Category: Child Abuse

Seriously, folks–I am so thrilled about the response to our first offering in the FHO store, Injury Following Consensual Sex. If you haven’t ordered a copy yet, you can find it here. 

Midwest Regional Children’s Advocacy Center has a webinar coming up, An MDT Response to Child Abuse–Burn Cases. The session will be led by Dr. Barbara Knox on November 9th at 1pm CT. They generally archive their webinars, so I imagine this one will be archived, too. CMEs are available, but sadly not nursing CEUs. No description is posted yet, so keep checking their site for detailed information about the webinar.

The Midwest Regional Children’s Advocacy Center has a webinar coming up on a topic I hear people stress over frequently: CAC collaboration. Their session, The Good, The Bad and the Ugly: Assessing CAC Partnerships will be held October 12th at 1pm CT. All of their sessions are archived so if you can’t make it in real time, never fear. From the site:

Child abuse and neglect are community problems, requiring a response from law enforcement, child protective services, medical professionals, and others. Given that collaboration is central to the CAC movement, how do leaders develop, assess, and monitor partnerships with multiple disciplines – particularly when some of those relationships are “have-to” rather than “want-to?”

Register here.

IAFN has a webinar coming up, Engaging and Supporting Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders Through a Forensic Medical Exam. The session will be held October 17th at 2pm ET. From the site:

Research has shown that individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders experience abuse and sexual victimization at rates higher than the general population. Compounding this problem, individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders experience an array of communication difficulties as well as confusion and anxiety in new and unfamiliar situations, particularly those related to medical examinations and procedures. Under these circumstances, routine hospital visits can quickly become overwhelming and traumatic. A medical forensic examination, following an already traumatic experience of suspected sexual abuse, can thus magnify the individual’s anxiety and lead to increased agitation and difficulty completing the examination. In this training, participants will learn about the prevalence, core features, and range of symptom presentations of Autism Spectrum Disorders and the implications for providing effective services and supports to individuals with an Autism Spectrum Disorder. The presenter will share general tips and strategies for engaging and supporting individuals with an Autism Spectrum Disorder. Practical skills will be shared to address challenges specific to the forensic examination following an allegation or disclosure of sexual abuse to minimize additional trauma or anxiety for individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders.  

Register here.

KidsTA has a webinar coming up that’s perfect for those of you thinking about expanding your practice to pediatrics. Demystifying the Prepubescent Medical Forensic Examination will be held June 22nd at 3pm ET. From the announcement:

The Medical Forensic examination is an integral component of the child sexual abuse response and requires coordination of services among multidisciplinary team (MDT) members as they are often the gateway to the child’s access to health care and the exam. While the U.S. Department of Justice, Office on Violence Against Women’s (OVW) National Protocol for Sexual Abuse Medical Forensic Examinations Pediatric (2016) recommends that the urgency of the examination be determined by a health care provider, nonclinical members of the MDT need to understand what the prepubescent medical forensic exam entails, and to be prepared to dispel any misconceptions or fears the child or caregiver may have about the examination. This presentation will highlight key components of the medical forensic examination, and illustrate evidenced based examples of the exam and resources available through the IAFN’s Pediatric Technical Assistance Project and the www.KIDSta.org website.

You can register here.

Midwest Regional Children’s Advocacy Center has a webinar coming up, Serving Those Most at Risk: Embracing the Challenge of Serving Trans Youth. The session will be held June 22, from 1-2:30 pm CT. From the announcement:

Changes in the visibility of trans and gender diverse people in the last 3-5 years have dramatically changed the landscape for our community from a tiny minority to a visible stakeholder group globally. While youth feel empowered to embrace authenticity in their gender identities in an unprecedented way, trans youth face many challenges, including inconsistent family support, lack of access to resources and healthcare, discriminatory laws, and peer and institutional victimization. This leads to many harms for trans youth, including substantially increased risks of suicide, homelessness, commercial sexual exploitation, and substance abuse. Outgoing Vice President Biden has gone as far as to call transgender rights the “civil rights issue of our time.” As leaders in service to at-risk youth, Children’s Advocacy Centers have unique opportunities to be at the vanguard of supporting these youth and their families, and in doing so, may create safer, more nurturing communities for all youth. This talk explores trans and gender diverse identities in youth, challenges, barriers, and risks trans youth face, and approaches to best practice in enhancing service to this population.

Register for the webinar here.

KIDSta has an upcoming webinar, Supporting Deaf Child Survivors of Sexual Abuse. The session will be held May 19th at 2pm ET. From the announcement:

Research has shown that Deaf children experience abuse and neglect at rates 1.5-3 times higher than hearing children. Compounding this problem, Deaf children experience an array of communication and cultural barriers when getting support from victim services, medical providers, and the criminal justice system. In this training, participants will learn about Deaf culture and communities in the United States and the implications for providing effective services and supports to Deaf survivors. Presenters will share research on the sexual abuse of Deaf children and discuss the many challenges these children face when getting support. Practical skills and resources will be shared to address these barriers and provide services that are culturally and linguistically specific.

Register for the webinar here.

I’ve updated the adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) clinical guide–there’s so much available it’s impossible to be exhaustive, so I have tried to provide a reasonable overview of some of the resources available. I’d love to be able to sit down and do the deep dive, but I simply don’t have the capacity for it, so consider this a healthy intro to the topic.

ENA and IAFN have released a joint position paper on the care of prepubescent pediatric sexual abuse patients in the emergency care setting. You can release the full statement here. The website also has a variety of relevant resources.

For those of you peds folks with an interest in the state of the science around forensic interviewing, Midwest Regional Children’s Advocacy Center has a webinar coming up, Child Interviewing 2017: Update on Research and Practice. The session will be held 9 March at 1pm CT. The faculty for this session will be Dr. Tom Lyon.

Description of the webinar:

Dr. Lyon will discuss the major research advances in 2016 that help interviewers to do a better job when they question children, and whenever possible, provide videotaped examples of the novel procedures.

Register here.