287 – What Can We Learn About Child Safety from a Child Abuse Investigator, with Samantha Miller

Sandie and Samantha Miller, a child safety and restorative justice consultant, discuss how parents and organizations that work with children can empower children with tools to protect themselves and create a safe space for children to disclose harm. The outline five preventative safety rules and seven elements for an effective child safety protocol.

Samantha Miller

Samantha Miller is the founder of Voices Heard LLC, and serves as a consultant on child safety and restorative justice. She conducts training and inquiries into allegations of current and historic child abuse, primarily within the Christian missionary context. Samantha is trained as a child forensic interviewer and spent years as a federal investigator in the United States. Samantha has a master's degree in Intercultural Studies from Wheaton College in Illinois, where she focused her thesis on restorative justice and human trafficking. She currently volunteers as a facilitator for her city’s restorative justice program and previously volunteered as a member of Circles of Support and Accountability (COSA) in Denver, Colorado, where she joined a circle of other volunteers to provide pro-social support and accountability to persons convicted of sex offenses after they were released from prison. Samantha is passionate about keeping the demand side of the human trafficking issue at the forefront of the discussion about how to best pursue justice and restoration. She lives in Colorado with her husband and children. She can be contacted via email at [email protected]

Key Points

It is normal for individuals who have experienced abuse to wait till adulthood to come forward, and it is okay to normalize that lapse in time when people finally do speak up.

5 Body Safety Rules for Children

1) My body is mine and belongs to me; I can say no.

2) Develop a safety network of 5 adults a child can trust.

3) Teach children the correct name for parts of the body

4) Pay attention for early warning signs.

5) It is okay to keep surprises, but not to keep secrets.

7 Key Elements of an Effective Child Safety Protocol:

1) Top-down support

2) Defining key terms

3) Screening staff and volunteers

4) Training staff and volunteers

5) Clear child care protocols

6) Reporting and response process

7) Member care

Resources

God Made All of Me: A Book to Help Children Protect Their Bodies by Justin and Lindsey Holcomb

I Said No! A Kid-to-kid Guide to Keeping Private Parts Private by Kimberly King and Zach King

Child Safety and Protection Network

Evangelical Council for Abuse Prevention

Defend Young Minds

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Transcript

Dave [00:00:00] You're listening to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. This is episode number 287, What Can We Learn About Child Safety from a Child Abuse Investigator, with Samantha Miller.

Production Credits [00:00:12] Produced by Innovate Learning, maximizing human potential.

Dave [00:00:32] Welcome to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. My name is Dave Stachowiak.

Sandie [00:00:37] And my name is Sandie Morgan.

Dave [00:00:40] And this is the show where we empower you to study the issues, be a voice, and make a difference in ending human trafficking. Sandie, I'm so glad for us to be able to welcome today an expert that will help us t...