback) on investigative interviewers' ability to adhere to open-ended questions in simulated practice interviews about child abuse. Method: In one condition, feedback was provided at the end of each practice interview. In the other, the…

Objectives: The study was designed to assess the effectiveness of the flexibly structured NICHD Investigative Interview Protocol for child sexual abuse (CSA) investigative interviews by police officers and mental health workers in Quebec. The NICHD Protocol was designed to operationalize "best practice" guidelines and to help forensic…

Objective: The study used a series of vignettes to investigate how the presence of three disabilities (cerebral palsy, intellectual disabilities, emotional/behavioral disabilities) affects the processes and outcomes of child abuse investigations at two levels of child injury severity (moderate, severe). Method: Seventy-five CPS case workers…

Introduction: This study examines child, family, and case characteristics that impact rates of re-referral to Child Protective Services (CPS) using data on all closed CPS investigations for the state of Rhode Island between 2001 and 2004. Method: A longitudinal dataset of all referrals to CPS was created using state submissions to the National…

Objective: The Children's Advocacy Center (CAC) model of child abuse investigation is designed to be more child and family-friendly than traditional methods, but there have been no rigorous studies of their effect on children's and caregivers' experience. Data collected as part of the Multi-Site Evaluation of Children's Advocacy Centers were used…

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…

Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate retrospectively neonatal health and maternal background among a sample of children taken into custody and placed in foster care and to investigate the relation between medical and social risk in the neonatal period. Method: The data-linkage study combined two registries: the Finnish Medical…

A study of 24 videotaped interviews with sexually abused children (ages 4-12) investigated the effectiveness of using anatomically correct dolls during the interview process. Results found that when children were interviewed without dolls they gave longer and more detailed responses, suggesting that use of the dolls inhibited rather than…

This study compared the details provided in eyewitness accounts of British Columbia (Canada) children (ages 4-6) interviewed with a verbal interview against those interviewed with anatomically-neutral dolls in addition to a verbal interview. Findings indicate no main effect of interview type on the amount or accuracy of the accounts. (CR)

Analysis of questionnaires completed by 60 Welsh interviewers involved in the investigation of child sexual abuse found considerable variation in training. There was also much variation in beliefs about sexual abuse indicators. Previous training in child sexual abuse had no significant effect on these beliefs. (Author/DB)

A total of 637 cases of unattended or questionable deaths of children 12 years or younger in Orange County (California) were reviewed by a multiagency team investigating possible cases of fatal child abuse. Analysis revealed that, when compared with unreviewed deaths, differences were found in age distribution, gender, ethnicity, and cause of…