Child Abuse Pediatrics
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Teamwork Required
The assessment of child abuse — and the treatment of its victims — is complicated and challenging. Rural areas are often faced with limited resources, and urban areas, have historically found it difficult to coordinate the assessment of physical and sexual abuse across law enforcement, social services and medical settings. As a result, cases of child abuse might be missed and can be more difficult to successfully prosecute.
In order to improve the response to child abuse in North Dakota and western Minnesota, agencies and organizations from throughout the area joined together to establish the Red River Children's Advocacy Center (RRCAC). Modeled after hundreds of similar community centers across the country, the RRCAC utilizes a regional approach to centrally coordinate the efforts of social services, law enforcement, prosecutors, family advocates and medical/mental health professionals. Law enforcement or social services initiates RRCAC services after they have received a report of suspected abuse. The goals of the RRCAC include streamlining the assessment of child abuse, facilitating communication among team members, bolstering legal strategies, improving prosecution rates and closely monitoring follow-up treatment. In short, the RRCAC seeks to promote the best possible outcome in cases that are often tragic and heartbreaking.
Benefits of Coordinated Services
The goal of working as a coordinated mutidisciplinary team is to promote the best possible outcome in cases that are often tragic and heartbreaking. The benefits include:
- Timely response to child abuse reports
- Objective, unbiased assessment
- Trained pediatric forensic interviewers
- Reduction in the number of times a child victim is interviewed
- Expert medical personnel
- Accomplished court testimony
- Experienced case review and tracking
- Coordinated medical and mental health follow-up
- Community and agency education and training on child maltreatment
- State, regional and national affiliation with the National Children's Alliance and other Children's Advocacy Centers