Zero Abuse Project CPO Victor Vieth authors this piece in the January/February issue of the Sexual Assault Report discussing the Southern Baptist Church, including an overview of the case against the SBC, failures of the investigation, and recommendations for reforms. Now in its 26th year of publication, Sexual Assault Report is a bimonthly report letter written for professionals working to prevent and prosecute
The 2nd annual CAST Impact Report is now available for review!
This scholarly publication will discuss how trauma informed care provides a framework for the use of child sexual abuse materials during a forensic interview. It further assists forensic interviewers in identifying alternatives to this potentially harmful practice.
Please join University of Illinois Springfield CAST instructor, Dr. Betsy Goulet, and Zero Abuse Project CAST Director Dr. Tyler Counsil, for the next AVA ACEs Health Champions Event, where they will explore CAST and its impact on child protection education.
The team at Zero Abuse Project is excited to share our quarterly CAST newsletter!
As court cases increasingly involve the use of digital evidence, the demand for experts who can evaluate how that evidence was collected and analyzed—and then explain that process to the court— has also grown. This article provides attorneys with a baseline understanding to help them better assess potential digital forensic experts.
This new publication from Zero Abuse Project discusses best practice and different modalities for conducting forensic interviews. We can no longer only consider single, traditional forensic interviews as best practice. The article will discuss three different options for conducting purposeful and legally defensible interviews, specifically follow-up interviews.
Trial exhibits can tell a story, compare and contrast, persuade, and help jurors reach judgments. This paper is how trial lawyers can show in order to tell.
The article provides practical tips for cross examining a defense expert called to critique the quality of a forensic interview. The importance of using the direct examination of the forensic interviewer to set up the eventual cross examination of the defense expert is also discussed.
Zero Abuse Project Senior Attorney Robert Peters discusses emerging trends in online enticement reports in this article covering The Wynona’s House Child Advocacy Center’s 2022 Training and Workshops on Child Maltreatment, featuring a keynote delivered by Zero Abuse Board of Directors member Mike Johnson. READ MORE
Our director of Jacob Wetterling Resource Center, Alison Feigh, alongside its founder, Patty Wetterling, are quoted in a new article from The Guardian covering the tragic epidemic of missing and murdered Indigenous people, and the role of victim testimony in the subsequent investigations.
Zero Abuse Project, alongside partners from CAST collaborative organizations such as APSAC and the New York Foundling’s Vincent J. Fontana Center for Child Protection, will be hosting a virtual faith leader’s conference on January 12, 2023 starting at 8 am CST. You can learn more about the event and sign up for it here. While this is naturally a
A local school is working to end the stigma surrounding childhood trauma. Jenilee Cousil, an art teacher at Washington High School, started the “Stigma Stoppers” club this year. “It is a pressing issue and it’s also personal. I know and I love people that have struggled with substance disorder and so it’s just very close to my heart and something
Dr. Pearl Berman, Child Advocacy and Adult Studies (CAAST) faculty at Indiana University of Pennsylvania and Immediate Past President of the National Partnership to End Interpersonal Violence, or NPEIV, has acquired funding through a Pennsylvania Commonwealth Grant to create topical videos covering a wide variety of topics that may be beneficial to CAST faculty and students.
“Interviewing Lucas” is a case-study on polyvictimization that examines the importance of screening for all forms of maltreatment during child forensic interviews and highlights the importance of a multidisciplinary approach to allegations of child maltreatment.
Zero Abuse Project Board Member and Immunis, Inc. Chairman, Dr. Hans Keirstead, delivered a keynote on child sexual abuse to the UN General Assembly in New York, which aligns with the United Nation’s efforts to eradicate human trafficking and eliminate emotional, economical and physical violence against children and women. READ MORE
The team at Zero Abuse Project is excited to share our quarterly CAST newsletter!
In a major victory for victims of child sexual abuse, President Biden signed a bill that will eliminate the statute of limitations for people who were sexually abused as minors to file civil claims. The bill removes time constraints for survivors to file claims related to sex abuse crimes against minors, including forced labor, sex trafficking, sexual abuse and sexual
Watch this TV news segment covering the investigation into clergy sexual abuse from our friends at Godly Response to Abuse in the Chrstian Environment (GRACE), one of the co-sponsors of our Keeping Faith program designed to train those responding to cases of spiritual abuse. Watch here
Nearly a year after Zero Abuse Project’s press conference, a bankruptcy judge on Thursday approved a $2.46 billion reorganization plan proposed by the Boy Scouts of America, which would allow it to continue operating while compensating tens of thousands of men who say they were sexually abused as children while involved in Scouting. Read More
Listen to Zero Abuse Project staff and Child Advocacy Studies (CAST) Director Dr. Tyler Counsil discuss our mission, impact, and some exciting upcoming events on this episode of WAMW Take 5 For Our Community. Listen Here
The National Partnership to End Interpersonal Violence Across the Lifespan (NPEIV) and Zero Abuse Project are pleased to announce that CAST Director, Dr. Tyler Counsil, will be the new incoming President-Elect in 2022. NPEIV has long been a supporter of the CAST movement and the NPEIV Action Teams and experts thereof are continually exploring new horizons by which CAST can flourish and
Please join Zero Abuse and its affiliates at the Academy on Violence and Abuse for our next ACEs Health Champions Gathering, a two-part series examining early intervention and its potential to mitigate intergenerational trauma. This is a great opportunity for CAST faculty, CAST students, and frontline professionals to learn about an emerging topic.
A new publication exploring pandemic-related factors associated with predicting family violence and child maltreatment has been released in Frontiers in Psychiatry. The publication highlights CAST learning as a means to help improve educator and frontline professional competencies with respect to actively and consistently screening for indicators of maltreatment. The article is available for download here. If you’re new to learning
On the this episode of the PACEs Connection podcast, “History. Culture. Trauma.” special guest Dr. Tyler Counsil, Zero Abuse Project staff member and Director of Child Advocacy Studies (CAST), discusses how CAST addresses our country’s history and culture of child abuse, and prepares students with a multidisciplinary understanding of the most effective responses.
Zero Abuse Project is a 501(c)(3) organization committed to the elimination of child sexual abuse. Our programs are designed to provide training and education to professionals and students, and to help transform institutions to effectively prevent, recognize, and respond to child sexual abuse.
