ChildFirst®
ChildFirst® is an intensive virtual five-day course in which students learn the necessary skills to conduct a competent, investigative interview of a child abuse victim using the ChildFirst® Forensic Interview Protocol.
ChildFirst® is an interactive course which combines lectures with demonstrations and hands-on experience. ChildFirst® is a flexible model and takes a holistic approach and explores for all forms of maltreatment. Students will conduct a 30 minute interview with an actor/actress playing the role of an abused child and will be critiqued on their performance and take a written exam.
ChildFirst® is the ideal course for investigators, child protection workers, forensic interviewers, and prosecutors working within a multidisciplinary team seeking to enhance their ability to speak to children.
- Computer, tablet, or phone with ability to download and store or print 25mB document (500+ pages)
- Computer, tablet, or phone with microphone and camera. Students will need camera and microphone capability during the entire training
- Ability to print a small number of documents/forms for use during the training
Please inquire with questions about CLEs and CEUs for prosecutors, law enforcement and social workers.
Our next ChildFirst® National Training is in the process of being scheduled. Please check back at a later date for an update.
Please note: ChildFirst National prioritizes applications from those that are from states that are not currently part of the ChildFirst Coalition. If your state has a ChildFirst program, we encourage you to reach out to your state coordinator about local offerings of ChildFirst. All coordinator contact information can be found towards the bottom of the page here.
Finding words can be difficult for a child victimized by abuse. Conflicting emotions of fear and love for the perpetrator may cause a child to be reluctant to reveal abuse. If a child tries to speak of abuse, he or she may lack the verbal skills to adequately communicate the event to an adult.
Finding words can be difficult for a police officer, social worker or prosecutor who must speak to a child about abuse. In order to communicate competently with a child, the interviewer must be able to speak in a manner consistent with the child’s linguistic and developmental abilities.
Finding words can be difficult for a child forced to tell a jury about abuse.
Finding words can be difficult for an investigator or prosecutor forced to defend an interview from an attack by defense counsel that the child was “led” into making a false accusation.
Application Form
*All applicants will be notified of their acceptance or wait-list status approximately three weeks prior to the beginning of training.
Please be aware that this is an intensive course. ChildFirst® National will send you a MANDATORY reading assignment prior to your training session. Homework is assigned each evening to supplement each training session. Each student will be given a written examination at the end of the course. In order to receive a certificate of completion, participants are required to attend all workshops all five days of training, complete homework and pass the mock interview and final examination.
ChildFirst® National is limited to 30 participants per session. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis, we encourage you to apply as soon as possible. Preference will be given to those who apply to attend the training as a multidisciplinary team (MDT). The ideal team consists of a prosecutor, law enforcement officer and a social worker and/or forensic interviewer. If your team varies from this norm, please attach to your application an explanation of the unique makeup of your team and why you would benefit from the training. Individual applicants will be considered.
Applications received from the following states will be prioritized:
Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Washington, Washington D.C., Wisconsin, and Wyoming
