One in Ten

Years ago, Elizabeth Letourneau had a key insight: What if instead of focusing exclusively on victims and parents for child sexual abuse prevention, we really turned to the source of the problem: the person at risk of sexually abusing a child?

Now, we really don’t like to talk about, or even think about, the fact that some youth and some adults are sexually attracted to children. But what if we could teach middle schoolers about sexual boundaries and about consent before they ever made a misstep? And what if those youth and adults struggling with the shame of an unwanted sexual attraction to children had a way to get help before they ever harmed a child? And what if we lifted the weight so many victims feel about their responsibility to somehow keep themselves safe and placed this responsibility instead squarely on the shoulders of those who might otherwise harm them?

Topics in this episode:

•  Help Wanted prevention program (1:40)
• Google and Facebook get involved (7:24)
• Middle-school intervention (15:27)
• Online programs in the future? (23:15)
• Which prevention programs work? (24:47)
• Best practices for youth-serving organizations (28:01)
• What do we need next? (34:15)
• Federal focus needed (37:51)
• Contact Congress about funding research (44:14)

Links:

Elizabeth Letourneau, Ph.D., director of the Moore Center for the Prevention of Child Sexual Abuse at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

Help Wanted

Prevention Project Dunkelfeld

Stop It Now! USA

CDC

Responsible Behavior with Younger Children

Shifting Boundaries

National Center for Child Traumatic Stress

Committee for Children

U.S. Center for SafeSport

Prevent Child Abuse America

Australian Royal Commission

Commit to Kids

Bloomberg American Health Initiative website, framework and leadership desk guide

We interview Dr. Letourneau previously in “Child Abuse as a Public Health Issue” (aired 5/2/19)

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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In our season-ending episode, we look at the wave of statute of limitation (SOL) reform that has swept our country, giving survivors of child sexual abuse—who may take years to fully process and disclose what happened to them—more time to seek justice. But the reform also poses challenges for prosecutors, law enforcement officers, and professionals who work with victims of child abuse. How do we properly maintain evidence in perpetuity? What resources do we need to really store this evidence—both physical and digital—and support survivors throughout their lifetimes? In this conversation with Nelson Bunn, executive director of the National District Attorneys Association, we discuss how to meet the practical demands of retaining evidence and prosecuting older cases while keeping survivors centered at the heart of our work and at the heart of reform.

This is the last episode of Season 2 for One in Ten. We’ll be back in early January with a fascinating conversation about a different approach to preventing child sexual abuse.

Topics in this episode:

• Benefits and challenges of SOL reform (2:04)
• Preserving evidence (7:37)
• Digital evidence (11:31)
• Prosecuting the backlog (15:29)
• Advice for CACs (18:38)
• Learn more about NCA and CACs (22:24)

Links:

Nelson Bunn, executive director, National District Attorneys Association (NDAA)

childusa.org/law has information on child protection laws across the United States

Justice Served Act of 2018 amended the DNA Analysis Backlog Elimination Act of 2000 to add, as a purpose area under the Debbie Smith DNA Backlog Grant Program, increasing the capacity of prosecutors to address the backlog of violent crime cases involving suspects identified through DNA evidence. Debbie Smith is a survivor of sexual assault. The DNA evidence from her forensic exam afterward went unanalyzed for more than five years.

Listen to the rest of the Criminal Justice Crystal Ball Series:

• Part 1: “The Future of Prosecution” with Nelson Bunn (aired 11/5/2020)
• Part 2: “What’s Past Is Prologue” with Brad Russ (aired 11/19/2020)

You may also enjoy “Radically Vulnerable: Achieving Justice for Survivors” with Prof. Marci Hamilton (aired 9/30/2019)

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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It was after midnight one night in 1983 when young police detective Brad Russ heard the knock on his front door that would transform his career. A 16-year-old girl named Kathy had run through a driving rainstorm to reach the one person in her neighborhood she thought might help her. Russ had never investigated child abuse before, and overnight he got a crash-course in the disjointed way the system handled—or didn’t handle—such cases. It launched him on a lifelong mission to improve his own community’s response to abuse and made him a champion of Children’s Advocacy Centers (CACs) and the multidisciplinary team (MDT) model.

Fast forward to today, with communities across the United States confronting problems with our justice system and police-community relations. In part two of our Criminal Justice Crystal Ball Series, “What’s Past Is Prologue,” we talked with Russ about his own experience with systemic reform. What can we learn from the past? How might deep partnerships between the police, MDT members, and CACs set an example and provide a path forward in these community conversations? How can meaningful collaboration and trust form the glue that keeps it all together?

Topics in this episode:

• The past: A siloed approach to child abuse cases (1:53)
• Common issues in abuse investigations (11:26)
• Collaboration is difficult and necessary (21:14)
• How to make things happen (32:20)
• Our next episode (42:39)

Links: 

Brad Russ, former police chief of the Portsmouth, N.H., Police Department, is executive director of the National Criminal Justice Training Center of Fox Valley Technical College

Abbreviations used in this interview: CPS (child protective services); CACs (Children’s Advocacy Centers); DCYF (New Hampshire’s name for CPS, the Division of Children, Youth, and Families); MDT (multidisciplinary team); OJJDP (Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention)

Seacoast Mental Health Center

Bureau of Justice Statistics

Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force Program

CACs mentioned: Colorado Springs, Colo.; Dallas; Huntsville, Ala.; Rockingham County (Portsmouth), N.H.

During his conversation with us, Brad Russ credited a number of people he worked with over the course of his career. Some of the names were edited out when we trimmed the interview. The full list of people mentioned: Joy Barrett, Bill Black, Ed Garone, Wendy Gladstone, Brian Killacky, Ron Laney, Sandy Matheson, Marci Morris, Bill “Mort” Mortimer, Jim Reams, and Kay Wagner.

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.

In the midst of a national debate about criminal justice reform, what’s the role of the prosecutor? And how do we transform the system while still centering victims? We spoke to Nelson Bunn, executive director of the National District Attorneys Association (NDAA), about the unique role of prosecutors in leading systemic change. In a time of anxiety in the community about the relationship with law enforcement and with the criminal justice system overall, trust, accountability, and transparency are vitally important. And so are victims—we have to make sure they’re taken care of as well.

This episode is the first in a three part series on criminal justice reform: Criminal Justice Crystal Ball. How might the justice system look different moving forward? Let’s find out.

Topics in this episode:

• Prosecutors’ perspective on criminal justice reform (2:11)
• A shift in thinking over time (6:20)
• Transparency, accountability, and trust (11:25)
• Collaboration; the CAC model (17:09)
• The voice of the victim (21:05)
• Our next episode (23:32)

Links:

Nelson Bunn, is executive director of the National District Attorneys Association (NDAA)

First Step Act of 2018 (and the NDAA press release about it)

Commonswealth’s Attorney Nancy G. Parr is the current president of NDAA

Prison Fellowship website has a video on Why Pell Grants Matter

The Children’s Advocacy Center (CAC) model and multidisciplinary teams (MDTs)

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 “Is Abuse Contagious?” we sit down for a conversation with a guest who does fascinating work—Dyann Daley of Predict Align Prevent. As a pediatric anesthesiologist, Dr. Daley was driven by the sight of little kids fighting for their lives in the emergency room because they had been abused. She started a nonprofit that uses existing data to find neighborhoods that are hot spots for abuse—including some places where folks say, “Oh, not, that’s not a problem on this side of town.” How can a family’s environment raise the risk of abuse? And what can we do to get abuse prevention services to the neighborhoods where they’re needed the most?

In this episode:

• Children 0-3 most at risk of dying from abuse (1:45)
• Environment influences behavior: A place-based approach to prevention (4:28)
• The Predict Align Prevent model (11:53)
• Office of Prevention and targeted universalism (16:50)
• Protecting kids to death (30:31)
• What the critics say (42:05)
• There is no evil overlord hoarding data (47:35)
• What can people do? (51:49)

Links:

Dyann Daley, MD, is a pediatric anesthesiologist and the founder and CEO of the nonprofit Predict Align Prevent (PAP)

Commission to Eliminate Child Abuse and Neglect Fatalities

The Richmond, Va., report; an ethical evaluation of the PAP program; and other resources are available online at predict-align-prevent.org/resources

Gary Slutkin, MD, former head of the World Health Organization’s Intervention Development Unit, founded Cure Violence (cvg.org)

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs)

Nurse-Family Partnership

Casey Family Programs

Related episode of One in Ten: “Prediction as Prevention” with Emily Putnam-Hornstein, Ph.D., aired on August 15, 2019

The Leadership Conference mentioned is our annual conference

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

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In “Can a Pandemic Have a Silver Lining?”, we invite Dr. Danielle Roubinov of the University of California to discuss a “research manifesto” letter she and her colleagues published in JAMA Pediatrics in August. Even as a novel coronavirus has upended our world, leading to new public health and safety guidelines that are playing hob with many research projects, it is also fostering innovation. The result has, in some ways, catalyzed research into early childhood adversity.  

COVID-19 has also ratcheted up the pressure on parents. Dr. Roubinov has a hopeful message for them, too: Even small positive experiences, and having a strong relationship with a caring adult, can help a child weather adversity.  

In this episode: 

• The intersection of childhood adversity and the pandemic (1:32) 
• Why we focus on the negative (4:49) 
• Concerns about disparities and about parents’ mental health (9:51) 
• The absence of a negative is not always a positive (14:12) 
• Polystrengths, and the importance of caregivers (16:48) 
• ABC intervention: Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-up (27:15) 
• An open letter to policymakers (35:35) 
• A message for parents (37:52) 

Links: 

Danielle Roubinov, Ph.D., is an assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco 

“How a Pandemic Could Advance the Science of Early Adversity.” JAMA Pediatrics. 2020 Jul 27. Roubinov D, Bush NR, Boyce WT. PMID: 32716499. 

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) 

“Greater Than the Sum—Multiple Adversities in Children’s Lives,” One in Ten interview with Sherry Hamby, Ph.D., originally aired on February 14 (as “Mending the Tears of Violence”). Rebroadcast on August 6, 2020 

Ann S. Masten Ph.D., Ordinary Magic: Resilience in Development 

Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-up (ABC intervention) was developed by Mary Dozier, Ph.D., at the University of Delaware 

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

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We're back from our Best of the Best series to talk with Dr. Isha Metzger, a clinical psychologist, a University of Georgia researcher, and head of The EMPOWER Lab. But her real claim to fame: she noticed that the gold-standard treatment for children delivered at CACs wasn't working for her Black clients, dug into it, and came up with a brand-new adaptation to serve Black children and families, build their trust, and see themselves reflected in the work of healing from trauma. In fact, Just as concrete barriers need to be lowered to help families engage with treatment, the messages embedded within that treatment must include racial socialization and messages that include messages of strength, joy, pride, and voice. How can CACs and clinicians ensure they're meeting the needs of Black kids and families, or of other BIPOC kids? What are white clinicians to do to ensure that the messages in treatment fit the experiences of their BIPOC clients? And what are the implications for family engagement? 

Topics in this episode: 

• What is racial socialization? 
• How social and racial messages affect treatment outcomes
• Culturally specific treatment strategies
• How racial adaptations for treatment models work
• Racial trauma and polyvictimization
• The role of celebratory experiences in treatment
• Racial justice
• Diversity, equity, and inclusion
• Mental health disparity

Resources:

"Healing Interpersonal and Racial Trauma: Integrating Racial Socialization Into Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for African American Youth"

The EMPOWER Lab at the University of Georgia

Dr. Metzger's research

UGA Racial Trauma Guide

Coping with Racial Trauma (infographic)

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Greater Than the Sum—Multiple Adversities in Children’s Lives (originally "Mending the Tears of Violence") is the third in a three-part series of best-of-the-best episodes. Adversity and violence are common in kid's lives. The cumulative burden creates a lifelong vulnerability to physical and psychological issues. So how do we help kids thrive? What strengths are most important? Sherry Hamby, research professor of psychology at the University of the South, discussed trauma’s cumulative impact and how teachers, parents, and advocates can help kids.

Topics:

• Adversity and violence (2:02)
• Polyvictimization, dose response (7:20)
• Resilience, polystrengths (12:30)
• Symptom relief is not well-being (20:39)
• Important strengths (23:08)
• Recovering positive affect (30:14)
• Helping kids (35:30)

 Links:

Sherry Hamby, Ph.D.,  Life Paths Research Center director and ResilienceCon founder

ACE study

David Finkelhor, Heather A. Turner

National Survey of Children’s Exposure to Violence 

“Polyvictimization: Children’s Exposure to Multiple Types of Violence, Crime, and Abuse”

Juvenile Victimization Questionnaire

Ann S. Masten, Ordinary Magic: Resilience in Development

“Sense of Purpose—The Most Important Strength?”

“From Poly-Victimization to Poly-Strengths: Understanding the Web of Violence Can Transform Research on Youth Violence and Illuminate the Path to Prevention and Resilience” 

“Poly-victimization, Trauma, and Resilience: Exploring Strengths That Promote Thriving After Adversity”

“Health-related quality of life among adolescents as a function of victimization, other adversities, and strengths”

MMPI

“Developmental Stage of Onset, Poly-Victimization, and Persistence of Childhood Victimization: Impact on Adult Well-Being in a Rural Community–Based Study” 

Two-by-Ten 

James Pennebaker

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

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We're taking a short summer break and re-airing several of our most popular episodes that are especially relevant in light of current events. This week, we'll explore how kids fare after abuse: The Hidden Cost of Resilience. Earlier this year, we spoke to Dr. Ernestine Briggs-King from Duke University School of Medicine and the National Child Traumatic Stress Network about resilience in kids who have suffered abuse, and how what we see on the surface isn't always the full story. What does the research tell us about the long-term issues that even the most resilient children may face? And what impact do racism and other forms of discrimination have on kids, both as an adverse experience itself and as it affects their recovery from trauma?

Topics in this episode:

• What is resilience?
• Factors that help people be resilient
• Abuse disrupts social connections
• Racism, homophobia, and other compounding factors
• The hidden cost of resilience
• Talking to caregivers
• Racism’s impacts, and the role of caregivers
• Resources

Links:

Ernestine Briggs-King, Ph.D., Duke University School of Medicine, and the Center for Child & Family Health

Mothers Against Drunk Driving

Robert Pynoos, MD, UCLA

Gene Brody, Ph.D. “UGA Research Uncovers Cost of Resiliency in Kids,” by April Reese Sorrow, May 20, 2013, University of Georgia Columns.

“Is Resilience Only Skin Deep? Rural African Americans' Preadolescent Socioeconomic Status-Related Risk and Competence and Age 19 Psychological Adjustment and Allostatic Load,” by Gene H. Brody Tianyi Yu, et al, July 1, 2013, Psychological Science, Vol. 24(7): 1285-1293.

“Family Support Buffers the Physiological Effects of Racial Discrimination,” by Gene Brody, March 1, 2016, Association for Psychological Science Observer.

 “The Hidden Cost of Resilience,” by Leonora Desar, June 6, 2013, Psychology Today.

Professor Ann S. Masten, University of Minnesota, author of Ordinary Magic: Resilience in Development

This New Yorker article, “How People Learn to Become Resilient,” talks about the work of Norman Garmezy and Emmy Werner.

Sir Michael Rutter

National Child Traumatic Stress Network 

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.

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We’re taking a short summer break and re-airing several of our most popular episodes that are especially relevant in light of current events. First up: the pandemic. When schools shut down to help slow the spread of the virus, one of the consequences was kids isolated at home, away from the teachers and other professionals who are most likely to spot the signs of abuse and take action. In 2018, more than two-thirds of reports to child abuse hotlines came from people who had contact with kids as part of their job. What’s good for public health isn’t always good for the safety of an individual child. Across the country, reports of abuse dropped dramatically. That doesn’t mean the abuse stopped. It just disappeared behind closed doors. 

That makes it even more crucial that people in the community, like us, speak up when we believe a child is in danger. But, far too often, we hesitate. Before we can persuade our friends and neighbors to report suspected abuse, we have to understand why they don’t. One of our very first guests on One in Ten was Wendy Walsh, of the Crimes Against Children Research Center. We spoke about The Bystander Effect—Why People Don’t Report Child Abuse. Listen again as we explore the issues and the policies and practices that could help us keep children safe. 

Topics in this episode: 

• Why don’t people speak up? (3:30) 
• Are people aware they should report suspected abuse? (7:20) 
• At the heart of people’s concerns about reporting abuse (10:52) 
• Negative perceptions about child protective services (13:16) 
• The SHINE Campaign (17:20) 
• Research priorities, and barriers to research (18:50) 
• Universal mandatory reporting (23:50) 
• What needs to change? (25:34) 
• Catching kids falling through the cracks (28:08) 
• The one takeaway (30:31) 

Links: 

Wendy A. Walsh, Ph.D., is a research assistant professor of sociology at the Crimes against Children Research Center at the University of New Hampshire  

The statistic about who reports abuse is from Child Maltreatment 2018 at acf.hhs.gov 

Granite State Children’s Alliance, KNOW AND TELL program 

SHINE Campaign on Facebook and on Instagram

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.

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