This bulletin consolidates the current knowledge of professionals from several major forensic interview training programs on best practices for interviewing children in cases of alleged abuse. The authors discuss the purpose of the child forensic interview, provide historical context, review overall considerations, and outline each stage of the interview in more detail.
In 2010, representatives of several major forensic interview training programs—the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children, the CornerHouse Interagency Child Abuse Evaluation and Training Center, the Gundersen National Child Protection Training Center, the National Children’s Advocacy Center, and the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development— gathered to review their programs’ differences and similarities. The resulting discussions led to this bulletin, which consolidates current knowledge on the generally accepted best practices of those conducting forensic interviews of children in cases of alleged abuse or exposure to violence.
Read the full bulletin [PDF]