DEANA JOY, BA
DR. REV. PERCY JOHNSON, JR., PhD - The Art of Holding Fearless Dialogues in a Liminal Season
Fearless Dialogues is a system of creating space and a place where diverse human beings, voices, and experiences are brought together to engage one another communally with respect. Created by Emory University Professor of Pastoral Care and Counseling, Gregory Clark Ellison II, it is based on the desire to create a covenant of trust and mutual respect between one another. This ancient and present-day desire is needed in a transitional period between what was and what is not yet. Exploring the tenets that have grounded and guided a nation and diverse people groups and the anxiety that occurs with unknowingness, this session will discuss ways of creating places where diversity can coexist.
Break @ 10:15 – 10:30 am
JULIE BRAND, MS - Resiliency 101: From Victim to Survivor
(Will not be recorded)
Some victims of childhood abuse and trauma perpetuate the cycle of violence. Some victims do self-destruct. Yet others become safe, nurturing, emotionally healthy adults. How can we influence which path they will choose? This plenary session identifies seven key steps that can help victims to overcome trauma and to develop a “survivor’s perspective.” Attendees will learn how to use the “language of resiliency” to identify and to reinforce victims' strengths thereby positively impacting both their self-perceptions and their life scripts. Participants will learn how to foster resiliency in their clients’ lives and also in their own.
Lunch Break @ 12:00 – 1:30 pm
A Workshops @ 1:30 – 3:00 pm
Harrell Center 201
Fear is an emotional state that informs and influences the way human beings respond to life, creation, and other human beings. Three responses to fear are fight, flight, or freeze. Many psychologists argue that fear has also been used to control diverse people groups and societies. Yet fear can be helpful and enlightening because it helps human beings navigate traumatic and volatile situations, settings, and contexts. Identifying the tenets that fear has produced across ethnic, racial, class, and generational lines, this session will explore and discuss the impact that fear has on biases.
Terrace Auditorium
This session will provide a case review of the medical care provided to an exploited adolescent from the initial presentation in the Emergency Department, through the CAC process, and focusing on the investigation law enforcement provides from the beginning of the case, until presentation to the District Attorney’s Office. This session will focus on best practice techniques for law enforcement in dealing with this challenging age group.
Harrell Center Auditorium
In my roughly 30+ years of clinical experience, it has become clear to me that probably 80-90% of all mental illnesses (including addictions) are, at their root, caused by some traumatic loss or traumatic experience that was poorly understood and integrated. As a result, humans will develop various coping mechanisms to help them function in their everyday lives and these coping mechanisms often result in the kind of diagnosis they will likely receive from a clinician (depression, oppositional-defiant disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, borderline personality disorder, etc.). Nevertheless, the primary etiology of their difficulties and often the hidden “driver” of their symptoms is rooted in previous trauma. In this workshop, we will examine the ways that trauma and traumatic stress can affect the human brain and body and how it can significantly interfere with healthy development in children and adolescents. We will also discuss how to interact with these trauma victims and their families in a way that can help minimize their distress and help the family get the support they will need to successfully navigate the challenges they are facing.
Harrell Center 105
HANDOUT
All of us in the criminal justice profession have heard of the terms trauma and trauma-informed, but what does it mean and what does it look like? In this presentation, we will explore: What is trauma? And What does it look like?; What is the difference between crisis and trauma?; How do we apply the trauma-informed concept realistically to policing?; Basics of trauma-informed interviewing.
Break @ 3:00 – 3:15 pm
B Workshops @ 3:15 – 4:45 pm
Harrell Center 201
HANDOUT
Intrapsychic wounds and interpersonal conflict from secondary and anticipatory trauma impact the way human beings see and interact with one another. These understandings contribute to biases and lead to violence against self and others. Exploring these tenets and dynamics, discussion will occur around how human beings place value on self and other human beings.
Terrace Auditorium
This session will provide a case review of the medical care provided to an exploited adolescent from the initial presentation in the Emergency Department, through the CAC process, and focusing on the investigation law enforcement provides from the beginning of the case, until presentation to the District Attorney’s Office. This session will focus on best practice techniques for law enforcement in dealing with this challenging age group.
Harrell Center Auditorium
Before the prohibition against studying these compounds occurred in the 1970s, psychedelics were being widely studied as adjuncts to psychotherapy in the treatment of depression, alcoholism, phobias, anxiety related to terminal illness, chronic pain and other potential applications. Despite very encouraging results in most studies, the social and cultural backlash against these medicines resulted in all research in the United States being halted by 1976. It would be 20 years before a scientist in the United States would receive permission from the FDA to conduct a scientific study with a psychedelic compound. This workshop will examine the resurgence of psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy by focusing on the use of MDMA as an adjunct in the treatment of chronic, severe Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). We will explore the history of MDMA as both a medicine and a recreational drug and discuss the results of the most recent FDA-approved research and why MDMA-assisted psychotherapy may be uniquely effective for the treatment of PTSD. In addition, we will learn about the current Expanded Access program of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for PTSD that is taking place in Waynesville and possible future directions for further research, training, and treatment.
Harrell Center 105
Evaluation
This presentation will discuss the roles law enforcement and the Department of Juvenile Justice play in the investigation of crimes perpetrated by juveniles. The Juvenile Justice Reinvestment Act, AKA “Raise the Age,” will be discussed and its effects on investigating crimes when juveniles are the victims/survivors and the suspects. Attendees will learn how to collaborate with Juvenile Justice authorities to investigate suspects. An overview of interventions provided includes clinical services and programs.
C Workshops @ 8:30 – 10:00 am
Harrell Center 105
This workshop will provide hands-on training using realistic approaches to working child physical and sexual abuse cases. From the case materials, you and your team will work the details of an actual prosecuted child abuse case. Utilizing the questions that you present to the instructor; you will receive tips and evidence to process to “work the case”. There will be a short classroom instructional session followed by the initial information and then it will be up to your team to decide what should be done next.
Terrace Auditorium
(Will not be recorded)
Society no longer views females as “above suspicion” of child sexual abuse simply because of their gender. We are finally recognizing that some women—from relatives and family friends to trusted teachers, babysitters, and church leaders do sexually abuse children and adolescents. For this unique session, the speaker combines case reports, research data, survivors’ shared histories and her own experience to enlighten participants about the reality of female-perpetrated sexual abuse. This program examines the dynamics of female-perpetrated sexual abuse with both male and female victims and highlights cases of female offenders found guilty of child sexual abuse (from convicted mothers to Ghislaine Maxwell to Sister Norma Giannini). A landmark study of 36 female offenders’ own childhood histories will be shared. How can victims heal from sexual abuse at the hands of female perpetrators? We’ll identify some concerns unique to their victimization and offer strategies for recovery.
Harrell Center 201
This session will highlight the journey of one CAC with two forensic interviewers developed into an innovative forensic interview program that is now the country’s largest hospital-based CAC network. It will demonstrate how collaboration between this hospital program, the state CAC Chapter, and the WI Department of Justice evolved into a statewide model of research-based foundational training, advanced training, formal mentorship, statewide and local peer review, and supervision, with the goal of having a comprehensive training and support program for all forensic interviewers across the state. The session will further highlight efforts being made to connect with CPS supervisors, law enforcement leadership and the prosecutor’s office to educate them in this model and the importance of having fully trained, competent professionals in this critical role of forensic interviewer. Research will be incorporated to include forensic interview best practice guidelines, effective training models and most importantly research highlighting the need for follow up training peer review and mentoring to ensure that agencies are serving the best interests of the child, family and investigation.
Harrell Center Auditorium
Delayed disclosures by child victims of sexual abuse are a common occurrence that every prosecutor, investigator, medical professional, and law enforcement agent deal with. This training will give you an overview of why delayed disclosures occur, how to turn the delay into a good fact for trial and how to overcome reasonable doubt.
Break @ 10:00 – 10:15 am
D Workshops @ 10:15 – 11:45 am
Harrell Center 105
This workshop will provide hands-on training using realistic approaches to working child physical and sexual abuse cases. From the case materials, you and your team will work the details of an actual prosecuted child abuse case. Utilizing the questions that you present to the instructor; you will receive tips and evidence to process to “work the case”. There will be a short classroom instructional session followed by the initial information and then it will be up to your team to decide what should be done next.
Terrace Auditorium
The FAN concept (Facilitating Attuned iNteractions) was created by Fussy Baby, a national home visiting model developed by Erikson Institute in Chicago. Erikson created an approach to family engagement and reflective practice called FAN. The FAN model has been adapted to support various family-based programs including child protective services, medical personnel, mental health professions, court systems, and child advocacy centers. During this training, attendees will be introduced to the FAN model and explore opportunities to improve engagement and communication with families through the ARC of Engagement and the Five Core Processes: 1) Mindful Self-Regulation, 2) Empathic Inquiry, 3) Collaborative Exploration, 4) Capacity Building, and 5) Integration.
Harrell Center 201
This session will highlight the journey of one CAC with two forensic interviewers developed into an innovative forensic interview program that is now the country’s largest hospital-based CAC network. It will demonstrate how collaboration between this hospital program, the state CAC Chapter, and the WI Department of Justice evolved into a statewide model of research-based foundational training, advanced training, formal mentorship, statewide and local peer review, and supervision, with the goal of having a comprehensive training and support program for all forensic interviewers across the state. The session will further highlight efforts being made to connect with CPS supervisors, law enforcement leadership and the prosecutor’s office to educate them in this model and the importance of having fully trained, competent professionals in this critical role of forensic interviewer. Research will be incorporated to include forensic interview best practice guidelines, effective training models and most importantly research highlighting the need for follow up training peer review and mentoring to ensure that agencies are serving the best interests of the child, family and investigation.
Harrell Center Auditorium
This training will take you through different levels of child abuse from abuse that leaves scars to abuse that causes severe brain injury and ultimately to abuse that ends in a child’s death. We will take a look at three different cases studies with varying degrees of medical injury and learn how to prove the abuse by looking through the lens of a medical expert.
Lunch Break @ 11:45 am – 1:15 pm
E Workshops @ 1:15 – 2:45 pm
Harrell Center 105
This 2-part workshop is designed to help build awareness, knowledge, and skills in developing/implementing inclusive and responsive environments that allow for better service to all persons. The sessions will focus on understanding of one’s own culture/identity within a larger social structure and the daily impact on work awareness, acknowledgment of differences, disparities, knowledge, and skills for navigating the dynamics of different strategies for building organizational capacity to practice cultural competency. The first session is the introductory level, and the second session will delve more deeply into group exercises to examine one’s personal cultural competence.
Terrace Auditorium
The FAN concept (Facilitating Attuned iNteractions) was created by Fussy Baby, a national home visiting model developed by Erikson Institute in Chicago. Erikson created an approach to family engagement and reflective practice called FAN. The FAN model has been adapted to support various family-based programs including child protective services, medical personnel, mental health professions, court systems, and child advocacy centers. During this training, attendees will be introduced to the FAN model and explore opportunities to improve engagement and communication with families through the ARC of Engagement and the Five Core Processes: 1) Mindful Self-Regulation, 2) Empathic Inquiry, 3) Collaborative Exploration, 4) Capacity Building, and 5) Integration.
Harrell Center Auditorium
Follow the case of a sixteen-year-old girl and how she determines she is safe to tell and provide a protective voice for her siblings, preventing further abuse. This case spans multiple states and agencies and illustrates the importance of being ‘”safe to tell”.
Harrell Center 201
We know the best way to attack the prosecution’s evidence is by paying for a hired gun! This training will help you prepare for a defense’s expert by learning what evidence to request in preparation for their testimony, how to attack their testimony on cross examination, and then use their testimony to your advantage.
Break @ 2:45 – 3:00 pm
F Workshops @ 3:00 – 4:30 pm
Harrell Center 105
This 2-part workshop is designed to help build awareness, knowledge, and skills in developing/implementing inclusive and responsive environments that allow for better service to all persons. The sessions will focus on understanding of one’s own culture/identity within a larger social structure and the daily impact on work awareness, acknowledgment of differences, disparities, knowledge, and skills for navigating the dynamics of different strategies for building organizational capacity to practice cultural competency. The first session is the introductory level, and the second session will delve more deeply into group exercises to examine one’s personal cultural competence.
Terrace Auditorium
Physical discipline is legal in all 50 states yet is associated with negative outcomes for children. This presentation includes an overview of the problem and viewing a documentary film, “Spare the Child”. This film was produced by one of the presenters about the impact of childhood physical punishment on three adults. After the screening, we will have group discussion about the issue, how it is embedded in our culture, and brainstorm ways CAC’s can help inspire and guide parents to consider alternatives.
Harrell Center Auditorium
Follow the case of a sixteen-year-old girl and how she determines she is safe to tell and provide a protective voice for her siblings, preventing further abuse. This case spans multiple states and agencies and illustrates the importance of being “safe to tell”.
Harrel Center 201
Disclosures of sexual abuse made in forensic settings will be subjected to defense challenges in court, whether the interview that prompted the disclosure is conducted according to best practice standards or not. This session will explore common defense tactics used in court to challenge the reliability and credibility of children’s disclosures made during forensic interviews, as well as defense tactics used to attempt to discredit the forensic interviewer. Strategies will be offered to meet and defeat these tactics so that the information gathered during the interview can be effectively used in court to aid in proving the case.
G Workshops @ 8:30 – 10:00 am
Harrell Center 105
This workshop will assist in providing an understanding of what types of photos are needed in ALL cases dealing with abuse cases. We will discuss various strategies, ideas, and concepts on how to process the overall crime scene. Discussion and interaction will entail over what is expected in both the civil and the criminal court system and what is necessary for a successful multidisciplinary team approach in covering the crime scene. This workshop is highly interactive!
Terrace Auditorium
This presentation will provide a brief overview of Alternatives for Families Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (AF-CBT), an evidence-based treatment model CAC clinicians should consider adding to their professional toolboxes. Whereas TF-CBT includes the non-offending caregiver in treatment for past childhood trauma, AF-CBT engages the “offending” caregiver in treatment for cases involving physical abuse. AF-CBT is designed to help families who have heightened conflict, fighting, or frequently use force/coercion to expand their skills and more effectively communicate and solve problems. A case presentation will be used to illustrate interventions and topics addressed by AF-CBT.
Harrell Center Auditorium
(Will not be recorded)
HANDOUT
Male victims can experience overwhelming gender bias when disclosing sexual abuse, whether their perpetrator is male or female. This program discusses male sexual victimization, the unique challenges men face and the myths that keep male victims silent. It is both research-based and survivor-informed. We’ll discover how “The Adverse Childhood Experiences Study” validates what many professionals have long believed about both the frequency and the resulting trauma of male sexual victimization. We’ll offer specific trauma informed approaches to working with male victims—from disclosure to therapy. Resources for male survivors will be shared.
Harrell Center 201
This presentation will focus on new case law, new statutes, and other legal “hot topics” in the world of criminal child maltreatment.
Break @ 10:00 – 10:15 am
H Workshop @ 10:15 – 11:45 am (CLOSING PLENARY) - Harrell Center Auditorium
Evaluation
This presentation is the culmination of years working in a system that is life changing, ever-changing and heart breaking all at the same time. Attendees will interact with other professionals and discuss challenges. The daily challenges of conducting investigations and interventions of children that have been brutalized is not only tough on your brain, it also makes an impression on your consciousness. The impact of this work may not be apparent at the start of your career and the effect of hearing thousands of stories of abused and neglected children isn’t discussed frequently, candidly, and openly. Presenters will address taking care of yourself not only in the workplace but also your personal life and tactics to ensure longevity in the field.