One in Ten

Are we solving the wrong problem in child welfare?  When you think of federal child welfare policy, maybe you expect a discussion of foster care and other post-abuse interventions. If so, this conversation with Jerry Milner, former head of the Children’s Bureau at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is going to blow your mind. Because after more than 40 years in child welfare, Milner's leadership of the Children’s Bureau turned a very, very different direction. He explored questions like: What would happen if we turned over our investment and focused on primary prevention instead? And are too many children separated from their parents unnecessarily through foster care? And, more importantly, what role do our own values of equity and belief in family support play not only in the lives of kids but in the life of our public policy? Milner is reimagining the child welfare system of the future. Take a listen.

Topics in this episode:

• Origin story (1:20)
• Why primary prevention? (4:04)
• Why it's hard to change (10:38)
• Systemic inequities (16:44)
• Different forms of neglect (21:50)
• The consumer voice (31:54)
• Our new podcast website (39:28)

Links:

Jerry Milner, DSW, is director of the Family Integrity and Justice Works at Public Knowledge, and former head of the U.S. Children’s Bureau

Children’s Advocacy Centers

“$20M diverted from police training facility to mental health facility in Prince George’s,” by Brad Bell, April 19, 2021, ABC7 News

CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates)

Family First Prevention Services Act

For more information about National Children’s Alliance and the work of Children’s Advocacy Centers, visit our website at nationalchildrensalliance.org. And come visit our new podcast website at oneintenpodcast.org, or email us at [email protected] 

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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 carry with them? And perhaps most critically, now that we do know better, how do we do better on this issue? We talk with Dr. Jordan Greenbaum, director of Global Initiative: Child Health and Well-Being at the International Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

Topics in this episode:

• Child sex trafficking is a local problem (1:21)
• Marginalization and other risk factors (4:26)
• What CACs can do (11:31)
• Unintended consequences (14:31)
• Barriers to referrals (16:43)
• Core competencies (27:01)
• A public health approach (29:24)
• Learn more about our work (37:37)

Links:

Jordan Greenbaum, MD, is director of the Global Initiative for Child Health and Well-Being at the International Center for Missing and Exploited Children (ICMEC) and an expert on child sex and labor trafficking.

Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta

Federally qualified health centers

National Human Trafficking Training and Technical Assistance Center

HEAL Trafficking

National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners (NAPNAP)

Core Competencies for Human Trafficking Response in Health Care and Behavioral Health Systems (February 2021)

For more information about National Children’s Alliance and the work of Children’s Advocacy Centers, visit our website at nationalchildrensalliance.org. And join us on Facebook at One in Ten podcast or email us at [email protected].

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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 attitude and resiliency? In “The Heart of a Healthy Workplace,” speaker, author, and workplace culture consultant Shola Richards talks to us about creating a healthy workplace environment.

Topics in this episode:

• Toxic workplaces (1:25)
• Leadership: Sink or swim (7:50)
• Return to the office post-pandemic (10:23)
• The strongest teams (16:08)
• Crucial Conversations (22:34)
• Tough love self-care (32:25)
• The next normal (39:42)
• Inclusion and belonging (41:52)
• Learn more about NCA and CACs (45:06)

Links:

Shola Richards is the founder and CEO of GoTogether Global and a keynote speaker, coach, and consultant. He is the best-selling author of Go Together: How the Concept of Ubuntu Will Change How You Live, Work and Lead and of Making Work Work: The Positivity Solution for Any Work Environment.

In June 2021, he was  featured as the closing keynote speaker at our annual Leadership Conference for the Children's Advocacy Center (CAC) movement.

Crucial Conversations and Crucial Accountability are from VitalSmarts

Learn more about Admiral James Stockdale’s outlook in Good to Great by Jim Collins

For more information about National Children’s Alliance and the work of Children’s Advocacy Centers, visit our website at nationalchildrensalliance.org. And join us on Facebook at One in Ten podcast or email us at [email protected].

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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 kids’ lives.

Topics in this episode:

• ACEs go mainstream (02:14)
• Studying the right way to message about abuse (06:39)
• Research results (10:19)
• People resist ACEs’ brain/body connection (15:38)
• Unintended consequences (20:01)
• How to talk about solutions (27:28)
• More research needed (32:41)
• What to say and what not to say (35:48)
• For more information about this topic (42:36)

Links:

Jonathan Purtle, DrPH, MPH, MSc, associate professor of health management and policy, Drexel University Dornsife School of Public Health

“Public Opinion About Adverse Childhood Experiences: Social Stigma, Attribution of Blame, and Government Intervention,” Purtle J, Nelson KL, Gollust SE, Child Maltreatment. March 2021. doi:10.1177/10775595211004783

Adverse Childhood Experiences Study

Center for Nonviolence and Social Justice

Sandra L. Bloom, MD

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

Center on the Developing Child, Harvard University

“Beyond ACEs” with Dr. Lisa Amaya-Jackson, One in Ten podcast episode (December 4, 2019)

NCA 2021 Leadership Conference, June 7-9, 2021

For more information about National Children’s Alliance and the work of Children’s Advocacy Centers, For more information about National Children’s Alliance and the work of Children’s Advocacy Centers, visit our website at nationalchildrensalliance.org. And join us on Facebook at One in Ten podcast or email us at [email protected]. 

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

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. Listen in as we explore how centering the experiences of survivors can translate into important policy solutions, and how survivors can not only survive but experience post-traumatic growth that allows them to thrive.

Topics in this episode:

• Why she spoke up (1:25)
• Jenna’s Law (8:44)
• Stigma (12:44)
• Faith communities and child abuse (15:04)
• Post-traumatic growth (18:23)
• What’s next for Jenna (35:44)
• Advice for CACs (39:45)
• Next episode (44:53)

Links:

Jenna Quinn, M.S., champions the passage of Jenna’s Law at the state and federal level to require K-12 schools to educate students, teachers, and caregivers about how to prevent, recognize, and report child sexual abuse

Jenna Quinn will be the Opening Keynote speaker at our 2021 Leadership Conference on June 7

Children’s Advocacy Center for North Texas (Denton County)

SANE (sexual assault nurse examiner)

Warning signs of child sexual abuse (#ItsYourBusiness)

Darkness to Light has many prevention resources

#ChurchToo (similar hashtags are in use for other religions)

Victor Vieth; see also our earlier interview with him, “Faith, Trauma, and the Problem of Evil” (May 13, 2019)

Post-traumatic growth (PTG), Richard G. Tedeschi, Ph.D., and Lawrence G. Calhoun, Ph.D.

The original study into adverse childhood experiences (ACEs)

A bill to pass the Jenna Quinn Law (S. 734) was introduced in the U.S. Senate on March 11, 2021

The biblical story of Tamar is told in 2 Samuel 13

For more information about National Children’s Alliance and the work of Children’s Advocacy Centers, For more information about National Children’s Alliance and the work of Children’s Advocacy Centers, visit our website at nationalchildrensalliance.org. And join us on Facebook at One in Ten podcast or email us at [email protected].

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

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 episode:

• Working in Alaska (1:26)
• Toxic stress (7:47)
• Historical trauma (12:57)
• The fear response (17:48)
• Six step healing hypothesis (26:28)
• Whole community healing (38:28)
• Two generation response (42:33)
• The Stockdale paradox: Brutal truth and enduring hope (46:10)

Links:

Patrick M. Anderson, CEO of RurAL CAP (Rural Alaska Community Action Program, Inc.)

RurAL Cap’s health and well-being programs

The original study into adverse childhood experiences (ACEs)

CDC Vital Signs issue on the effects of ACEs

American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP)

AAP website on Early Brain and Child Development

Three types of stress responses

Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS)

1867 Treaty of Cession

Joseph LeDoux, Ph.D.

Dr. Vincent Fellitti

Lean thinking, or the Toyota Production System

Martin Seligman, Ph.D., positive psychology

Angela Duckworth, Ph.D., Grit

David Berceli, Ph.D.

Dr. James Gordon, Breathe, Shake, Dance (YouTube) 

EMDR, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing

Capt. Joseph Hibbeln, M.D.

Jon Kabat-Zinn, Ph.D.

The Stockdale Paradox

Carol Dweck, Ph.D.

For more information about National Children’s Alliance and the work of Children’s Advocacy Centers, visit our website at nationalchildrensalliance.org. And join us on Facebook at One in Ten podcast or email us at [email protected].

Support the show

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

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 children—no matter where they live in the U.S.—get the care they need to heal and thrive? In today’s episode, “Addressing the Doctor Deficit,” we speak with a pioneer in the field: Dr. Suzanne Starling, a renowned medical expert and child abuse pediatrician.

Topics in this episode:

• Accidentally becoming a child abuse pediatrician (1:16)
• Fewer than 400: A rare specialty (6:18)
• Barriers to kids getting medical exams (12:27)
• Family advocates taking the lead (17:30)
• How public policy can help (23:12)
• Effect of the pandemic (25:28)
• What’s next in the field? (31:50)
• Unintended consequences (36:14)
• How to get more people involved (41:17)

Links:

Suzanne Starling, M.D., is a board-certified child abuse pediatrician who serves as medical director and associate center director of the Chadwick Center for Children and Families at Rady Children’s Hospital - San Diego and clinical professor of pediatrics at the University of California San Diego

American Board of Pediatrics

Sexual assault nurse examiners (SANE) are registered nurses with specialized training in medical forensic care of patients who have experienced sexual assault or abuse

To learn more about teleforensic interviewing, listen to “The Intersection of Technology and Forensic Interviewing” with Debra Poole, Ph.D., and Jason Dickinson, Ph.D. (May 28, 2020)

To learn more about the impact of the pandemic on mental health and advice on how to cope, listen to:

“We’re Not All Having the Same Pandemic,” with Rabah Kamal and Carole Campbell Swiecicki, Ph.D. (June 11, 2020)

“Can a Pandemic Have a Silver Lining?” with Dr. Danielle Roubinov of the University of California (September 10, 2020)

For more information about National Children’s Alliance and the work of Children’s Advocacy Centers, visit our website at nationalchildrensalliance.org. And join us on Facebook at One in Ten podcast or email us at [email protected].

Support the show

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

On today’s episode, “Engaging the Hope Within Us,” our guests are award-winning classical pianists and siblings Gregory and Deondra Brown of The 5 Browns. When we think of classical music, we often think only of the beauty of it, not also of the pain and vulnerability that it can express and evoke. The 5 Browns shook perceptions of the classical music world when they revealed that all three sisters had been sexually abused as children and sought justice in their case. This brave act shattered stereotypes and elevated the issue of child sexual abuse in an audience where it had previously been little discussed. Our conversation today touches some core questions. How does music connect us to our own humanity? How can music help heal survivors in broken places that nothing else seems to reach? And how does the love and supportive family, as allies, help survivors thrive? 

 Topics in this episode: 

• The 5 Browns (1:29) 
• Deciding to disclose (4:34) 
• Advice for allies and survivors (8:04) 
• The power and benefit of music (21:45) 
• The Little Tin Box and supporting CACs/CJCs (33:44) 
• Learn more about our work (48:28)  

Links: 

The 5 Browns  

The Little Tin Box 

Tracey Tabet is the administrator for the Utah Children’s Justice Center (CJC) Program, where she oversees the state’s Children’s Justice Centers and serves as the director of the Utah Chapter of NCA 

 Children’s Advocacy Center (CAC) is the term we use at the national level, but some states use Children’s Justice Center (CJC) 

For more information about National Children’s Alliance and the work of Children’s Advocacy Centers, For more information about National Children’s Alliance and the work of Children’s Advocacy Centers, visit our website at nationalchildrensalliance.org. And join us on Facebook at One in Ten podcast or email us at [email protected]. 

Support the show

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

In today’s episode, we talk with Paul DiLorenzo, who’s worked in every aspect of the child welfare system over the past 40 years—as a writer, as a consultant, and as a case worker. This varied experience gives him a wealth of knowledge and information and truly unique insight into our field. One of his key insights has been around the relationship between chronic neglect and child sexual abuse. Now if you’ve been working in the child protection field for a while, you often think about it—yes, that people are polyvictimized, or maybe victimized in more than one way. But have you thought deeply about the fact that chronic neglect may create the environment in which child sexual abuse can thrive? 

DiLorenzo asks the question about how we might interrupt the cycle of generational abuse by stopping the cycle of chronic neglect. What prevents us from doing this right now? Is part of it that as child abuse professionals, we’ve grown cynical and given up on some families entirely as they cycle back through the system? What would it really mean if we truly believed in the power of redemption and that even the most struggling families could change? Join us in this thoughtful conversation about engaging families right where they are and helping them invest in their own healing. 

Topics in this episode:

• Recurrence and revictimization (1:42)
• What increases the risk (7:26)
• Key points for prevention and intervention (14:49)
• Own the outcome (25:39)
• What's not working (31:46)
• Learn more about NCA and CACs (39:20)

Links:

Abbreviations used in this conversation: CAC means Children’s Advocacy Center; MDT is multidisciplinary team; CPS is child protective services

Paul DiLorenzo, ACSW, MLSP, interim executive director, Philadelphia Children’s Alliance

Child Sexual Abuse Recurrence report, Philadelphia Children’s Alliance and Temple University (December 2020)

Julia Kobulsky, Ph.D., and Bernie Newman, Ph.D., Temple University School of Social Work

Engaging and Healing Families webinar, Philadelphia Children’s Alliance (February 17, 2021)

Casey Family Programs

National Children’s Advocacy Center (NCAC) in Huntsville, Alabama, was the first CAC

Humans of New York

Vicarious trauma, secondary traumatic stress (TEND definitions)

For more information about National Children’s Alliance and the work of Children’s Advocacy Centers, visit our website at nationalchildrensalliance.org. And join us on Facebook at One in Ten podcast or email us at [email protected].

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

On today’s episode, we talk with Sasha Neulinger, director and producer of the award-winning documentary, Rewind, a film about his survival of abuse. Now for those listeners who attended our conference and watch party, you already know his powerful film. But for those who might be new to Sasha and his work, run, don’t walk, to your Amazon Prime account and queue up this great film. 

Now, some of you might be thinking, “After a day of dealing with child abuse, why would I want to watch the film and listen to this episode?” In one single word: Hope. What makes Sasha’s account so unique are really two things. One, he didn’t have to rely on his memory alone to reflect on his childhood. He had 200 hours of film of his everyday life as a child and could watch as an adult and dissect how and when his abuse impacted his life. And two, he filmed his own reckoning with his past. With all the pain, yes, but also with all the resilience and hope that came with understanding and loving his inner child. What Sasha ultimately captured was radical self-acceptance and hope. 

In this episode, we explore that journey—both the filmmaker’s journey and Sasha’s inner journey to healing and hope. Take a listen. 

Topics in this episode: 

• Unresolved trauma: Making the film (1:39) 
• Facing your fears (7:17) 
• What audiences need (15:35) 
• Call to action (25:29) 
• Helping adult survivors (30:15) 
• What’s next for Sasha (40:17) 

Links:  

Sasha Joseph Neulinger, director and producer of critically acclaimed documentary Rewind.

Amazon Prime members can stream Rewind for free. It’s also available on AppleTV, iTunes, and Google Play, and it aired on Independent Lens on PBS.

Voice for the Kids 

Statute of limitations reform (childusa.org resource) 

National statistics on child abuse 

For more information about National Children’s Alliance and the work of Children’s Advocacy Centers, For more information about National Children’s Alliance and the work of Children’s Advocacy Centers, visit our website at nationalchildrensalliance.org. And join us on Facebook at One in Ten podcast or email us at [email protected]. 

Support the show

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