Event Details: 

All sessions will take place from 12:00pm - 5:00pm ET on Mondays. The program will take place remotely through the use of live interactive webinars over Zoom.

1. Monday, August 15th: 12:00pm - 5:00pm ET
2. Monday, August 29th: 12:00pm - 5:00pm ET
3. Monday, September 12: 12:00pm - 5:00pm ET

Description: Trauma-informed principles contribute significantly to the foundation for best practices in child forensic interviewing (CFI), investigations & prosecutions. Research consistently shows that regular feedback and reinforcement of basic skills and best practices must take place in order to maintain and improve fundamental forensic interviewing skills. Excellent initial training and experience alone do not guarantee high quality forensic interviews, and even the most experienced forensic interviewers can improve their use of open-ended prompts that invite narratives. Moreover, MDT members who depend on information elicited during FIs are often unaware of the basic principles underlying best practices for questioning during child forensic interviews. This 3-day training is NOT protocol-specific; it will offer a review of fundamental principles that underlie best practice questioning techniques in FIs, along with activities to apply these principles, before, during and between sessions, with the aim of improving forensic interviewing skills and enhancing MDT members’ understanding of best practices. Certificates of completion will only be awarded to those who complete the entire training and fully participate in all assigned activities.

Presenters: Patti Toth, J.D. & Julie Kenniston, MSW, LISW

PREREQUISITES:
The training will be conducted in English and participants must be fluent in English. Priority will be given to experienced child forensic interviewers who conduct forensic interviews with children. Participants will be asked to submit transcripts of portions of interviews they have conducted. Others (especially prosecutors) will be considered on a space-available basis.