Evaluating children's advocacy centers' response to child sexual abuse

Cross, Theodore P.; Jones, Lisa; Walsh, Wendy A.; Simone, Monique; Kolko, David J.; Sczepanski, Joyce; Lippert, Tonya; Davison, Karen; Crynes, Arthur; Sosnowski, Polly; Shadoin, Amy L.; Magnuson, S. N.

doi:10.1037/e515162009-001

Cited by 23 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…For example, the interdisciplinary Child Advocacy Center (CAC) model for the investigation of child sexual abuse has become a standard approach to investigation in communities across the US. CACs have been shown to improve law enforcement participation in sexual abuse investigations, improve interdisciplinary coordination of investigations, increase access to medical examinations for victims, and improve family satisfaction with the investigative process (Cross et al, 2008). Recognizing that schools are a relatively easy place to reach children, the Children's Bureau issued a discretionary grant in 2011 for school-based initiatives that implemented multidisciplinary interventions for at-risk children (Mitchell et al, 2012).…”

Section: Offering Integrated Services and One-stop Shoppingmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Biological Embedding of Child Abuse and Neglect: Implications for Policy and Practice and commentaries

Jaffee

Christian

2014

Social Policy Report

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E ach year within the US alone over 770,000 children are victimized by abuse and neglect (US Department of Health and Human Services, 2010), and this figure is likely to underestimate the extent of the problem. Researchers have long recognized that maltreatment has adverse effects on children's mental health and academic achievement. Studies of adults show that adverse childhood experiences like maltreatment increase risk for chronic diseases of aging, including Type II diabetes and cardiovascular disease. What the field does not fully understand is why maltreatment has such pervasive effects. Studies on the neuroscience of maltreatment have begun to offer some clues. Victims of maltreatment differ from non-victims with respect to brain structure and function, hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal-(HPA) axis and autonomic nervous system function, immune function, and epigenetic markers. These studies identify potential mechanisms by which maltreatment increases risk for poor mental and physical health and poor school performance by affecting systems that subserve memory, attention, the response to stress, and inflammation. The findings highlight the importance of broadening the scope of child welfare beyond child protection to include child wellbeing. A focus on child well-being would require integrated services, wherein comprehensive mental and physical health care are routinely offered to victims of maltreatment and case workers, pediatricians, and psychologists would work as teams to determine how best to deliver care to children and families in the child welfare system. In working with the family, such efforts could potentially reduce the risk of re-victimization which commonly jeopardizes long-term gains in child well-being. The Biological Embedding of Child Abuse and Neglect:Implications for Policy and Practice From the EditorsThere are many risk factors that negatively impact the brain development of a young child, one of which is child abuse and neglect or child maltreatment. Children who experience maltreatment in the early years are at risk for a variety of poor outcomes, including school failure, problem behaviors, and psychological stress. The emerging field of neuroscience is beginning to provide insight on how maltreatment impacts the development of children's brain and neurological functioning. Uncovering this would facilitate appropriate and effective interventions for children who experience maltreatment and prevent child abuse. Institutes of Health, DHHS. The proceedings encouraged the translation of science leading to innovative approaches to addressing the needs of children who experience maltreatment. In addition to providing comprehensive research linking maltreatment to change in children's neurodevelopmental behavior and functioning, the authors, Jaffee and Christian, call attention to interventions that can prevent child abuse and support children who are maltreated, highlighting the importance of comprehensive and integrated services for these children.From a federal research vantage point, Boy...

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Section: Offering Integrated Services and One-stop Shoppingmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Biological Embedding of Child Abuse and Neglect: Implications for Policy and Practice and commentaries

Jaffee

Christian

2014

Social Policy Report

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“…CAC structures and practices vary from state to state (see Cross et al. ), and findings here might not be transferable to other CACs across the country. Models of CACs similar to that in the current study utilize highly trained forensic specialists who interview children in a central, designated location.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 73%

“…Most states require cross‐reporting of serious child maltreatment allegations (Cross et al. ). However, as youth age, they tended to disaggregate legal institutions.…”

Section: Orientations Toward Legal and State Systemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Legal Subjectivity Among Youth Victims of Sexual Abuse

Hlavka¹

2014

Law soc. inq.

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How do youth experience and understand the law? How is law regarded and communicated? Youth's legal subjectivity has received limited attention in the sociological and legal literatures, especially as it relates to crime-reporting behaviors. Drawing on legal socialization theory and procedural justice, I show how youth, as legal subjects, described the law and how those descriptions differed by social location. Using a diverse sample, I examined narratives produced during forensic interviews following reports of sexual victimization. Rather than passive victims, youth act on, and within, institutions. In their own words, youth describe experiences with state systems that animated their understandings of law and criminal justice processes. They reveal how shared frameworks of understanding affected legal subjectivity, shaped their evaluations of the law, and influenced participation in state systems so that perhaps those most in need of legal remedy are those most unlikely to seek it.

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“…7 Almost half of children with a history of trauma do not receive any services because of the wait time and lack of properly trained providers. 8 More education and training is needed among child professionals to identify and respond to child trauma as soon as possible 9 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%