One in Ten

Over the past five years, sexual abuse scandals in sports have continuously been in the news. Whether swimming, tae kwon do, or most famously gymnastics, the variety of sports that have had such scandals point to a very uncomfortable truth that sports has inherent child protection issues, and that these unique vulnerabilities require unique prevention strategies to keep youth athletes safe. Courtney Kiehl, former elite gymnast, abuse survivor, and now an attorney and advocate for child victims and adult survivors of child sexual abuse, joined us to discuss what makes youth athletes so vulnerable, and how we can help.

What coaching strategies create toxic cultures, which discourage kids from speaking up about concerns? How does the lack of accountability at the club level allow offenders to move location and keep right on coaching? How does the weight of adult expectations—coaches, parents, and, yes, us, the viewers—make it so very difficult for kids to disclose even the most harrowing abuse? And where is there reason for hope and action to create a future for elite sport, and indeed all sport, that is healthy and safe?  Take a listen.

Topics in this episode:

• Origin story (1:46)
• What good coaching looks like (6:53)
• What makes athletes vulnerable (12:52)
• Who regulates sports (19:20)
• The bystander problem (28:17)
• What all athletes need (32:34)
• Parenting advice and the weight of expectations (33:52)

Links:

Courtney Kiehl, Esq., is an attorney at Paul Mones PC in California, a legal firm that specializes in representing victims of child sexual abuse. Prior to joining the firm, she founded A.C.H.E. (Abused Children Heard Everywhere) as a response to her own experience with sexual abuse by her gymnastics coach. She served as a fellow for CHILD USA’s Game Over: Commission to Protect Youth Athletes.

Game Over Commission; in January 2022, the commission released a case study on the abuse perpetrated by Larry Nassar

U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC)

National governing bodies

U.S. Center for SafeSport

Related episodes: “The True Cost of Olympic Gold,” about the Game Over Commission’s report; an interview with Prof. Marci A. Hamilton, founder and CEO of CHILD USA and (February 25, 2022)

“Radically Vulnerable: Achieving Justice for Survivors” with Prof. Hamilton (September 30, 2019)

For more information about National Children’s Alliance and the work of Children’s Advocacy Centers, visit our website at NationalChildrensAlliance.org. Or visit our podcast website at OneInTenPodcast.org. And join us on Facebook at One in Ten podcast.

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In child maltreatment cases, while our attention is focused on the child and family in front of us, do we give any thought to the child protection system itself? What do we understand about how family separation was baked into the model for Black and Indigenous children right from the very beginning? And how does that play out today? Dr. Jessica Pryce, director of the Florida Institute for Child Welfare, joins us to discuss how it would change our work with families to center equity. To center community and the child’s attachment to their corner of the world. Might we radically change the experience for children when they can’t live at home by asking, “Who already loves this child?” Dr. Pryce offers practical information that child abuse professionals can use right now.

Topics in this episode:

• Origin story (1:43)
• Foundations of the child welfare system (3:23)
• What we can do (7:58)
• Start building a community (15:17)
• Successful supervisory strategies (17:43)
• Family separation (24:23)
• Advice for policy makers (34:02)
• Advice for child abuse professionals (42:26)
• For more information (46:14)

Links:

Jessica Pryce, Ph.D., MSW, is director of the Florida Institute for Child Welfare at Florida State University

Dr. Pryce was the opening keynote speaker at NCA’s Leadership Conference in June 2022

“To Transform Child Welfare, Take Race Out of the Equation,” TED Talk by Dr. Pryce

Social Security Act of 1935 created Aid to Dependent Children (ADC) and Aid to Families of Dependent Children (AFDC)

Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program

Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA)

Family First Prevention and Services Act

Abbreviations used:

CACs: Children’s Advocacy Centers

CASA: court appointed special advocate

CPS: child protective services

DEI: diversity, equity, and inclusion

TPR: termination of parental rights

For more information about National Children’s Alliance and the work of Children’s Advocacy Centers, visit our website at NationalChildrensAlliance.org. Or visit our podcast website at OneInTenPodcast.org. And join us on Facebook at One in Ten podcast.

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This is a critical time for the child protection and Children’s Advocacy Center community to be allies for LGBTQ kids. Nearly two dozen states have considered anti-trans bills and some have made it difficult if not impossible for trans youth to receive gender-affirming care. In today’s One in Ten podcast, we speak with Al Killen-Harvey, president and co-founder of the Harvey Institute, about how child abuse professionals can better support LGBTQ youth and families. How can we ensure that child abuse investigations aren’t politicized? How can we identify and overcome our own biases and lack of knowledge to provide better care for these kids and their families? And how do we open our own hearts to create a welcoming and inclusive community where all kids can thrive?

Topics in this episode:

• Origin story (1:46)
• How welcoming is our field for LGBTQ kids and families? (6:30)
• Advice for child abuse professionals (10:54)
• Mental health impact of anti-trans legislation (14:53)
• Gender-affirming care (19:49)
• The sense of threat and anger (27:37)
• Risks to trans youth (35:57)
• What can child abuse professionals do? (37:25)
• Be a life raft for kids (44:34)
• For more information (47:27)

Links:

Al Killen-Harvey, LCSW, is the president and co-founder of the Harvey Institute

Heidi Stern-Ellis, LCSW

Chadwick Center for Children and Families at Rady Children’s Hospital in San Diego

CAC, Children’s Advocacy Center

CPS, child protective services

For more information about National Children’s Alliance and the work of Children’s Advocacy Centers, visit our website at NationalChildrensAlliance.org. Or visit our podcast website at OneInTenPodcast.org. And join us on Facebook at One in Ten podcast.

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The 1998 CDC-Kaiser Permanente Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) Study helped build public understanding of the consequences of untreated childhood trauma. All these years later, does this tool tell the complete story? In this panel discussion recorded at National Children’s Alliance’s 2022 Leadership Conference, we explore what ACEs can—and can’t—accomplish in terms of influencing public support for policies that benefit kids. How can ACE screenings be used (and misused)? And what’s next for public health messaging that matters. Join Dr. Ernestine Briggs-King and Dr. Jonathan Purtle for a panel discussion moderated by NCA CEO Teresa Huizar in our first live-to-tape episode of One in Ten. 

Topics in this episode: 

• Origin stories (2:07)
• What’s good and bad about ACEs (5:39)
• Public policy messaging (14:15)
• ACEs and racism (22:42)
• Protective factors and resilience (24:58)
• The six messages (29:08)
• What we’re curious about (36:48)
• Audience questions (39:54)

Links: 

Ernestine Briggs-King, Ph.D., is a clinical/community psychologist; the director of research at the Center for Child and Family Health; director of the Data and Evaluation Program at the UCLA-Duke University National Center for Child Traumatic Stress; and an associate professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Duke University School of Medicine 

Jonathan Purtle, Ph.D., is associate professor of public health policy and management and director of policy research at NYU’s Global Center for Implementation Science 

CDC-Kaiser Permanente Adverse Childhood Experiences Study (1998), Vincent J. Felitti, MD, FACP; et al 

Previous episodes on related topics: 

“Reframing Childhood Adversity,” with Julie Sweetland from FrameWorks Institute (April 14, 2022); includes a link to the “Reframing” study

“Greater Than the Sum—Multiple Adversities in Children’s Lives,” with Dr. Sherry Hamby (August 6, 2020; originally broadcast February 14, 2020, as “Mending the Tears of Violence”) 

“The ACEs Message and Its Unintended Consequences,” with Dr. Jonathan Purtle (May 20, 2021) 

“The Hidden Cost of Resilience,” with Dr. Ernestine Briggs-King (July 17, 2020; originally broadcast January 10, 2020) 

“Bonus Content: Universal Screening for Adverse Childhood Experiences,” with Dr. David Finkelhor (May 21, 2020) 

“Beyond ACEs,” with Dr. Lisa Amaya-Jackson (December 4, 2019) 

“The Science of Storytelling,” with Nat Kendall-Taylor from FrameWorks Institute (June 28, 2019) 

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Justin Fitzsimmons, associate vice president at the National White Collar Crime Center, joins us to raise the alarm about the way in which technology companies, social media outlets, and online privacy advocates are now purposely pitting adult privacy rights against the protection and safety of children. Think end-to-end encryption is totally innocuous? What if that means that pedophiles can endlessly trade child sexual abuse images online with impunity? And how do we—as advocates for children—keep issues of child protection front and center for policy makers, for tech and social media, and ultimately for all Americans?

Topics in this episode:

• Origin story (1:43)
• Trends in technology-facilitated crime (2:45)
• The privacy problem (6:56)
• Our tech-driven lives (14:22)
• What law enforcement needs (18:55)
• What parents need to know (27:17)
• What child abuse professionals need to do (34:23)
• Don’t let technology scare you (41:40)
• For more information (45:52)

Links:

Justin Fitzsimmons is associate vice president at the National White Collar Crime Center (nw3c.org), former president of the Board of Directors at National Children’s Alliance, and an expert on technology-facilitated crime.

CACs: Children’s Advocacy Centers

CSAM: child sexual abuse materials

ICAC: Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force Program

New York Times articles “The Internet Is Overrun with Images of Child Sexual Abuse. What Went Wrong?,” “How Laws Against Child Sexual Abuse Imagery Can Make It Harder to Detect,” and “Tech Companies Detect a Surge in Online Videos of Child Sexual Abuse”

NCMEC: National Center for Missing and Exploited Children

NDAA: National District Attorneys Association

Common Sense Media

The Connected Parent

HealthyChildren.org

See also our previous episode, “Predators in Our Pockets: The New Digital Hunting Grounds”

For more information about National Children’s Alliance and the work of Children’s Advocacy Centers, visit our website at NationalChildrensAlliance.org. Or visit our podcast website at OneInTenPodcast.org. And join us on Facebook at One in Ten podcast.

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Did you like this episode? Please leave us a review on Apple Podcasts.

If you’ve ever worked anywhere near the criminal justice system, you know how heartbreaking it is when a case goes to trial and you have a clear disclosure and great victim testimony and really solid corroborating evidence—and the jury acquits. In a child sexual abuse case, what would make a jury hear all of that and still acquit? Tayler Jones-Cieminski and other researchers set out to explore that very question, especially one specific aspect of juror beliefs: the myth about the prevalence of false allegations. What would happen at trial if there were an increased fear of false allegations? And does gender have anything to do with it? 

Topics in this episode:

• Origin story (3:05)
• Disparity between evidence and verdict (7:17)
• Fear of false allegations (11:49)
• Implications for criminal justice system (24:32)
• Role for juror education, public education (28:33)
• Advice for child abuse professionals (31:30)
• Future research (34:41)
• Sharing the credit (38:40)
• For more information (40:35)

Links:

Tayler Jones-Cieminski is a doctoral student at the University of Illinois at Chicago 

“Jurors’ Gender and Their Fear of False Child Sexual Abuse Accusations Are Related to Their Belief in Child Victims’ Allegations.” Tayler M. Jones, Bette L. Bottoms, Kajal Sachdev, Jonathan Aniciete, and Karis Gorak (2021): Journal of Child Sexual Abuse, DOI: 10.1080/10538712.2021.1931612

Bette Bottoms, Ph.D. 

OJJDP, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention

Tamara Haegerich, Ph.D.  

Kari Nysse-Carris, Ph.D.

“How Accurate Is Our Memory After 20 Years?” is our interview with Gail Goodman 

Thomas D. Lyon, Ph.D. 

Michael E. Lamb, Ph.D.

Jonathan Golding, Ph.D. 

Voir dire 

“Child victim empathy mediates the influence of jurors’ sexual abuse experiences on child sexual abuse case judgments: Meta-analyses.” Tayler M. Jones; Bette L. Bottoms; and Margaret C. Stevenson. (2020). Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, 26(3), 312–332. DOI: 10.1037/law0000231  Also available from the University of Evansville.

For more information about National Children’s Alliance and the work of Children’s Advocacy Centers, visit our website at NationalChildrensAlliance.org. Or visit our podcast website at OneInTenPodcast.org. And join us on Facebook at One in Ten podcast.

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Today’s episode is a conversation with author and survivor Stephen Mills about his recently published memoir, Chosen. For those who haven’t yet read his book, which we highly recommend, it recounts Mills’ abuse at the hands of a camp counselor over several years, and his long journey towards healing. While many institutional abuse cases involve boys, there are very, very few published accounts of male survivorship. And, if we’re to help boys who have been abused, then it’s critical for us to understand how this experience may differ from that of female survivorship. Mills’ account is deeply moving, and it challenges all of us to better protect boys in the first place, and better help them heal if they have been abused.

Topics in this episode:

• Why we need this story (1:17)
• Stigma and shame (3:42)
• Grooming family and community (6:50)
• Longing for justice (17:34)
• Pushing institutions to change (26:17)
• Public policy wishes (29:45)
• Advice for child abuse professionals (34:39)
• Learn signs and tactics (41:46)
• For more information (47:01)

Links:

Stephen Mills is the coauthor with Roger Fouts of Next of Kin: My Conversations with Chimpanzees. He has advised and written for an array of public interest organizations in the fields of human rights, civil liberties, and the environment. Since 1983, he has worked with the Natural Resources Defense Council, building campaigns that have mobilized millions of people in support of environmental protection, and he serves as an ambassador for CHILD USA.

StephenMillsAuthor.com includes resources for survivors, families, and everyone and information on ways to take action to prevent child sexual abuse

“At a Place Where He Was Supposed to Be Safe, He Was Molested,” by Bruce Feiler, The New York Times, April 26, 2022

Other memoirs mentioned: Notes on a Silencing by Lacy Crawford; Half the House: A Memoir by Richard Hoffman; and The Tricky Part: One Boy’s Fall from Trespass into Grace by Martin Moran

Child Victims Act of 2019 (New York)

CHILD USA has information on child protection laws across the country, including statutes of limitation reform

U.S. National Blueprint to End Sexual Violence Against Children and Adolescents from Keep Kids Safe

For more information about National Children’s Alliance and the work of Children’s Advocacy Centers, visit our website at NationalChildrensAlliance.org. Or visit our podcast website at OneInTenPodcast.org. And join us on Facebook at One in Ten podcast.

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Did you like this episode? Please leave us a review on Apple Podcasts.

April is Child Abuse Prevention Month, a great time to talk about the way we message around child abuse and childhood adversities. The ways in which we’ve messaged about childhood adversity in the past may have served us very well, helping people come to terms with how important the topic is, the scope of the problem, and the lifelong impacts of it. But they may not be serving us very well now. 

What if, in describing the problem as enormous and making that the centerpiece of our messaging, we’re making people think that the problem is intractable and they’re powerless as an individual person to make a change? Or, in focusing on the stories of individual families in order to gain empathy for them, what we really seem to be implying to the public is that there’s no room for public policy solutions, that this is a matter for each family to solve by themselves. We talked to Julie Sweetland, senior advisor at the FrameWorks Institute, about how to reframe childhood adversity.

Topics in this episode:

• Origin story (2:21)
• Common communication traps (6:15)
• Threat of modernity (14:28)
• Key recommendations (19:09)
• Systemic racism (32:16)
• Hope and resilience (35:45)
• Collective responsibility (39:55)
• Evidence-based communication (42:00)
• For more information (43:52)

Links:

Julie Sweetland, Ph.D., is a sociolinguist and senior advisor at the FrameWorks Institute.

ACEs: adverse childhood experiences

 “Reframing Childhood Adversity: Promoting Upstream Approaches,” by Julie Sweetland, FrameWorks Institute (February 16, 2021); a presentation of the report is also available on the FrameWorks site

Harvard University Center on the Developing Child

National Scientific Council on the Developing Child

Prevent Child Abuse America

Social Current

CDC: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Zero to Three

Ascend at the Aspen Institute

Building Better Childhoods

For more information about National Children’s Alliance and the work of Children’s Advocacy Centers, visit our website at NationalChildrensAlliance.org. Or visit our podcast website at OneInTenPodcast.org. And join us on Facebook at One in Ten podcast.

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Did you like this episode? Please leave us a review on Apple Podcasts.

Does America believe female sexual abusers actually exist? When we think about child sexual abuse, don’t we automatically picture in our mind a father, a stepfather, a Boy Scout leader, a male neighbor, a coach, or a priest? Our minds go there for a very good reason, and that is that 97% of convicted sexual offenders are, in fact, male. But we know that female-perpetrated child sexual abuse does exist.

What are the sort of perceptions—and misperceptions—that abound around this? What are the myths that exist about female-perpetrated sexual abuse? And how do these perceptions differ depending on who the woman is? What if it’s an aunt, or female clergy, or even a teacher? Maybe, most interestingly, as you’ll hear, a teacher most of all. We know from research that the traumatic impacts of female-perpetrated abuse are real and long-lasting. Does the general public actually believe the same? And how do we address the biases around this that may prevent victims from being believed and helped? Take a listen to our interview with Dr. Caitlyn Muniz.

Topics in this episode:

• Why research this topic (1:58)
• The focus on teacher/student cases (3:59)
• Effect of authority roles (6:21)
• Research findings (10:27)
• What the general public might think (20:00)
• Disclosures and reactions (24:30)
• Cultural biases harm victims (34:23)
• Advice for child abuse professionals (41:19)
• Future research (44:00)
• Share the episode (47:16)

Links:

Caitlyn N. Muniz, Ph.D., is assistant professor in the Department of Criminal Justice at The University of Texas at El Paso

“The Influence of Authority Role and Victim Gender on Perceptions of Female-Perpetrated Child Sexual Abuse,” Caitlyn N. Muniz, Ráchael A Powers, Child Maltreatment, July 26, 2021

researchgate.net/profile/Caitlyn-Muniz

For more information about National Children’s Alliance and the work of Children’s Advocacy Centers, visit our website at NationalChildrensAlliance.org. Or visit our podcast website at OneInTenPodcast.org. And join us on Facebook at One in Ten podcast.

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Did you like this episode? Please leave us a review on Apple Podcasts.

When we think about problematic sexual behaviors in youth, we often think of a neighbor child, or someone at school. Someone acting out in the community with a child of our own. But rarely do we think about sibling sexual abuse, which we think of as somehow very rare. As you’re going to hear in this episode, it isn’t. It’s not uncommon.

Some of the most difficult cases we deal with at Children's Advocacy Centers are sibling sexual abuse cases. Mom and Dad come in, horribly upset. You have one child who is the victim, and they want to support that child. But at the same time they were terribly concerned about the child who had harmed their other child. The child who had thought it up and acted it out. And trying to think about how to prevent them from winding up and suffering all the pain and indignities of the criminal justice system.

What do we do in these cases that can actually be productive? How do we understand them moving forward? And how do we address the research gaps that leave us not always knowing entirely what to do?

Topics in this episode:

• Why there's so little research on sibling sexual abuse (2:15)
• Key findings about the research (8:00)
• Poor mental health outcomes (15:26)
• Risk  factors in large families (23:50)
• What can we do to protect children? (32:13)
• For more information (35:36)

Links:

Nina Bertele is a research fellow at Charité - University Hospital Berlin (Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin)

Anat Talmon, Ph.D.

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