Children with intellectual and developmental disabilities are more than three times more likely to experience abuse and neglect than children without these disabilities. We should see a prevention landscape filled with programs tailored to these children. Yet, as Dr. Melissa Bright from the Center for Violence Prevention Research tells us, few such programs exist, and even fewer have been researched for their effectiveness. Why does so little research exist on this uniquely vulnerable population? For child abuse professionals, how might we create or adapt prevention programs for these children ..read more

While the presence of child sexual abuse images in child sexual abuse cases is not new, the sheer scale and scope and ubiquity of it all is. The exponential growth in the trading of these images has created a sophisticated marketplace designed around exploiting children. Three guests join us today to discuss child sexual abuse materials online (CSAM): Elizabeth and Ted Cross and Stefan Turkheimer.  What Liz and Ted set out to learn was the degree to which incest played into the production of this material, what types of sex acts those trading in CSAM were most interested in, and what ages ..read more

If you listened to the last episode, you learned a lot about effective, evidence-based treatment—specifically, TF-CBT. But what do you do if, as a clinician and researcher, you see that a population of kids is not, perhaps, receiving the full benefit of that treatment? What Dr. Isha Metzger did in recognizing that TF-CBT could be shaped into an even more effective treatment for Black children and youth is groundbreaking work. This work in identifying racial stressors and racial traumas as compounding other forms of trauma has led to more tailored treatment. And her work identifying the inheren ..read more

When we first met Dr. Jane Silovsky years ago, talking about youth with problematic sexual behaviors, it was a pervasive myth in the Children’s Advocacy Center world that CACs could not serve these kids. Somehow they weren’t our kids, somehow they weren’t deserving of help, or somehow they just weren’t ours to serve. But 25% to 30% of our cases each year involve sexually abusing or acting out on other kids. To make any difference at all in that work, we have to serve these kids. This is meaningful prevention work.  In today’s conversation, we explore what’s normal sexual behavior in youth ..read more

Years ago, few Americans—even in the field of child abuse—knew or understood child sex trafficking. The media portrayed it as a problem “over there” someplace, far from our shores. Now we know that child sex trafficking is both a global problem and a local one, one that affects children and youth who come across our borders, and youth in schools right down the street.  What makes children vulnerable to trafficking, and those who cross our borders especially vulnerable to it? How do we identify those at risk? How do we address the trauma and pain victims of trafficking have survived and ca ..read more

If you’ve worked any time at all, then you’ve worked in some place that was unhealthy. Maybe it was full of gossip and backstabbing. Or perhaps there was one disgruntled employee who just made the whole place miserable. Or perhaps you or one of your colleagues was bullied. Toxic workplaces take an emotional toll. They’re exhausting. Draining. Demoralizing. What can we do as leaders to create a healthy workplace culture right from the very start? How do we turn around one that’s developed some sort of trouble spot? And how do we contribute to a healthier and happier workplace through our own at ..read more

When the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study came out and proved the link between traumas such as child abuse and long-term negative health and mental health impacts, why did the public latch onto some results but not others? Why are people less convinced about the physical health impacts of ACEs than others? What role does political leaning play? And are we messaging some things that are harmful or counter-productive? We talk to Jonathan Purtle from Drexel University about how to make sure the general public understands and wants to make the kinds of system changes necessary to improve ..read more

Jenna Quinn was one of the first survivors to translate their experience of abuse into child abuse prevention public policy. Jenna was abused by a close friend of the family, someone known through the Christian school she attended. Her mom was a teacher, and her family very supportive, and yet Jenna, like so many others, became vulnerable to ongoing abuse because she didn’t know who, or how, to tell. And her school, like so many other schools, provided no abuse prevention education to kids or to school personnel. The 2009 Jenna’s Law changed that in Texas and became a model for other efforts ..read more

When we think about Alaska, we think of Denali, pictures we’ve seen, movies we’ve watched, the wonderful wildlife, and people still living on the cusp of the frontier. But what films don’t always show, and what books don’t always cover, is the incredible challenges of this environment: the high rates of trauma, the high rates of addiction, the high rates of suicide, and the high rates of child abuse. How do you help families identify the root causes of trauma and truly heal?  We talk to Patrick Anderson, CEO of RurAL CAP, about the nexus of a brutal truth and enduring hope. Topics in this ..read more

Sometimes we forget that the medical response to child abuse as a discipline developed over our lifetime, and what was nascent 30 years ago is now a board specialty, like cardiology or oncology. For all the gains we’ve made in research and practice, though, there are still tremendous challenges in ensuring that all children who’ve been abused have access to medical care. Things like: Why is there such a scarcity of child abuse pediatricians? What can we do to increase the number of physicians willing to care for abused children as a part of their practice? And how can we ensure that abused chi ..read more