A Child Abuse Specific Forensic Interview Protocol Joseph A. Del Russo, J.D., Chief Passaic County Assistant Prosecutor

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1 A Child Abuse Specific Forensic Interview Protocol Joseph A. Del Russo, J.D., Chief Passaic County Assistant Prosecutor As Supreme Court Justice Marie Garibaldi observed: the investigative interview is a crucial, perhaps determinative, moment in a child sexual abuse case. (State v. Michaels). Justice Garibaldi was referring to the Margaret Kelly Michaels prosecution where a novice pre-school teacher s criminal convictions for sexually molesting 21 children were reversed in The reversals were based upon improper interview techniques. Although Justice Garibaldi s observation was a reflection upon a flawed criminal investigation, it became apparent that the investigative errors cut across disciplines. Thus, from the ashes of State v. Michaels, the idea of team investigation and careful, protocol-based interview strategies began resonating among child maltreatment professionals. Within four years the National Center for the Prosecution of Child Abuse (NCPCA) launched Finding Words, a forensic interviewing course for law enforcement officers, child protection caseworkers, and prosecutors. The course was modeled after and developed in collaboration with CornerHouse, a child sexual abuse evaluation and training facility in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Vieth, 2001) Demand for Finding Words was overwhelming. Over four hundred applications for forty slots were received in the inaugural training. As a result NCPCA decided to form regional training sites throughout the United States. Entitled, Half a Nation by 2010, the initiative was designed to establish high quality Finding Words interview programs in 25 states by the year New Jersey was among forty states that requested applications. Following a vigorous screening process, New Jersey was selected as one of five states to spearhead Half a Nation. After participating in a yearlong evaluation process, with scrutiny from NCPCA monitors, the New Jersey Program was the third state in the nation certified as a regional training site. Thus, in October 2002, Finding Words-New Jersey was born. While the goal of 25 states has yet to be achieved, nationally as of 2015 over 19 states have programs, as well as the nations of Japan and Columbia. Recently the program was renamed ChildFirst/FindingWords New Jersey (CF/FW-NJ). CF/FW-NJ is unlike any other child maltreatment professional training. It is an intensive five-day interactive program for multi-disciplinary teams. A team consists, at a minimum, of a law enforcement investigator, a DCP&P worker, and an assistant

2 prosecutor. Appropriate teams are trained at no cost to the participants. The faculty, likewise, is interdisciplinary drawing from experts in child development, psychology, linguistics, social work, and the law. The initial faculty consisted of Giselle Henriquez, BA (Child Interview Specialist); Anthony V. D Urso, Psy.D. (Child Psychology); Patricia Sermabeikian, M.S.W. (Early Child Development); Joseph A. Del Russo, J.D. (Children s Memory and Suggestibility); Alice Greenwood, Ph.D. (Child Linguist); Julia Mc Clure, J.D. (Children and the Law). Our current faculty is described later. Moreover, the program s curriculum is based upon the most recent research in child maltreatment. The most significant research updates were implemented in The research forms the basis for what is a semi-structured interview protocol. The protocol s foundation is the information-gathering phase. CF/FW-NJ endorses the informed interview. Here the team, including the interviewer, learns as much as possible about the child s abilities. Recognizing the significant variability among child sexual abuse victims, the team assesses the child s competence through collateral sources (e.g. mom, teachers, and counselors). Complementing this inquiry is a careful review of the basic case-specific elements of the abuse, including the disclosure process. Any potential barriers to a developmentally appropriate dialogue with the child are identified through this intake strategy. Thus, the interviewer can attempt to mitigate the chilling effect that the child s experiences may have upon the interview. For example, the child may have evidenced a concern about the impact upon the non-offending caregiver or demonstrated perceived complicity in their abuse. With an informed interview, and a comprehensive understanding of the research, the interviewer is well prepared to address these issues. The interview then follows a semi-structured process. The stages are rapport building, transition to topic of concern, anatomy identification, details inquiry, and closure. Generally, rapport building uses drawings to establish a comfortable rapport with the child, gather information and evaluate competence. Transition to topic of concern provides an opportunity for the child to offer their understanding of possible abuse behavior. Anatomy identification is designed to establish a common anatomical language with the child and explore gender differentiation skills. Details inquiry is crafted, in part, to facilitate a narrative if a child describes an abusive event. Finally, closure is meant to provide a respectful, empowering end to the interview.

3 These are formal, loosely scripted stages of the process; however the interviewer must step outside the interview structure in each stage and ultimately rely on their acquired skills to facilitate communication with the child. Furthermore, interviewers are trained to identify situations where deviation from the formatted stages of the protocol is permissible. In order to thoroughly understand this interview process, CF/FW-NJ participants must attend all five sessions and scrupulously complete daily homework assignments. Complimenting the lectures, the program includes two practice modules. Using the semi-structured protocol, students must first interview pre-latency aged children about a recent non-abusive experience arranged by CF/FW-NJ. A trip to a science fair or museum is typical. Fellow students (broken into small groups) observe and provide constructive analysis of interview techniques. A faculty member monitors each group. Secondly, CF/FW-NJ includes a practice module utilizing professional actors who portray abused children. CF/FW-NJ faculty trains the actors on the dynamics of abuse. Additionally, the actors review forensic videotapes and develop a character based upon actual child molestation cases. Again, breakout groups scrutinize the mock interviews for adherence to the CF/FW-NJ protocol. The entire process is facilitated by a faculty member and videotaped for further review. Finally, students must pass an examination evaluating whether they have acquired the necessary basic skills to begin using the CF/FW-NJ protocol. After receiving early financial support from the New Jersey Task Force on Child Abuse and Neglect (NJTFCAN), the Child Sexual Abuse Program at St. Clare s Hospital, and the Passaic County Multi-Disciplinary Team, the program has prospered. Presently completely supported by NJTFCAN, CF/FW-NJ is by all measures a success. Training requests continue to significantly outnumber available slots. Many counties have issued directives requiring that child interviews be conducted only by only Finding Words trained interviewers. Student feedback has been extremely supportive. As one student wrote in 2003: It has been an intensive five days! I have learned so much about child development and was sorely reminded of just how ignorant I have been while working in my profession I sadly believe I may not have served my children well by inadvertently discrediting some of the referrals I got in the past Thank you from the bottom of my heart!!

4 Since April 2002, CF/FW-NJ has trained nearly 1700 students during across New Jersey. Trainings have been conducted in Wayne and Montclair (North), Sayreville (Central) and Glassboro, Cape May, and Vineland (South). We expect to continue presenting CF/FW-NJ three times a year following a similar regional breakdown. Our students included DYFS workers, assistant prosecutors, investigators, SANE Nurses, municipal police, state police, law guardians, mental health professionals and child interview specialists. The students are from every New Jersey County. As CF/FW-NJ continues to mature we hope to train every front-line child maltreatment professional in New Jersey. Furthermore, we expect to provide posttraining support, including problem solving and quality assurance, to counties who demonstrate a commitment to the CF/FW-NJ protocol. Finally, we hope that CF/FW-NJ becomes not only a course of study, but also a platform for recruiting and developing Child Interview Specialists (CIS) within county child advocacy centers. We believe it is inevitable that specialists will one day occupy this field. Interestingly, whether the CIS is a lawyer, police officer, or social worker is largely irrelevant what is critical is a thorough understanding of child psychology, child development, linguistics, child memory, criminal investigations, cultural issues, the dynamics of childhood sexual trauma, and the law. Only then can we be supremely confident that we have done our best to conduct the delicate task of interviewing children who may have been abused. We hope that child maltreatment professionals throughout New Jersey will support CF/FW- NJ and continue helping children find words to express what New Jersey Supreme Court Justice O Hern aptly described as the regrettably familiar stories of childhoods unhinged by events so traumatic, that even the participants cannot contemplate them. (State v. J.Q.)

5 CHILD FIRST/FINDING WORDS NEW JERSEY Participants Trained by County (April 2002 through October 2014) 46 Trainings Total: 1,650 people in NJ Overall Total Participants: 1, people out of state Overall Total Observers: 105 Sussex 51 Passaic 89 Bergen 109 Warren 58 Hunterdon 38 Camden 110 Gloucester 71 Salem 40 Morris 69 Somerset 36 Mercer 105 Essex 147 Burlington 88 Atlantic 82 Union 61 Hudson 84 Middlesex 107 Monmouth 95 Ocean 60 Cumberland 89 Cape May FINDING 61 WORDS NEW JERSEY

6 FACULTY: (AS OF 2012) Anthony V. D Urso, Psy.D., Supervising Psychologist, The Audrey Hepburn Children s House, Hackensack University Medical Center; Co-Director Child First/Finding Words New Jersey Joseph A. Del Russo, Esq., Chief Assistant Prosecutor (Ret.), Special Victims Unit, Passaic County Prosecutor s Office, Co-Director Child First/Finding Words New Jersey Steven Batte, Sergeant of Detectives, Special Victims Unit, Passaic County Prosecutor s Office Francine Raguso Boatman, Preschool Teacher, West Side Enrichment Center; Child Interview Specialist Peter J. Boser, Esq., Assistant Prosecutor, Sex Crimes/Child Abuse Unit, Monmouth County Prosecutor s Office Randi Colatrella, Lieutenant of County Investigators, Sex Crimes/Child Abuse Unit, Middlesex County Prosecutor s Office Susan Curcio, Esq., Instructor, Center for Child Advocacy, Montclair State University; Chief Assistant Prosecutor, Retired, Atlantic County Prosecutor s Office Jason Dickinson, Ph.D., Director Robert D. McCormick Center for Child Advocacy, Assistant Professor of Psychology, Montclair State University Susan Cohen Esquilin, Ph.D., Professor, Center for Child Advocacy, Montclair State University Christopher R. Freid, Esq., Senior Assistant Prosecutor, Special Victims Unit, Passaic County Prosecutor s Office Giselle Henriquez, BSW, Bilingual Child Interview Specialist, Director of the Passaic County Child Advocacy Center, Passaic County Prosecutor s Office

7 Kenneth A. Kolich, Detective Sergeant, Special Victims Unit, Hudson County Prosecutor s Office Stacie Lick, Detective, Major Crimes Unit, Gloucester County Prosecutor s Office Julie Lippmann, Psy.D., Evaluation Services Director, Child Abuse Research Education and Services Institute, Rowan University, School of Osteopathic Medicine Julia L. McClure, Esq., First Assistant Prosecutor, Middlesex County Prosecutor s Office Patricia Sermabeikian, Ph.D., LCSW, Supervisor, The Audrey Hepburn Children s House, Hackensack University Medical Center Kimberly Stolow, LCSW, Social Worker, Dorothy B. Hersh Regional Child Protection Center, St. Peters University Hospital Rachel Heath Wallace, LCSW, Senior Clinician, The Center for Prevention and Counseling